Are the BMW scooters more expensive to maintain? A real discussion.

[grey.hound]

I think it is important to make sure facts are clear before everyone decides to jump ship. I too am amazed at the cost of maintenance, but how do these scoots compare to other bikes? In order to make a fair comparison, we need to try to compare apples to apples as much as possible. By that I mean:
Dealer service of the BMW scooter to dealer service of other bikes.
Secondly, This bike has been out for about 4 years now, so comparing it to a 15 year old bike isn't realistic IMO.
And again, the home mechanic should not be comparing DIY to Dealer Service. Clearly, a DIY mechanic is going to save money over a dealer served bike.
Thirdly, be realistic.

So, I will go first:
Being a former Aprilia Scooter owner I am on the AF1 forum regularly reading. Reading about and Looking at those hot Italians is what I do when no one is home. I have read a lot about the Aprilia Caponord 1200. http://www.apriliausa.com/motorcycles/caponord-1200-abs-travel-pack.html The 12000km service for that (maybe it was supposed to be miles) was said to be $900-1200.

Also, the Aprilia Mana GT, from the same forum, the Af1 austin dealer on the forum said they charge $638 with all taxes etc. for the 12k official service.

Oh, and for the record, my piaggio scooter was $119 for the 600 mile service, can't remember my BMW.

If anyone can post some info on the bikes they have been reading about, that would be helpful.

 

[JaimeC]

I can only compare apples to apples. Although the maintenance requirements for both my 2009 Yamaha TMAX and 2013 BMW C650GT are similar, the BMW technically cost less because the service intervals are farther apart. The BMW is "every 6,000" miles (or every 10,000 kilometers if you're not in the US). The Yamaha service intervals were all over the place. The recommended interval was 5,000 miles but a warning light came on every 3,000 miles to change the oil. The belt was to be changed at 12,000 miles and there were other intervals that didn't always conform to "every 5,000 miles."

I believe at first BMW recommended 12K for their belt as well, but I think they were being over cautious as the belt was checked at 12K and determined to be just fine (the Yamaha shop switched the belt at 12K and I never heard about the condition it was in. They also didn't retorque everything properly resulting in the rear wheel locking up on me a few weeks later and a couple of blocks from my house). The belt was also checked at 18,000 miles and left in place. It was replaced (free of charge) at 20,000 miles when a failed seal behind the clutch caused it to get soaked in fluid.

Now, comparing apples to oranges (a CVT-base scooter vs. a manual transmission motorcycle) the costs of maintaining my K1200LT have been significantly less since the drive shaft never needs servicing beyond changing the transmission and final drive fluids. There is one MAJOR PITA that has to be done every couple of years and that is regreasing the input splines, but that wouldn't be an issue on a motorcycle with a wet clutch. Also, the Telelever front end only requires a cleaning and regreasing every 64,000 miles. I get the Ohlins shocks rebuilt every 24,000 miles (a lot cheaper than throwing out the OEM Showa shocks and installing new ones at the same intervals, BTW).

I imagine the standard telescopic fork of the scooter requires the same kind of servicing as any other bike with a telescopic fork (fork bearings, fluid changes, etc). Also, the stock shock will eventually have to be replaced as well (I'm going to assume the same 24K interval as my Ohlins rebuilds, but the dealership did NOT replace mine at that interval so we'll see).

So, I'd be hard pressed to believe a CVT is less expensive to maintain than a standard transmission motorcycle based on my own experience. I'm glad the OP compared his BMW to other CVT scooters and bikes because that is a fairer comparison if you're thinking of replacing your BMW Scooter with another brand scooter.

 

[grey.hound]

Thanks Jaime for the response. Not that I have plans to replace the BMW (at the current time anyway). Before buying the C600 I was eying a handful of bikes, then before buying the Piaggio scooter, started looking around again. For my needs, the BMW C600 still seems like the best bike out there. But looking around is half the fun.

I figure that a shaft or even belt driven MC would be less to maintain, as would a bike with less plastic. I am definitely not looking forward to my 12k mile service and the new scooter (piaggio) will put that service farther into the future. I think most of us would agree that there is some compromise, or that no one bike is perfect.

Again folks, if you have hard facts comparing service costs of current generation bikes with our scoots, put them here. I will continue to look.

 

[grey.hound]

from the Honda nc700 forum; again, different dealers are going to quote different prices.
4000 mile service: about $300
8000 mile service: about $600