New 2023 BMW F850GSA Motorcycle purchased in April of 2023. Clutch lever often sticks as it engages with the engine causing the motorcycle to lurch forward when attempting to take off from a stop. Nearly struck by another vehicle stopped behind. Problem confirmed by dealership and manufacturer. No warning indicators activated. This situation was observed from the day I took delivery. Was advised that a clutch adjustment was all that was needed. However, the condition continued. The clutch would stick about 80 percent of the time and caused the motorcycle to stall numerous times when trying to move away from intersections. Dealer advised to drive for a while thinking that it would get better. It did not. Motorcycle was at the dealership many times for this concern. I filed a concern with BMW and was told in writing that the sticking clutch was normal? In October 2023, I delivered the motorcycle to the dealer as they requested for a comprehensive investigation. Service Technicians confirmed that there was a problem and has seen this in other units sold at their store. The technician installed a go-pro camera system on my motorcycle and sent the video to BMW in Germany. BMW acknowledged that there is a problem. A complete Clutch basket system was replaced and the motorcycle was returned to me in November after the riding season ended declaring that it was repaired. In the spring of this year (2024), it appeared that about 90 percent of the sticking clutch was successfully repair
2023 BMW F 850 GS
Owners filed 2 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the service brakes. No safety recall has been issued.
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service Brakes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Engine | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What owners reported
Newest filingsWhile driving the motorcycle I lose the ability to pull in the front brake for a few seconds. When I pulled in the clutch to slow down the ABS and Traction Control error lights went off. At this moment I was able to pull the front brake again. I immediately took the bike in for service. The technician said the speed sensor was backing out of the bike and applied loctite. First, the speed sensor did not have loctite so it could come loose. Second, a failure of ABS should NEVER affect the ability to apply the brake. I was very lucky I was able to get out of traffic and be able to slow down. It could have been a serious injury
2 of 2 complaints, reproduced as filed.
Reading this record
No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.
Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.