WHILE RIDING ON I-95 THE TRANSMISSION (GEARBOX) ON MY MOTORCYCLE MADE A LOUD BANG (NOISE) AND THE REAR WHEEL LOCKED UP MOMENTARILY. I IMMEDIATELY ENGAGED THE CLUTCH AND WAS ABLE TO FREE-WHEEL TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY. AT THIS POINT THE HIGHWAY IS THREE LANES AND I WAS JUST LUCKY NOT TO BE BOXED IN BY TRAFFIC AND COULD GET TO SAFETY WITHOUT CRASHING OR BEING RUN OVER. THE INTERNALS OF THE TRANSMISSION IS PARTIALLY DESTROYED AS PER THE BMW SERVICE CENTER AND I HAD TO REPLACE THE COMPLETE TRANSMISSION AT MY OWN COST. THIS INCIDENT IS VERY SIMILAR TO NHTSA ID #: 10456593 AND IT SEEMS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM. THE MILEAGE IS NOT HIGH FOR A VEHICLE OF THIS CALIBER AND IT POINTS TO A COMMON DEFECT IN THE TRANSMISSION WHICH CAN LEAD TO SERIOUS ACCIDENTS. THE 2003 MODEL HAS A RECALL FOR THE SAME ISSUE AS PER NHTSA ID #:02V319000. *TR
2002 BMW R 1150 GS Adventure
Routine
Owners filed 1 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the power train. No safety recall has been issued.
What fails
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Train | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What owners reported
Newest filingsPower Train
Filed Oct 9, 201440,500 milesFL
1 of 1 complaints, reproduced as filed.
Across model years
Worst on record: 2003| Year | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Deaths | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2002 — this page | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
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.