Large BMW top-case lets loose

[John Bentall]

One of the English journalists (Giles Butcher from Performance bikes, I think) running a 1200RT press fleet bike with 14,000m miles on the clock had the large top-case detach itself from the bike and bounce down the road.

A kindly passer-by put the case neatly by the side of the road so that no other traffic would run over it - after helping himself to the lap-top computer inside.

There was a crack near the latching mechanism.

We have been warned.

[ScottT]

Is this all the info you have John? I'm interested in how many miles the trunk had on it and which part had the crack. Was it on the trunk or was it on the mounting mechinism on the trunk? I too use my trunk to carry my laptop to work. Thanks for the heads up.

[Geraldh]

How fast was he travelling ?

[RodB]

Very scary, not only will I carry my laptop on trips but most importantly; my wife will be leaning on the backrest. Now, we need to know if this is a manufacturing defect or that the case was somehow damaged by some external cause?

Rod

[Bernie]

I guess BMW still can not design a Topcase or a brake system that is reliable

[ClearwaterBMW]

this subject has been beaten to death on the other site.

here's the link:

this is why marty hill doesn't like bmw cases

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89941

 

FWIW

 

greg

[Ken H.]

this subject has been beaten to death on the other site.

here's the link:

this is why marty hill doesn't like bmw cases

Not exactly apples to apples though. There has been some reports of the top case on the R1200GS departing under severe conditions, but this is the first heard of for the R1200RT. Let's not condemn the whole bike just yet because some guy might of put his top case on wrong!

[Marty Hill]

Let's not falsely quote me. I've said nothing about the 12RT.

[Whip]

I push pulled and hit mine .....it will not come loose...

[ClearwaterBMW]

didn't mean to misquote

the sad thing is:

it looks like the MAJORITY of GS topcases WILL fall off secondary to a badly-designed plastic mount

pathetic for a bike costing 9K....

but for one costing twice as much....

horrible

 

the question is...

1. will bmw come up with a fix

2. will it be retrofitable or just something on NEXT YEAR'S MODEL

3. will anyone feel confident riding around with it until that happens

4. will some pillion fall off a bike when they are fully leaned on the backrest attached to that top case (at full acceleration) when that bracket breaks and the top case falls off

 

greg

[BMT]

Before we all report that the sky is falling ...

 

To put a bit of perspective on it, remember that this is a press fleet bike with 14,000 miles on and will have been regularly abused -- no doubt that abuse extending to the luggage.

 

How many of us can say, hand on heart, that they have never exceeded BMW's recommended luggage weight and speed? Sometimes these things are self-inflicted, but rarely reported as such. I'm not suggesting that the journalist who experienced the failure was necessarily the culprit of the abuse, but using a fleet vehicle (two wheels or four) often requires more careful attention to mission-critical stuff.

[ScottT]

Before we all report that the sky is falling ...

Well said Nick. This is precisely why I was asking for more details. Moto-journalists are notoriously hard on test bikes.

[John Bentall]

The journalist was writing for "Two Wheels Only" magazine in fact.

The base of the case cracked near the latching mechanism, and he managed a repair with "superglue" - hopefully to hold up until the time comes to return the bike to the manufacturers. That is all he wrote. He would/could not admit to overloading the case.

[FirstHexHead]

Recently returned from 1600+ mile southwest tour. Fully loaded large topcase, lots of temp cycling (60s to 108!!!), crosswinds like a mother near Vegas, and a teenage passenger bopping to his iPod and bangin' against it. No problems!