Bad news again ! !

[buellwinkle]

If my complaint about no Technical data for the R18 was not enough, BMW has pulled the rug out again. I was at my dealer today and his service manager told me BMW will not any longer provide any new Painted Parts. So, if you drop your bike and damage the tank the best you will get is a off the shelf unpainted item, like it or not ! !!

 

[TodkaVonic]

Does he also own a paint shop?

Kidding aside. I don’t think that that’s either legal or good business and would be very surprised if it’s true.

As an another aside, a few summers back, I had to replace the front fairing on my Ducati after colliding with a turkey. I sourced one from Ducati. It was shipped from some warehouse in Italy. And there are only 2250 of that particular model Ducati ever. Contrast that with a pretty much brand new BMW which sold in the 10s of thousands but which also undersold? Manufacturers have parts, is what I’m saying.

/the OEM bobber rear fender comes unpainted. Maybe he misheard something?

 

[Deleted member 939]

Does he also own a paint shop?

Kidding aside. I don’t think that that’s either legal or good business and would be very surprised if it’s true.

As an aside, a few summers back, I had to replace the front fairing on my Ducati after colliding with a turkey. I sourced one from Ducati. It was shipped from some warehouse in Italy. And there are only 2250 of that particular model Ducati ever. Contrast that with a pretty much brand new BMW which sold in the 10s of thousands but which also undersold? Manufacturers have parts, is what I’m saying.

/the OEM bobber rear fender comes unpainted. Maybe he misheard something?

Keep the Duke out of the pasture,LOL!
I try to avoid Doom & Gloom.
The center console with small bag covers my gas tank area where I dropped the locking gas gap.Arthritis is a bitch but I did price a painted tank listed with a part number.I went with the tank strap/bag for about $100 instead of the $3000+ painted tank.
Funny,I too rember back in the HD warranty scare days.When the service guy at Hacienda HD in Scottsdale(New Owner now) told me the mufflers I had on my bike affected the warranty
I said. I purchased the mufflers from here?
Then they fixed the issue that brought me to the dealer in the first place.A cracked fuel pump plastic cap.In 2008 HD had several bad ones from the vendor.
Like I have said before:

I get better information on this forum than from the dealer.
Besides,I'll dent my own bike, thank you

 

[TodkaVonic]

I asked a guy I know who used to work for Arlen Ness. The question was "Are you aware of any regulations or laws that stipulate how long a motorcycle manufacturer needs to have spare parts for a given bike they sell/sold?" He called just now and told me that he looked in the Code of Federal Regulations (he has a paper copy), and, as far as he can tell, there is no federal law that requires a company to have spare parts at all. It's up to the manufacturer.

Looking online, I found this

Ask a Hemmings Editor: How long do carmakers have to provide...

Perhaps you've heard it from a parts counter guy. Or from your local mechanic. Or maybe from your neighbor, drinking a cold one in his driveway while you're sweating and busting your knuckles...

www.hemmings.com

So, buellwinkle, I humbly retract my earlier assertion that it would be illegal. Still would be bad business though.

 

[rublezz345]

As per EU law, manufacturer is obligated to supply all parts within production and 2 years after finishing. As BMW is under EU law, they should supply all parts.

 

[nielsm]

I can still get factory parts for my 1972 R75/5. MAX BMW built an entire R90S from the parts catalog to see if it could still be done. BMW tends to be quite good on parts availability for a long time.