Thought I'd start a thread for owners to post a list of anything that's gone wrong with their 1000S/ST/SF variants, and their overall opinions. Might be of some value to other owners as well as prospective buyers wondering what can go wrong with them (not much, according to my experience)
I've got close to 35000miles on mine and most of my issues have been minor (in no particular order):
1) Mirror paint flaking/rattling glass: replaced under warranty. The only warranty item I had.
2) Gear shifter hung up: was stuck in position after a gear change: firmly worked it loose roadside, a small metal tab came out at oil change. Turns out to have been an insignifcant part of the shifter assembly, never any problems since, this happened within a few thousand miles of ownership. It was under warranty, but not needed.
3) Lowbeam headlight assembly: the plastic sockets that suspend/adjust the assembly hardened and cracked/fell apart within the first year. (Never got around to having it replaced...just would have happened again I figured, being a poor design)
Assembly rattled around within the housing, had to remove headlight housing and fabricate new sockets using pieces of rubber hose to replace the plastic sockets. Added more foam on backside around bulb assembly to keep it solid. No problems with it anymore.
4) Highbeam assembly: glass bulb cracked after a year and 7000miles or so of ownership (I run it all the time during daylight)
Not replaced yet as it functions, and due to high cost to replace.
5) Underseat relay failure: I think it was the ECU relay, replaced with spare roadside, this around 30000miles.
6) Fuel pump fuse: about a month ago, replaced roadside, at about 33000miles.
7) Horn button: soldered wire on one terminal keeps coming off, many attempts at resoldering, eventually happens again. Wire is to short and under stress, need to add a short length of wire extension and try again....ongoing since new irritant!
8- Starter button: wire broke free from solder connection, seperate time i had water penetrate and short circuit, resoldered once, used dielectric grease the other, no further problems.
9) Various engine mount bolts loosened: Retorqued, must check bolts periodically.
10) Pilot lights: bulbs burn out occasionally, chalk it up to using cheap chinese bulbs.
11) Tail light bulb burned out once.
12) Rubber shifter pad: split, sooner than I expected, at molding seam. Replacement very durable.
13) Front Rotor Issues: Thought I had warped rotors, this within a year of ownership and after a few track day runs. Turns out they were heavily glazed. Cleaned up with sandpaper.....good as new.
14) Exhaust: a rubber hanger/mount under bike split. Replaced and shimmed correctly.
That's about it. All very minor issues, and can be rectified with attention to detail/assembly, better quality replacement electrical items mostly. The headlights are the biggest items, and not very durable as far as the adjustment setup goes. One bitch of an irritant is changing tires. The rim design makes seating tire beads a chore, the sharp bead edge is unlike any other rims, and the tire bead refuses to slide over the edge and seat. It requires multiple tire alignment attempts and excessive air pressure to seat. The windscreen black paint on the backside is a different shade of black, in direct sunlight it looks almost greenish compared to the bodywork black paint. Uses no oil, valves have remained within spec. Outstanding!
The bike takes a licking and keeps on ticking....an "Old Reliable".....I'm impressed with the German engineering, in my case.
What say you?
7-31- 10 Good news! We let the seller know the item wasn't as described, and the seller issued you a full refund. This case is now closed.
but bottom line, I got pieces of correct sized fuel line hose pressed into where the plastic pieces fell out of and then was able to pull the assembly back into place. It's held since.