RoadVitals

1996 BMW R100RT Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
1
Latest Aug 29, 2002
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Aug 29, 2002

What this page shows

Our database holds 1 NHTSA owner-reported complaint for the 1996 BMW R100RT. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–1 of 1

Driver assistance
Filed Aug 29, 2002

THIS DEFECT EXISTS IN MODEL YEAR 1996 BMW R100RT MOTORCYCLES. SPECIFICALLY, THE THROTTLE CABLE IS KNOWN TO FRAY AND HANG OPEN, CAUSING THE RIDER TO BE UNABLE TO CLOSE THE THROTTLE AND STOP THE MOTORCYCLE FROM ACCELERATING. I RECENTLY WAS TRAVELING ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY WHEN THE THROTTLE HUNG IN THE FULL-OPEN POSITION. FORTUNATELY, I WAS ABLE TO SHUT OFF THE MOTORCYCLE BY USING THE KILL-SWITCH AND COAST TO A STOP AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. HAD I BEEN ON ANY OTHER TYPE OF ROAD, ESPECIALLY A MOUNTAINOUS ROAD WITH CURVES, I COULD EASILY HAVE LOST CONTROL OF THE MOTORCYCLE AND CRASHED. AFTER MY DEALER REPLACED THE CABLE (AT A COST OF $200), I LEARNED THAT THIS IS NOT AN UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE. AMAZINGLY, BMW REQUIRES THIS CABLE TO BE REPLACED EVERY 18,000 MILES. I CONSIDER THIS TO BE AN INDICATION THAT THEY ARE AWARE OF POTENTIAL CABLE PROBLEMS. MY CABLE HAD BEEN IN SERVICE FOR ONLY 15,000 MILES, 3,000 MILES SHORT OF THE NORMAL SERVICE POINT. MY DEALER HAS A COLLECTION OF THROTTLE CABLES OVER HIS DESK, ALL OF WHICH FAILED IN SERVICE. BMW CHANGED THE CABLE ROUTING FOR THIS MOTORCYCLE BEGINNING WITH MODEL YEAR 1997, BUT NEVER ISSUED A RECALL TO FIX THE 1996 MODELS. I CONSIDER THIS TO BE A VERY SERIOUS SITUATION, WHICH IF NOT REMEDIED, COULD RESULT IN A RIDER SUFFERING SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH.*AK

NHTSA ID
766420
Incident
Jun 15, 2002

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .