RoadVitals

1996 BMW R100RT Problems

Owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA, grouped by component

Data refreshed

Owner complaintsComplaints 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.
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Latest Aug 29, 2002
Components namedHow many of our component categories appear on at least one report for this model year. One report can name several.
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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.
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What this page shows

Everything below is an owner-reported complaint submitted to NHTSA about the 1996 BMW R100RT, grouped by the component NHTSA recorded on the report. These are not confirmed defects, and they are not recalls. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a category with more reports in it is not evidence that a part is defective.

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

Reports by component

Ranked by how many owner reports name each component category

  • Driver assistance1100.0%

Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.

Each component in detail

What the reports in each category say, in the owners' own words

Driver assistance

Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems.

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report

From owner reports, verbatim

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 · filed Aug 29, 2002

Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.

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.

Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .