http://blog.motorcycle.com/2013/03/26/m ... dont-care/

Couple of omissions I would have been curious about, Suzuki, Ducati and Triumph.

Not really surprised with Harley Davidson with their ancient designs but I am surprised at BMW.What happened to German quality?

Harley Davidson bikes are much more reliable than they used to be by a long stretch, still not up to snuff it would seem. I don't have a problem with their motors/designs being old, I mean the designs are old but the build is modern.

The thing is it only mentions breakdowns within the last 4 years. That doesn't account for milage (e.g. breakdowns per 1k miles) which would be a much better indicator IMO

Burgman1958 wrote:What happened to German quality?

Nothing at all, it was always a myth.

Burgman1958 wrote:Not really surprised with Harley Davidson with their ancient designs but I am surprised at BMW.What happened to German quality?

It went out the window when they started having their engines built by Kymco in Taiwan

It would be interesting to do our own survey here based on the bikes we actually own (Maxi Scooters only as it's a maxi site - lets not contaminate with geared bikes).
Simple questions:
Bike make and model?
Age?
Recorded mileage?
Mileage in your ownership?
How many times has it failed (not including punctures) at the roadside requiring breakdown assistance?
How many times has it not started or developed a problem at home which prevented it's use that day?

That should make it easy to see the relative reliability of individual models.
Any minor glitches that can be fixed at your leisure, and/or which do not stop the use of the scooter that day, do not count as it isn't a true indication of actual usability or reliability. Those are separate issues which could be covered with it's own survey.

arrison wrote:

Burgman1958 wrote:Not really surprised with Harley Davidson with their ancient designs but I am surprised at BMW.What happened to German quality?

It went out the window when they started having their engines built by Kymco in Taiwan

I owned a KYMCO scoot for a few years, I would put their reliability up with any powersports manufacturer in the industry.

TmaX9 wrote:It would be interesting to do our own survey here based on the bikes we actually own (Maxi Scooters only as it's a maxi site - lets not contaminate with geared bikes).
Simple questions:
Bike make and model?
Age?
Recorded mileage?
Mileage in your ownership?
How many times has it failed (not including punctures) at the roadside requiring breakdown assistance?
How many times has it not started or developed a problem at home which prevented it's use that day?

That should make it easy to see the relative reliability of individual models.
Any minor glitches that can be fixed at your leisure, and/or which do not stop the use of the scooter that day, do not count as it isn't a true indication of actual usability or reliability. Those are separate issues which could be covered with it's own survey.

Xevo 400
2008 (I bought in 11/2009 with 700km on the clock)
21748 miles all year round in all weather, no breakdowns.
One problem preventing use for a day (me making the battery flat when I left the boot open over a weekend, charged for 12 hours and good as new)

Honda PCX
2010 bought new
14100 miles
No breakdowns
Never failed to start

Lives outside uncovered in all weathers