[cc rider]

Isn't german engineering supposed to be known for it's , well....german engineering. I remember seeing reliability reports of the big 4 japanese manufacturers years ago when I was searching and yamaha and honda were kings then too. It was a very similar or maybe even the same results. It says the results are based on consumer reports among other sources. I would love to know in more detail how they get to these results though. Are the repairs mostly electrical or mechanical, etc. Love my Japanese friends!

Most Reliable Motorcycle Brands

Who knew Honda wasn't Number 1?

www.topspeed.com

 

[Joflewbyu2]

Spot on.

 

[ssncob]

In regards to cars and light trucks, consumers reports has a yearly issue that breaks it down by vehicle systems based on yearly consumer surveys.

 

[bonanza]

I believe the last consumer reports for car reliability had BMW as #1.🤷‍♀️

 

[GOV5]

Isn't german engineering supposed to be known for it's , well....german engineering. I remember seeing reliability reports of the big 4 japanese manufacturers years ago when I was searching and yamaha and honda were kings then too. It was a very similar or maybe even the same results. It says the results are based on consumer reports among other sources. I would love to know in more detail how they get to these results though. Are the repairs mostly electrical or mechanical, etc. Love my Japanese friends!

Most Reliable Motorcycle Brands

Who knew Honda wasn't Number 1?

www.topspeed.com

I read an article once that explained what factors were measured and considered. I think it was a magazine piece but not sure. All I remember was that "issues" were not weighed as to severity , i.e., a shaft drive final going out was no worse than a cruise control switch not functioning. For me, that particular study was worthless because of the flaws in how it was judged.

Like you, I am also interested in what questions are asked in a review and how those answers are judged. If that doesn't accompany the review, the report has no context. I view polls the same way.

Motorcycle.com might be a good place to start looking for how a particular study was conducted. Actually, I have probably gotten more "real world" answers from Forums like this one, where you can ask specific questions from actual owners that ride the brands being studied.

 

[jettawreck]

Having owned several VW (mostly diesels) and active on that forum platform it's a well known (or at least stated) theme that German engineers design things just because they can, not necessarily because they should or need to. Usually well done but often overly complicated and requires more frequent and costly service.

 

[cc rider]

Having owned several VW (mostly diesels) and active on that forum platform it's a well known (or at least stated) theme that German engineers design things just because they can, not necessarily because the should or need to. Usually well done but often overly complicated and requires more frequent and costly service.

Yes and that is what keeps me from buying anything besides Japanese. They are meticulous when it comes to their manufacturing. I would like to have a different bike to add to my garage now that I'm only down to my wing. I looked at getting a Ducati diavel which I really liked. No Ducati or even BMW dealers near me. Not that i visit the dealers often. I rarely do. But if i needed something.....
Years ago I was looking at getting the bmw s1000rr before I bought my cbr1000. I do my own repairs usually. Some of the horror stories I read on some bikes on needing special tools or computers etc. was crazy You can't beat the price of parts and the ease of repair/ maintenance on the Japanese bikes. Maybe I'll buy a Suzuki m109r. I've been wanting one for a while.

 

[Luftkoph]

Look at something as simple as a cable operated throttle on an old airhead BMW, a chain that went to a cable to a splitter into two cables, ah engineering masturbation At its finest.

 

[Zee Fifty]

I remember back in the day when the American auto manufactures were being bashed for quality against the new Japanese stuff. The huge huge thing they don’t tell you ….is yea… your Ford or Chevy truck may break a little more often than the Toyota but your Toyota was sitting in the shop for weeks or months waiting for a part nobody had or the experts were scratching their heads on what was wrong with it. If you had the Ford or Chevy truck everyone on the planet knew what was wrong with it and you walked into any auto parts store across the nation and bought the part and you were back on the road in near zero time.

The service and parts network and support was part of the quality …. Especially if you owned a business and relied on your truck for a living.

Sure…. In the last 40 years things have changed and the foreign trucks are very well supported…. But they weren’t when they first started hitting the shores and the consumer experts were bashing the American stuff.

Parts and service matter in my opinion.

 

[dduelin]

The CR reports are worthless except for entertainment and bias confirmation. Entries are self reported and the data is on models 8 to 17 years old. Based on common issues in the 2018+ forum I suspect Honda will take a hit in a current model survey.

 

[1stWing]

BMW motorcycles have some of the worst reliability issues, that's one reason I ride Honda.

 

[1stWing]

Isn't german engineering supposed to be known for it's , well....german engineering. I remember seeing reliability reports of the big 4 japanese manufacturers years ago when I was searching and yamaha and honda were kings then too. It was a very similar or maybe even the same results. It says the results are based on consumer reports among other sources. I would love to know in more detail how they get to these results though. Are the repairs mostly electrical or mechanical, etc. Love my Japanese friends!

Most Reliable Motorcycle Brands

Who knew Honda wasn't Number 1?

www.topspeed.com

That's what they say!

 

[FL_RedWing]

Isn't german engineering supposed to be known for it's , well....german engineering. I remember seeing reliability reports of the big 4 japanese manufacturers years ago when I was searching and yamaha and honda were kings then too. It was a very similar or maybe even the same results. It says the results are based on consumer reports among other sources. I would love to know in more detail how they get to these results though. Are the repairs mostly electrical or mechanical, etc. Love my Japanese friends!

Most Reliable Motorcycle Brands

Who knew Honda wasn't Number 1?

www.topspeed.com

That Consumer's Report on reliability is from 2015 based on the many prior years. Anecdotal data at best for bikes likely not even relevant anymore.

 

[JoeHall]

Need a consumer report on Consumer Report. LOL

 

[Wahoo]

I’ve had two Honda CRVs that have gone over 200,000 trouble free miles (one had 245,000) , and an accord that had 254,000 miles on it. Sold them to buy new models, not because there was anything wrong with them, but we were tired of driving them after 10-12 years each 🤣

Mrs also has a 2005 Mercedes convertible. Love the car but if it ever needs major repair work, I’m sure it’ll cost a small fortune. 🙄

 

[Brian_Fenner]

2019 Honda Goldwing DCT Tour
2022 Honda Goldwing DCT Tour
2019 Honda Monkey

Trouble-free all of them and NEVER back to the dealer for anything......not sure how you get better than that.

My 2001 Goldwing......well.......not so much. 🤓

 

[Grouchy]

Throwing my 2 cents in..... In my twenties I worked as a machinist in a large manufacturing plant. Some genius engineer decided we needed the latest German designed and built machines. They were unreliable, poorly designed and built to mediocre standards. I decided at that point I would never own an overpriced German car or motorcycle.
As sometimes happens, decades later. I forgot that lesson and bought a BMW R1200RT. Yep, you guessed it, unreliable, poor design (IMHO), mediocre standards as to build quality. Worst motorcycle I've ever owned. It looked good though, so it had that going for it.
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
YMMV. I know some of you own BMWs and love 'em. I'm happy for you. Just sayin' mine was a POS.

 

[Zee Fifty]

When ever I think of Consumer Reports I think of Jeeps… according to consumer reports Jeeps are the biggest POS ever to roll down the highway… they always have been for 40 years…. Except there’s zillions of them… people don’t care. People buy them by the bushel. Just like Harley’s.….…. and love them I might add. Consumer Reports is an answer to a question nobody asked. It just exists,

 

[WVMANDINGO]

I've only had British and Japanese motorcycles, but have had German, Japanese, French, British, and American cars and trucks. They all had one thing in common. They were all man made using mechanical and electrical components also made by man, and all are subject to failure. I have always kept my vehicles well maintained and have never had a catrascopic failure regardless of brand. However, as vehicles have become increasingly complicated, I have come to the conclusion that there is more that can go wrong, and less likely I will be able to fix it. I've already had cars that required proprietary software to adjust the headlights, or program a key or transmission. If you ask me, I think all brands will take a hit in reliability.

 

[T-88]

German engineering is different than Japanese engineering (just like German and Japanese engineering is different than American engineering.)

Anybody who is a car enthusiast and enjoys driving knows a Volkswagen, BMW, Audi or Mercedes DRIVES differently than a Honda, Toyota, Nissan or Lexus. And those same German cars drive differently than Chevs, Fords and Mopars.

As for the reliability of BMW vs Honda motorcycles (or their cars), Honda will win hands down every time. Having said that, my ‘14 BMW R120RT only required regular maintenance and never failed me, and most of my friends ride BMWs (and the put on typically 20,000 km a year), and none have had reliability issues or unexpected failures.

So you might as well ask the same question in the auto industry. . . howcum Japanese branded cars usually score higher in reliability than American brands? What’s the difference between American auto engineering and Japanese auto engineering?

Tim