Total Complaints
2 filings
BMW K1200 S · model year
2 NHTSA complaints, and 1 active recall for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2004BMWK1200 S carries 2 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2004 K1200 S is service brakes, hydraulic:antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip with 1 filings, followed by service brakes (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 1 active recall campaign, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.
NHTSA currently has 34 investigation files overlapping the 2004 K1200 S. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
2 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP | 1 |
| SERVICE BRAKES | 1 |
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
ON CERTAIN MOTORCYCLES, FREQUENT SHORT TRIPS PARTICULARLY DURING COLD TEMPERATURES, CAN CAUSE WATER TO ACCUMULATE IN THE OIL TANK, AND WHEN THE ENGINE IS RUNNING, ESCAPING WATER VAPOR CAN CONDENSE ON THE OIL TANK AIR BLEED VALVE. IN FREEZING TEMPERATURES, THIS WATER COULD FREEZE AND BLOCK THE AIR B
ABS SYSTEM FAILED AT 26K, UPON RESEARCH,FOUND THIS TO BE VERY COMMON TO THIS YEAR/MODEL, AND ,OF COURSE, VERY DANGEROUS ON A MOTORCYCLE.A REPLACEMENT ABS UNIT COST IS MORE THAT THE VALUE OF THE VEHICLE!, AS A RETIRED FIREFIGHTER, I CAN'T AFFORD THIS RIDICULOUS EXPENSE,ANS AS A RESULT,HAVE REMOVED THE SYSTEM, RESULTING IN NO POWER BRAKES,NO ABS, AND NO SPEEDOMETER.
Mileage: 26,000
TL* -THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WAS A LOUD NOISE COMING FROM THE BACK OF HIS MOTORCYCLE A 2004 BMW K1200 S. THE CONTACT TOOK THE MOTORCYCLE TO A DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT THE RIVETS ON THE REAR BRAKE ASSEMBLY WERE SEPARATING FROM THE ANTI- LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM. THE MECHANIC TOLD THE CONTACT THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH BMW MOTORCYCLES. THE BMW DEALER SAID THAT THEY WOULD PAY FOR THE PARTS, BUT NOT THE LABOR. THE 2004 K1200 BMW MOTORCYCLE HAS 43,000 MILES. *JB
Mileage: 43,000
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.