Total Complaints
3 filings
BMW R1150GS · model year
3 NHTSA complaints, and 1 recall campaign listed for this cohort. A VIN lookup is required to determine whether a specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2001BMWR1150GS carries 3 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.
The most frequently selected component label in reports for the 2001 R1150GS is power train:driveline:center support bearing with 1 filings, followed by power train:driveline (1) and power train (1). Complaint categories reflect owner reports and intake categorization; they do not establish a defect pattern or cause. This cohort has 1 NHTSA recall campaign listed below. Enter a VIN in NHTSA's official recall lookup to determine whether a specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.
NHTSA currently has 34 investigation files overlapping the 2001 R1150GS. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should read the complaint-by-year trend as report volume, not a causal diagnosis. Use the related-complaint feed and the official recall lookup when researching a specific vehicle.
Total Complaints
3 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:CENTER SUPPORT BEARING | 1 |
| POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE | 1 |
| POWER TRAIN | 1 |
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: MOTORCYCLES. THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE BRAKE LINE AND THE SPEEDOMETER DRIVE CABLE COULD BE TOO SMALL. DUE TO COMPRESSION AND REBOUND OF THE FORK, THE SPEEDOMETER CABLE COULD CONTACT AND CHAFE THE BRAKE LINE.
WHILE ON A CROSS COUNTRY MOTORCYCLE TRIP. I WAS TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS WHEN THE MOTORCYCLE BEGAN TO HAVE A GRINDING NOISE AND VIBRATION FROM THE REAR. I STOPPED TO FIND OIL LEAKING FROM THE FINAL DRIVE ALL OVER THE REAR TIRE AND WHEEL ASSEMBLY. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO STOP, THE REAR ABS SYSTEM ACTIVATED BECAUSE THE GEAR OIL SATURATED THE BRAKE ROTOR AND PADS. I ALMOST CRASHED THE MOTORCYCLE BECAUSE OF THE OIL ON THE TIRE. THE FINAL DRIVE WAS SERVICED PER BMW SPECIFICATIONS OF GEAR OILTYPE AND WEIGHT DAYS PRIOR TO THE TRIP. THERE WERE NO INDICATORS PRIOR TO THE FINAL DRIVE FAILING. THE GEAR OIL ESCAPED THE HOUSING DUE TO A TORN BEARING SEAL ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE HOUSING NEXT TO THE BRAKE ROTOR. TEARDOWN OF THE FINALDRIVE ASSEMBLY FOUND A DISINTEGRATION OF THE MAIN BEARING INCLUDING BALL BEARINGS. THE METAL IN THE HOUSING TEARING THE BEARING SEAL LEAKING OIL ON TO THE REAR WHEEL ASSEMBLY. THE METAL IN THE HOUSING ALSO DAMAGED THE SECOND SMALLER BEARING WHICH HAD TO BE REPLACED. THE
Mileage: 32,000
BMW MOTORCYCLE REAR DRIVE FAILURE, COULD LEAD TO CATASTROPHIC CRASH IF REAR WHEEL LOCKS UP. DRIVE FAILED WITH NO ADVANCE SYMPTOMS. DRIVE REBUILT.*AK
Mileage: 43,000
REAR DRIVE (WHEEL) BEARING FAILURE. THIS IS THE ONLY SUPORT BEARING FOR THE WHEEL.*AK
Mileage: 31,000
Data vintage: August 2026. 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.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. This year-specific record is rendered from NHTSA ODI, recall, and NCAP rows for the 2001 BMW R1150GS; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.