Speed Bleeder nipples

Forgot to mention that a few weeks ago when I assumed ( "Don't make an Ass of U and Me" ) that the Clutch Slave Bleeder SB replacement at 10mm X 1 would be the same for the front brakes, I discovered that the calipers on my year-04 R1150R Rockster were Japanese Tokico, not Brembo. The OEM maker's name is on the BACK of the caliper, even though on the front it proudly says Greedy Berlin Pig.

So the 10mm by 1 nipples wouldn't fit. The correct size for that caliper is 7mm.

Goodridge Speedbleeder USA part number SB7100S-SS M7 x 1.0 in stainless steel, at a mere seven bucks each plus shipping of course. Which in my case for Peninsular Spain is only another fourteen.

Same calipers are fitted to the R1200 front and the K1200.

Just sayin'.

AL in sunny Andalucía.

The brakes made by Brembo for BMW were marked Brembo.

When the next gen brakes came out with power assist, the joint venture with BMW and Tokico, the calipers were marked BMW .

If dealing with bmw hurts you so much, you should buy a honda.

Hiya 'Tri750',

No it's not the brand itself that I object to, as I've owned eleven different BMW bikes in 40 years, most of them boxers.

It's just the current pricing policy that sticks in my gullet; it was suddenly adopted a few years ago, when the suits in the firm's Munich Car Division, decided that the bike factory at Berlin-Spandau, 330 of your US miles away wasn't making enough money for the combine, whose former sole owners were the Familie Quandt in which one of the great grandmas was the bit of stuff entertained by a certain Josef Goebbels.

The suits decided that it wasn't enough to make high-quality, durable bikes at sensible prices, only slightly above the market average; no, they had to make a load more money - hence my famous example of the fifty-buck Gates USA Industries textile / steel belt made for the F650CS and the current F800 belt-drive variant. BMW signed an exclusive Supply Deal with Gates. So you can't buy the belt direct from Gates USA or Europe at $50 / €60 plus tax - you have to buy it from BMW at a cost of three-hundred-and-fifty.

That's what I object to and why I refer to BMW as either 'The Greedy Berlin Pig', or "BMW stands for Bring More Wallet".

And for your further info, I own a wonderful year-2016 Honda NC750S-DCT which IMHO is streets ahead of any BMW design or build quality and finish for that modest-sized vehicle, and for my money its auto-transmission, instantly over-rideable on the fly to 6-speed manual, is the future of everyday motorcycling. And costing exactly HALF the price of the new R1200R that I intended to buy at the time before I tried the Honda. It's entirely Japanese, made at the factory that was hit by the terrible terramoto a couple of years ago - and doesn't contain a ton of components out-sourced from China but priced out at BMW's scandalous charges.

Ride Safe and kind regards from sunny Andalusia.

AL

Well, the parts thing is not specific to bmw. All manufacturers protect their parts and it's up to the aftermarket to decide to "offer" a replacement depending how much money THEY can make by reproducing it.

The F650CS a company would go broke offering that belt as so few were sold. (and for good reason in the US)

As far as buying parts from other countries, the list is long of companies that buy parts from Mexico, China, Thailand, India, etc,etc

Harley, Indian, Honda, Triumph, Kawasaki, and on and on.

Of course HD and Triumph have a number of models made overseas even your dear Honda. And I think even your NC750 is made in Thailand. Apologies if I'm wrong.

Kawasaki quads are made by Kymco in Taiwan and China.

It's a global world whether we like it or not.

Sounds like you have a dog in the fight against bmw so have at it.

Just know they aren't the only greedy pigs at the trough.

I've worked at dealerships selling Hon, Yam, Kaw, Suz, Can Am, Duc,Tri, MV, Husq, Kym, BMW, Ind, Roy Enf, and the only ones who were real folks were Kymco and Royal Enfield but you can't make payroll on two thin slices of the pie like they are.

The NC Honda bikes are exclusively and entirely made in Japan.

The engine in the BMW C650 scooter is made in China by Kymco. The Kymco equivalent scooter to the BMW one is € five grand cheaper. I've seen it and ridden one.

As long as people maintain unquestioning brand loyalty, firms like BMW will get ever richer at the expense of the customer.

Regards,

AL

Not sure a company would stay in business long if it did not get rich at the expense of the customer

Are the Kymco and BMW scooters identical? Other wise apples to oranges.

The Kymco scooter isn't the "equivalent" it uses the same engine platform with less displacement and the scooter has many less bells and whistles so it is apple strudel and orange chicken.

The huge advantage the Kymco has is that it's belt drive, not the bmw specified idiotic enclosed chain drive with expensive service intervals and replacement requirments.

Bmw has used Kymco for several years as an engine supplier for the small bikes.

I've owned 4 Kymco scooters and sold many of them during the years we had them at the bmw dealership I worked at.

The reliability and customer service is amazing.