NHTSA Complaint #10759855 — 2012 BMW R 1200 GS

I WAS TRAVELLING SAFELY IN THE MIDDLE LANE AT SPEED LIMIT IN HEAVY INTERSTATE TRAFFIC. I CHANGED LANES INTO THE FAST LANE UNDER SLIGHT ACCELERATION AND THE ENGINE LOST POWER COMPLETELY. I COULD NOT RESTART THE BIKE AND SO TRIED TO GET INTO THE SLOW LANE AS THERE WAS NO ROOM ON THE INSIDE SHOULDER. IN TRYING TO MOVE SAFTELY TO THE SHOULDER I WAS NEARLY STRUCK BY THREE DIFFERENT VEHICLES, ONE SEMI TRAILER AND TWO PASSENGER CARS THAT WERE TRAVELLING AT NEARLY TWICE MY RATE OF SPEED DUE TO MY LOSS OF POWER. AFTER PULLING TO THE SIDE, I STRAINED MYSELF TRYING TO COME TO A SAFE STOP PRIOR TO THE ENTRANCE TO A HIGHWAY EXIT LANE, WORRIED THAT I MAY BE STRUCK. I CALLED THE DEALER FOR THE VEHICLE AND WITH MINIMAL TROUBLESHOOTING IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE FUEL STRIP (GAUGE) FOR THE FUEL LEVEL HAD FAILED AND WAS FALSELY DISPLAYING A 185 MILE RANGE. IN FACT THE TANK WAS EMPTY. THIS GAUGE HAD ALREADY BEEN REPLACED FOR BEING FAULTY BY THE DEALER AND THEY SAW THIS IN THEIR RECORDS WHICH IMMEDIATELY LED THEM TO THE FAILURE. THIS IS A KNOWN FAILURE AMOUNG MANY BMW ENTHUSIASTS ON SEVERAL BMW MOTORCYLE MODELS. BMW CLAIMS THERE AR ENOT EMOUGH COMPLAINTS TO WARRANT A RECALL. I WOULD BE HAPPY TO SUPPLY A LARGE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS IN HARD COPY TO COUNTER THEIR MISCONCEPTION AND OR LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY. THIS IS SIMILAR TO RECALLS ON VEHICLES WITH DEFECTIVE CAMSHAFT SENSORS CAUSING ENGINE POWER FAIL AND SHOULD BE VALUED AS THE SAME ON A TWO WHEELED VEHICLE WITH FAR LESS PROTECTION IN SUCH INSTANCES. UPON INQUIRY BMW MOTTORAD HAS MADE NO EFFORT IN RESPONDING TO ANY PROGRESS THEY HAVE MADE IN RECTIFYING THE ISSUE OTHER THAN QUIETLY ACKNOWLEDING IT BY GOING BACK TO MECHANICAL FUEL GAUGES WITH NEARLY NIL FAILURE RATES. DO WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL SOMEONE DIES OR WILL THE NHTSA TAKE ACTION ? I HOPE IT IS NOT ONE OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS!