NHTSA Complaint #11668176 — 2002 BMW K SERIES

Approximately on Nov 25, 2024, my BMW K1200RS started on fire. I backed out of my garage and driveway onto the street. I started it up, and within a couple minutes it began smoking. I turned if off immediately and looked under the front of the bike and saw flames. I ran into my house and grabbed my fire extinguisher, and put out the flames. I had help pushing it back into my garage. About a week later I took off the left side panel and reviewed the damage. I put in a claim to my insurance. The agent that contacted me acted as if it was my fault and did this on purpose without saying so. I would agree to having the company take it away. I did not believe I would ever see it again if I complied. I canceled my claim and decided to repair it myself. It tool me 4 months to get parts and repair it. It was a very difficult job. I took many photos to document the damage. I contacted BMW about it because I discovered that others that owned the same model or very similar model with the same engine also had the same problem with about the same mileage and same year. I sent photos to a BMW representative that had its team review the photos. I did this because I think that it needed to know and investigate. After a month later, the representative contacted me, and told me they did not determine anything. I was told that since I repaired the bike, they could not make any determination. My photos were enough to show the cause, which I still have. My conclusion is that one of the fuel injectors had cracked somewhere and the voltage connection to the injector started the fire. Even though I was able to save the bike, the flames had burned many parts including the wiring harness on the left side. This was not a maintenance issue. I did my own oil changes, etc. I owned this for over 5 years, and was the 3rd owner. I believe that the injector was faulty. This should be investigated. I have photos to prove my claim. This could have caused an explosion.