Your glass was certainly more than half full this morning. Sorry, BMW are renowned for their under carpet sweeping prowess.
Everyone's concern is the simple fact that BMW have left too much of it's beta testing to early adopter customers for quite some while now. Sometimes it works out OK, so you beat the opposition to the market, sometimes not. Here we have another example of contracting out engine supply only to find things going wrong, moving away from Rotax & a relatively short supply line, to China can't have helped. Personally I'm no China basher; it's up to the Mothership to lay down & then enforce quality controls in line with their contract. As JonnyB's post highlights, we all became a tad suspicious with the delay & low key launch. If rumours are correct, at least we don't have an issue the size of the RT rear shock debarcle, but still this reflects poorly on Berlin. As an F650GS owner I was interested in checking out the new F750 model - KTM must be laughing all the way to the bank.
Well, to me, the full glass approach have proven superior if I want to achieve my goals, so it comes highly recommended.
As for the Beta testing, it is my impression that BMW does test their products as much as any of their competitors. What makes them stand out compared to most of their competitors is that for BMW a new bike is a NEW bike. No slightly modified engine or frame. While this way of doing things make them more voulnerable to hidden issues they take care of their customers once the issue has been established. And in my bubble they do a superior job as compared to their competition.
To mention a couple of examples:
I have some friends that ride the Triumph Explorer. A fine bike, no doubt. The three guys have purchased four Explorers in the periode 2012 - 2016. Amongst the four bikes, four of the bikes have been brought home on a lorry with serious engine breakdown. In four out of four cases the owner had to work hard to convince Triumph that the breakdown was none of his wrong doing. Three of the bikes were repaired while number 4 got a new engine. In all cases the process was a frustrating experience for the owner and the riding season was cut in half. No loaner bike, no nothing, they had prime riding season ruined. Today, only one of them stil rides his Explorer, and he is considering to follow his two mates that now rides 1200GS.
An other guy bought a new KTM 1290R Adventure. Bike delivered in April this year. First week of may, a heavy oil leak was discovered from one of the cylinder. To cut a long story short, the bike is still in the shop, the guy has been without a ride since beginning of may, and he is now looking into buying a cheap bike while waiting for wonder to be fixed, and he is lawyering up to cancel the deal or get a new bike..
These are cases I know who the persons are. I have heard of more cases of the KTM. So my friend, I don't think KTM are laughing, and their customers certainly are not, at least not all of them.
One more: A friend of mine discovered a knocking sound from the engine in his 4 years old F800GS, with 60 000 Km of hard riding, lots of it heavy offroad (heavy as bike falling over etc).
He brought the bike to the dealer , and dealer told him they would look into it. A good week later, the dealer called him and said: We found som unusual wear in one of the cylinders. This should not happen. BMW is shipping a new engine. It will be here in a couple of days. The guy was back on the road in less than two weeks.
A long life have given me a lot of riding buddys with all kind of bikes. While BMWs for sure are not without flaws, I can not think of a single brand that takes better care of their customers and step up with loaner bikes if a flaw is discovered.
So my friend. Yes, my glass is half full, and I would not hesitate bying a new or used BMW bike fearing the quality and support from my dealer.