Harley-Davidson Sportster vs BMW R1200 GS

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Harley-Davidson Sportster	BMW R1200 GS
Complaints on file	75	186
Model years covered	1985–2008	2004–2018
Worst model year	—	2005
Best model year	—	2009
Crashes reported	9	6
Fires reported	0	3
Injuries reported	7	4
Deaths reported	2	0
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Fuel & Propulsion
Share of complaints involving harm	24%	7%

Harley-Davidson Sportster by year

5 2 1 6 1 7 8 11 8 7 10 6 1 2

85 88 92 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 05 07 08

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 12 16.0%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 12 16.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 10 13.3%

Brakes 9 12.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 9 12.0%

Electrical System 5 6.7%

Lights 5 6.7%

Steering 4 5.3%

BMW R1200 GS by year

4 46 4 29 23 22 7 1 5 7 14 15 5 4

04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 18

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Fuel & Propulsion 64 34.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 30 16.1%

Brakes 23 12.4%

Suspension 15 8.1%

Engine & Cooling 14 7.5%

Electrical System 13 7.0%

Body & Structure 8 4.3%

Steering 7 3.8%