BMW M models are at the pinnacle of motorcycling, whether that's the M 1000 R, which is essentially a naked road-legal race bike, or an M 1000 XR, which is a race-legal road bike (yes, I made that up). Unexpectedly needing to input more effort to steer either of these 200 hp-plus machines is the last thing you want, but unfortunately, that might just happen.
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2024-2025 M 1000 XR, and M 1000 R motorcycles. Some of these models might have a defective steering damper that has a loose valve pin within the housing, which can cause an unexpected increase in steering effort. The unexpected increase in steering effort can result in a loss of control, increasing the risk of a crash, injury, and even death.
There are 51 potentially affected units and dealers will replace the steering damper, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on May 19, 2025. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1- 888-275-9171) or go to www.nhtsa.gov.
The safety recall was issued on March 27, 2025, and the NHTSA campaign number is 25V194000.
This isn't the first time that one of BMW's M models has been involved in news surrounding reliability. Last year, the Bavarian brand's flagship model, the M 1000 RR was the subject of a video where it suffered a "massive engine failure" and BMW refused to cover the $15,000 engine replacement bill under warranty.
The user had fitted an aftermarket SC-Project exhaust and was dyno-testing the bike, which isn't out of the ordinary, but it was found that the owner went 250 rpm over the rev limit and prematurely removed the bike's 600-mile break-in rev limiter. The whole ordeal split opinions about who was in the right. Thankfully, this recall is more clear-cut.
