BMW of North America submitted a safety recall report to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on October 15, 2025, and it concerns the 2026 BMW R 1300 RT. What's the issue? According to the company's records, approximately 3 bikes that were manufactured between April 23, 2025 and May 7, 2025 may have a cardan shaft that "may not have been sufficiently hardened according to specifications."
This incorrect manufacturing process could, in turn, result in universal joint slippage within the shaft. And that, in turn, could result in a sudden loss of propulsion while a rider is operating the bike, which could increase the rider's risk of a crash if this were to happen.
According to the company's chronology, BMW in Germany (the parent company of BMW of North America) first received a report of a universal joint slipping within the shaft on a 2025 BMW R 1300 RT. The company then initiated an investigation to find the root cause. That's when it discovered that a very small batch of these parts had been insufficiently hardened during their production process, and identified the batch of parts that had already been installed on motorcycles. This investigation started on July 2, 2025.
By October 1, 2025, BMW opted to conduct a safety recall, but says it has not received any reports of accidents or injuries related to this issue that have occurred.
BMW of North America notified its dealer network about this issue on October 8, 2025, and also plans to notify registered owners of affected motorcycles on November 21, 2025. Owners of affected 2026 BMW R 1300 RTs will be instructed to contact their local authorized BMW dealers to arrange recall service.
At the recall service, the cardan shafts will be replaced with new units that were manufactured correctly, free of charge. Owners may contact BMW North America customer service at 1-800-525-7417. Additionally, owners may contact the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-888-275-9171) or go to www.nhtsa.gov. NHTSA's campaign number for this recall is 25V672.
Incidentally, if you're in the US and you're reading about this recall, and you're also aware of the current state of federal government shutdown that has been underway since October 1, 2025, you may be wondering how NHTSA is still publishing vehicle safety recall reports. I wondered, too, so I found out that it's because the Department of Transportation has alternative sources of funding outside of the ones affected by the shutdown. Thus, it is still operational at this time, which is good if you care about vehicle safety recalls getting out to people in a timely fashion.
