Hi Erik,
Welcome to the club. I too had KitchenAid stand mixer problems. Not
motor problems but gear problems. It seamed that when it got tired
of working so hard it would just strip out its little gears and take
a break, no pun intended. I was able to repair it myself, but with
no help from the manufacturer. They refused to sell me the parts so
I had to purchase them from a local authorized repair facility that
was about as friendly as an enraged scorpion.
One cold February day 2002, the King Arthur flour caravan came to our
town and put on a school. I noticed that they were using Bosch
mixers so after the class I inquired. The lady who conducted the
class told me that she had a preference for the Bosch machines and
recommended them highly. A week later I had a brand new Bosch
Concept7 mixer sitting on my counter. I've used that machine at
least two times a week ever since. I've made recipes from six cups
of flour to twelve cups of flour and it never missed a beat. In
fact, it performs better with the heavier load. I've made plain
white bread and the stiffest rye breads and it never even whimpers
under the burden. The only way you'd get that machine away from me
is to pry it out of my cold dead hands.
Brett