PART 2 (May 24, 2018 - updated June 1, 2018):

A Gift to US Moto Marketing Departments
This following point-by-point report about the historic and frankly amazingly successful turnaround of BMW motorcycle brand for the US market is my gift to the US motorcycle industry and all the marketing departments of the active brands here. Hope it motivates our various marketing departments to do more to help reenergize our US market.

The Most Successful Motorcycle Brand Transformation in US History?
Well, OK I admit, that crown belongs to Willie G. Davidson and the fantastic turn around of Harley-Davidson in the late '70s and early '80s due to incredible marketing. But right after that and certainly the benchmark for this century was the total transformation of BMW motorcycles image in the US from 2003 to 2008.

A Perfect Storm of Support for Brand Perception Change
It's impossible for such a massive brand transformation to occur without the support of all parties involved. Meaning no matter how eager the US marketing team may have been at the time, if the top execs didn't see a reason to go with bold advertising and large budgets, it would have never happened. The top execs at that time in US or Germany could have easily said we don't believe in bold marketing, we're a premium brand and we'd like to maintain a low-key image. But due to the perfect storm of goodwill from all parties involved, including the top 2 US execs who were both from Europe (Spain and Germany) and the team in Germany, all were onboard to help revive the US market for BMW motorcycles. Adding to the perfect storm the US marketing team was led by a moto marketing visionary (LK) who understood the American riders and why we ride. Without his talent none of this would have been possible.

The Historic Brand Transformation:
BMW Motorcycles US 2003-2008
The below list covers marketing tactics and campaigns that took place for a few years before the launch of the S1000RR in 2009. These are highlights of some of the marketing steps we took in that time period (roughly about 50% of activities). Keep in mind the list is meant to be rider-friendly, hence I will not be focusing on behind the scenes details. So no B2B info but only B2C (business to consumer). Also will not cover sales initiatives. The below list is only about marketing campaigns and strategies that were released to consumers.

1. Major Demo Ride Initiative
When you're the underdog you'd want to give as much free access to your product as possible. In an era when basically no moto brand was offering demos, BMW US made demos into an art form. Our demo trucks where practically crisscrossing the country all year round. But more importantly dealers were encouraged to have as many demo bikes on hand as possible. So it was rather easy to demo the latest BMW bikes.

2. Stunt Shows
BMW was already doing a type of stunt show called the ABS demo. It showed how ABS successfully stopped the bike on less than ideal road conditions. However a few years after the release of a James Bond movie (Tomorrow Never Dies, '97) featuring an action sequence involving the R1200C cruiser, the stunt shows were kicked into high gear. The shows started in Europe first, but after a few years the ABS demos were replaced with full on stunt shows in the US as well. And initially they were shockers. No one thought BMW bikes that were known at that time to be heavier and underpowered to be capable of stunts. The stunts helped gradually change the perception of BMW bikes.

3. Events, Rides, Rallies & Track Days
In the '00s, the US team became very much involved with creating several high profile events, rallies and rides. The events were basically booked around the demo trucks' availability. These events were typically set in scenic locations and were open to all. BMW US also set up highly popular free track days with lunch included. The track days were open to anyone on a BMW bike. People got to ride their Beemers on the track a few times during the day. In addition we organized concours events, and for the 30th anniversary of the GS, an Anti-Concours where no clean GSes were considered. Almost all BMW events at that time were fully booked.

4. Giveaways
BMW US also made sure to create a lot of positive noise for giving away free bikes in raffles. Imagine winning a brand new BMW motorcycle, wow. Well, many did and this generated a lot of goodwill and positive buzz for the brand.

5. Racing the Boxer Engine?
At that time the K bikes were the performance range but simply too heavy for racing. So the only sport bike that BMW had was the R1100S. However the R1100S on paper couldn't compete with the Japanese. Very cleverly BMW Germany created the BoxerCup, an all R11S club races that were scheduled during the same weekend as major racing events in Europe. The BoxerCup turned out to be engaging on TV. That's because the Boxer engine with the cylinders sticking way out created amusing dilemmas on the track, such as racers accidentally bumping their cylinder heads together or scraping the cylinders during cornering. All this was pure entertainment on TV and garnered a lot of good press and positive buzz for BMW. Also just seeing BMWs on track helped give the brand a more performance edge.

6. Long Way Round - 2004
Every bike manufacturer dreams of their machines being featured in another viral TV series like the Long Way Round. Boorman and MacGregor famously first went to KTM, before jumping on two BMW R1150GS Adventure bikes and help change the perception of BMWs forever and expand the cult of the GS the same time. When you have two cool guys riding your bikes around the world for a hit TV series while beating the hell out of the bikes, dropping them hundred times, even get rear-ended by a car yet they keep going--you got yourself not just a bike company but a religious cult. Needless to say BMW got very lucky with Long Way Round's run-away success. It was a historical milestone for BMW.

7. BMW Revamps & Restyles - 2004
With the help of their chief designer at that time, David Robb, BMW decided to stop playing the underdog and match their car division in creating some of the most powerful and sought after vehicles in the world. In another word BMW motorcycles got serious and they haven't stopped since. In 2004, lightness, high tech and high performance became the key words. BMW in fact became the leader in technology on bikes. They were not only first with ABS, but also with quick shifter (clutchless shifts), electronic suspension adjustment, tire pressure monitoring, heated grips, advanced cruise control on various models not just touring bikes, among others.

8. The Best Moto Ad Campaign in US History?
There are some old memorable ad campaigns such as the Norton Girl, or Honda's Nicest People, but none come close to the tag lines that BMW motorcycles US created to go with the new attitude at BMW with the lighter/faster bikes from 2004 onward.

To understand how important the ballsy and attention grabbing US ad campaigns of that era were, think of a 15-year-old Brooke Shields in the famous Calvin Klein ad: "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing." It's ads like this that change brand history.

Some of the brilliant and famous BMW US taglines that totally got in people's faces, under their skin and forced them to notice BMW bikes and actually want to join the cult of BMW were:

"But officer I was only in 3rd gear."
"I never knew BMW made cars until I passed one."
"You don't need a hibachi to cook Japanese."
"Bring it on."
"The ride is on."
"The baddest motorcycle on the road."
"Pass airplanes."
"It's even uglier as it passes you."
"The fastest line between two points is a red line."
"The most powerful naked bike ever."
"The new BMW K1200R. No mercy."
"Yeah, I have a hairstylist, his name's helmet."

9. BMW at the Flat Track?
We had no shame and took no prisoners in our effort to expose the new BMW motorcycles to a whole new audience, even the flat track crowd. By collaborating with the famous flat track bike designer Ron Wood, we created a gorgeous prototype that received a 4-page spread in Cycle World (when it mattered) and raced at a few events.

10- Celebrities on BMWs
Celebs used to have a lot more say and influence on public opinion than they do today. In 2003 I started a series of interviews with celebs who rode bikes and liked BMWs. It began with Jay Leno (the most popular late night TV host) who even at that time had this large compound in Burbank, which today is known as Big Dog Garage. But in 2003 his large garages were very much a public secret, even though he had about 80 bikes and 80 cars already. At that time Jay had no BMW bikes in his collection. I interviewed and photographed him after he had gotten a new K bike. One of his quotes from the interview was there is automotive manufacturing standards and then there is airplane standards and the K1200RS is made with airplane quality standards. You can't put a price on that type of endorsement.

11- BMW XPLOR Community - Way Before Social Media
It's no secret that the key to Harley's success is their millions strong community. People don't buy into H-D's brand so much as they do into their image and community. A vibrant community is one of the best ways to win hearts and minds of new customers. BMW of US understood the importance of building a new community for the owners of new generation of BMW bikes; they planned to call it XPLOR. However, thinking about building a community, actually building one and making it a major hit are 3 totally different challenges. They sat on this idea for a couple of years.

Today, for example, the community format is already available, it's called Social Media and it's basically free. Back then everything had to be created and coded from scratch, so just building it was a huge and expensive undertaking. Also a community belonging to a major brand carried a lot of risk. It not only was an expensive project but there was no guarantee for its success or survival and there was a chance of brand backlash if not executed well.

In 2004, I launched an online community devoted exclusively to the brand new K1200S being released in the US that following year. This community called BMW-K and BMW Super Bikes became the largest privately owned BMW sport community on the web. It also started a couple of traditions that have now become standard online board decorum such as the civility code and the most important was to promote performance and racing customizations instead of just comfort. Before this new community, the focus on all online BMW discussion was how to make BMWs even more touring, which was the reason for all the negative stigmas associated with the brand. BMW's were known as slow and heavy bikes and their riders where making them even heavier.

My forum was about performance and lighter weight and we were already seriously into carbon fiber, exactly the message of the new BMW mindset. With the very rapid popularity of my forum and my columns in BMW ON and other print magazines at that time, it wasn't long before BMW approached me to help get their XPLOR community going.

Within a couple of years my RSP agency took over marketing responsibilities completely. The tasks were all digital consumer and dealer communications and all the collateral. All digital promos, including ads. Main site, plus promo sites made for special model releases. I launched and maintained a very successful consumer eNews for them, which during my time there was getting interaction rates 3 times the industry norms. Plus select special events, rallies and of course BMW's XPLOR communities, SM channels and lots more.

After my participation, the BMW XPLOR community was finally launched. It became popular but the user interface created by the ad agency initially was cumbersome. After a year or so, I took over the community in totality and with BMW's blessing redesigned it from the ground up. The XPLOR community was a big hit and we had close to 30,000 active users (that's a lot of people before SM). Eventually with the popularity of Facebook we moved our consumer communication and community to SM. However, XPLOR had an excellent multi-year run with lots of events and it was another great example of how to win hearts and minds of new riders.

12- Reaching Out to the Armed Forces
We also made a point of reaching out to members of our armed forces and basically all uniformed officers with special demo rides and incentives.

13- Great Press Team
BMW US press team was really great at that time. This was a huge asset for the brand. Most, if not all moto press teams tend to only want to take care of the A list, which is a big mistake. No serious rider really cares what a corporate-owned moto publication thinks, they tend to listen more to their peers or independent guys instead and that's the power of influencers. At that time what was considered the A list in the US were the known print mags. Keep in mind that almost all have gone away and one or two that are barely alive been reduced to few issues a year. However, even at that time BMW US press team understood the power of online bloggers and influencers.

At a time, when early bloggers or people running major boards couldn't get invited to press events or get access to press bikes, BMW worked closely with many of them. The other factor that made BMW press team so amazing was they didn't make a fuss about their bikes. Meaning if they felt that you were writing about their press bike with constant blogging, sharing of info, plus pics and videos they let you keep the bike for a while (sometimes a long while).

Compare that to some brands that would only let you keep a bike for a short few days and force you to cover the bike's insurance for the duration of use. That's laughable! The fact is, the reviewers are doing all the hard work, plus pics and videos and getting the brand huge exposure and many brands penalize them instead of supporting them. Also all press bikes are already covered by that brand's fleet insurance, why in the world do they ask for 2nd insurance coverage? BMW at that time never did any of this nonsense. If they felt that the person was going to give them worthwhile exposure, the bike was delivered with registration and insurance.

Conclusion of Part 2
The above are highlights of some of the marketing steps we took in that time period (roughly about 50% of activities). However, those were exciting times to be involved with the expansion of BMW. In early to mid '00s BMW bikes had such low brand awareness in the US that while riding my then custom K bike I was frequently asked, "BMW makes motorcycles?" Or those who knew a little about BMW would say, "How come the cylinders aren't sticking out?" One Long Island, NY couple getting out of a BMW 7 Series, with a thick LI accent, thought I had put a roundel (BMW badge) on a Kawasaki. I let them keep thinking that.

Actually to be totally frank that was part of the charm of riding K bikes at that time, no one knew what they were. It made you feel you belonged to some secret society. You knew something amazing that no one else had a clue. The other fun part was blowing by SQUIDS and seeing their reaction.

Unlike most riders who wanted the riding public to know that they are a so called "rebel" because they rode a Harley or are "really" into speed if they were on a sportbike, we wanted to go unnoticed. In fact we were the ultimate non-conformists and were really into performance without announcing it over the loudspeakers. We didn't ride for image or adulation but only for ourselves.

For me the main shift and a clear sign of our success in changing BMW's image was one day in 2009 when I got off my K1300S in Manhattan, a Japanese sportbike rider said: "damn, that's a fast bike." I said to myself, oh sh*t, it's all over, the secret society is no more, welcome to the mainstream. That's the price of success. By the time the S1000RR was pre-launched in 2009, thanks to all of our efforts (and 80-hour weeks), the US market was primed and ready for BMW.

PART 3 (June 7, 2018):

HOW TO WIN AGAIN

The World vs US
Motorcycling globally is in no real danger of slowdown. Asia will provide decades of demand for bikes regardless of method of propulsion. Europe seems to be enjoying healthy sales too, so far they are up 5% from 2017. India alone sells 17 million motorized two-wheel vehicles a year. Honda, the global leader, ships a whopping 10 million motorcycles a year--but less than 1% of that is in the US.

The issue is only the US market. Here new generations such as the millennials and the Gen Zs following them seem to be hooked on tech and show little interest in driving cars and almost no interest in motorcycles. Yes, car sales in the US will undergo major transformation in about 10 years, but this sales slowdown tsunami is hitting us first. Smartly, the car industry has already come up with numerous alternative methods to car ownership with options such as month-by-month, short term or flex leasing plus car sharing, ride sharing and in the distant future autonomous vehicles. We have none of those cutting edge leasing options in the US moto market yet.

Imagine...
Imagine if a busy 30- or 40-year old can lease a nice bike only for 3 or 4 months a year with maintenance and insurance included, rather than having to deal with year-round ownership hassles in cold-weather states? The car industry already provides such options, even as short as a single month leasing with everything included, and they deliver and pickup the vehicle.

Is Marketing a Dirty Word?
Many moto industry execs have little knowledge of marketing. For them the key to success is increasing dealer network, providing dealer support and offering as much incentives as possible to keep their bikes competitive also adding cheaper and smaller bikes. They also believe just getting some press would magically increase their volume. It doesn't work like that for motorcycles in the US.

Euro moto brands are tiny players in the US market. BMW, Ducati and Triumph combined only capture about 7% of total sales in the US. The key to tangible market share expansion, whether they like it or not, is great marketing and these days there is no marketing to speak of--it's all just Google ads promoting sales incentives or sharing pics on SM. Marketing is about winning hearts and minds. And you win hearts and minds by instilling a sense of "must have" in your buyers while demolishing all stigmas.

Global Branding vs Regional Strategy
Unlike their car counterparts, the European moto companies tend to follow a global branding strategy, meaning their home office working with large European ad agencies decide what marketing and branding steps to take for the whole world and that's that. If you have been following my "Woes" series it should be crystal clear by now that Euro marketing strategies do not work in the US.

The Yin & Yang of Euro Car vs Euro Bike Marketing in the US
The US offices of Euro car brands do not follow global marketing strategies. They understood long ago that the extremely competitive and lucrative US car market demands specific regional attention. Hence they typically have a US only marketing budget of $100m a year or more. Yes, $100 million a year just on US marketing. That's the funding for all the TV ads and constant notice of their cars on everything you see, touch and hear. In contrast, for a US office of a Euro moto brand $1m is a lot of money, even half of that is a fortune. So there is your core issue.

But then again in a given year BMW may sell 300,000 expensive cars here but only 13,000 basically low priced (compared to cars) bikes. So marketing budgets are naturally volume based and allocated as such. If you are wondering how we did all the insane US marketing mentioned in Part 2 in a short 5-year period, that's because BMW HQ very smartly allocated above average budgets to the US team at that time to cover this historic brand image transformation.

The Best and The Brightest?
Top talents are drawn to hot industries. Today in the US these industries are tech, Wall Street, entertainment, hot eateries, car industry and video games. The same reasons that prevent younger generations from wanting to ride also obviously prevent them from wanting to work in the relatively small US moto industry. Hence we remain, proudly, an industry of mostly enthusiasts (with obvious pros and cons of such structure).

US Has Lost Its Racing Mojo
BMW smartly pulled out of World Superbike in 2013, because they understood that racing no longer generates brand loyalty or has any impact on sales. In the US racing hasn't regained traction since the Matt Mladin days of 2000's. The great Mladin made Suzukis synonymous with success and winning. Up until the mid 2000's "Win on Sunday / Sell on Monday" phrase was still relevant. Mladin helped make the Gixxers (GSX-R1000) the most coveted sportbike at that time. But those days are behind us.

The US moto racing today is primarily a niche sport that is for the benefit of a small group of racing enthusiasts. For Euro brands with small budgets it's best to avoid investing in US racing. However, supporting dealer racing is recommended, since enthusiasm and passion for performance are contagious and will positively affect brand growth.

BMW Motorcycles US - Where Is The Marketing?
BMW Motorcycles US has been locked in sales/incentive-only mode for a few years. I don't blame them since sales, incentives, dealer & press relations are de facto mode of operation for all moto companies, however BMW will not be able to have a second breakthrough in the US market without great US-centric marketing talent. It's simply not possible. Their recent US sales topped at 15K units in 2015, and it dropped by about 16% in 2016 and another drop of 1.3% in 2017. No numbers for 2018 have been announced yet.

BMW motorcycles has a 30,000 unit potential in the US, but they'll never see major shift in current numbers if they only follow the sales/incentive agenda. Ironically, it's better not to do marketing at all, than do it poorly, because bad marketing will hurt sales.

The Good News
There're lots of positives about where BMW stands today in US moto market. Most of the marketing heavy lifting is already done; as mentioned in Part 2. The brand enjoys a healthy image and draws respect. These are major assets. However, with that said marketing of BMW bikes in the US shouldn't become trivial; it will hurt the brand.

Oops
The only marketing I've seen from BMW moto US in a few years is a video released months ago, which didn't become popular. It has received only 19K views on YT yet it's an official video by a hot major moto brand. It's certainly a dismal engagement rate. Don't mean to pick on that one video but hey there isn't anything else to comment on. Due to low interest factor many moto news sources didn't even bother picking it up, I know, cause I see ALL US moto news and most global moto news on daily basis.

The video looks to have been made by non-riders and that's shameful coming from BMW. Furthermore, it has a core message that technology is bad and is ruining your lives and the remedy is riding BMW bikes? Huh? The most technologically advanced moto brand in the world says tech is bad yet ride our super-high-tech, state-of-the-art premium bikes? Wow! Do I even need to explain that tech is a very big aspect of our daily lives (Apple is hitting $1 Trillion in value) and merging of tech and bikes, especially motorcycle accessories (such as Bluetooth or heads up display), are some of the hottest new segments in our industry? Also love of tech is one of the main reasons for younger generations' lack of interest in bikes. And it gets worse they put the silliest non-helmet-helmet on the guy that is riding the most iconic BMW bike of all time, yes the 12GS. Ooh, I can go on, but the poor video stats speak for themselves. (Sorry, but I will not even bother to link to it.)

Only Icon + Icon = Icon
BMW is iconic as a whole and also separately by various model ranges that they make: R1200GS & Adv, Touring, RR and Urban. The ad agencies should feel free to trivialize the Urban range all they want, that's the strength of that model range--also the smaller GSes. And yes we know, many riders of the 12GS never leave pavement and ride their bikes just to get a smoothie (so do Range Rover drivers). We get that, but your ads or promos shouldn't portray the big GS as anything but monumental. Same as the RR or the big touring bikes. BMW AG already has the model range branding down pretty solid; don't mess with it.

How to Win the US Market Again - On A Budget
Simple! I only have 3 points to make and one of them isn't even marketing.

1. Frankly if BMW US only does about 30% of the activities from Part 2, they'll be golden. Most of the great ideas to reignite the brand are already listed there, including creative Press relations. The key is creating rider engagement, pride of ownership and the desire to join the cult. However, you can't fake BMW mania or use generic marketing 101 tactics for this brand. Be authentic and only utilize talents that get this brand inside and out.

2. Drop Motorrad and Go Back to "Motorcycles"
Why would a US household brand intentionally antagonize the riding public? This is one of the biggest mysteries of branding I've seen. Although US market is extremely important to BMW yet they've chosen to distant themselves and create a language and cultural barrier to growth. By refusing to call themselves "motorcycles" (like every single other brand), and insist on using the German term, they are losing major growth opportunities in the US.

Their car division would never allow such insensitive move for the US market, so why is it happening with their bikes? This is a big branding blunder and is not befitting BMW.

3. Complementary Routine Maintenance for Life of Warranty
BMW should borrow a page from their highly popular US car division. BMW cars managed to unseat Lexus as the top luxury brand in the US several years ago by eliminating the worry of premium car ownership maintenance costs from the minds of buyers. Many car brands now offer some type of complimentary maintenance under warranty, also for certified pre-owned models. However, no motorcycle brand has yet to take advantage of this brilliant and crowd-pleasing sales/marketing scheme.

If BMW motorcycles US offers complimentary maintenance for life of warranty, this will be a gamechanger and a first for any motorcycle brand. It will not only create a very positive vibe for BMW but also take away inhibitions about purchase due to service costs. BMW already knows how to make this work in the US. Complimentary routine service is basically handled via new vehicle warranty system that is already in place with all new vehicles anyway. Meaning the same way that a new bike gets serviced at a dealer for bad transmission under warranty, that warranty system is extended to include oil changes and so on. It's not complicated and it will pay for itself with increased sales. Also complimentary maintenance during warranty brings new customers back to dealerships which is what every dealer wants.

Complete Marketing Plans
We have complete concepts plus detailed marketing plans for the above ideas and for many more suggestions.

PART 4 (November 13, 2019):

BMW & H-D Cross-Invade Stronghold Territories
Harley as a brand is strong; you can find their logo on whiskey as well as underwear and everything else in between. However, H-D as a motorcycle company is in trouble. Harley has an obligation to its stockholders to prove that they're doing all they can to dampen their market losses--going on for a few years now. So they looked over the stats for new bike sales and noticed that the US Adv market is not doing bad, why not make an Adv bike; "that should certainly boost our sales," so they thought. H-D is the undisputed king of large displacement cruisers. No one else can even come close, but all their past attempts at trying to break into other markets have failed terribly. Think V-Rod, Buell, MV, Alta and I am going to add LiveWire to that list too. (Consider that motorcycle prophecy.) I wish Harley luck with Pan America ;), but frankly their future lies in rebadging of Asian models that I already wrote about in Harley's Woes 8 and brand placement only.

BMW on the other hand is having a ball. They're planning to release a beautiful Harley clone next year at a time when the market for big cruisers is gradually dying off. But does it matter? This baby is not about stats or sales charts, it's about BMW lubricating their mojo and keeping the needle on the passion meter as close to 11 as possible. Frankly, I am impressed with how BMW AG has been handling the slow and methodical tease of the R18. We all know this is no competition for their mighty GS line of bikes and in fact in may only move a couple of thousand units globally. So what, just look at it? Talk about halo effect! I've covered the R18 a few times already, also shared spy shots of the fully dressed model as well. R18 models will compete with the Fat Boy and also the bagger. Bring it on BMW.

PART 5 (May 5, 2020):

2021 BMW R18 American Cruiser Deep Analysis - Bavarian Elvis Impersonator?
Last year over 3 million pickup trucks were sold in the US. They are by far the best selling vehicles here. What percentage of this massive market belongs to a Euro brand? Zero. Do you ever wonder why Japanese dominate every vehicle market they get into? How about why Euro brands are always minor players in the US--cars or bikes (regardless of price, including VW)? Japanese cater to the demand of the markets, Europeans dictate. Of course for Euro fans that's a good thing. This is why Honda sells 20m motorcycles worldwide compared to 160K for BMW, or 50K for Ducati and it gets even less impressive if you look at their US numbers alone. Our slideshow above starts with a BMW X7 pickup not by mistake, it's a reminder that even in the largest selling vehicle segment here, BMW decided to remain as German as possible, hence sell no pickups. Why do I tell you all this? I know some of you have figured it out already. BMW's entry into the American large displacement cruiser segment that has been owned in whole by H-D forever is similar to trying to enter the pickup segment. The big difference is they don't really want a chunk of the pickup market but they certainly dream of a piece of the cruiser segment.

Instead of creating a real competition for H-D, they offered a bike with marginal appeal. One of our readers came up with this tagline and I think it's spot on, R18 is "the Bavarian Elvis Impersonator." Let's do a deep analysis of the thinking behind the R18. Why would BMW deicide to join this shrinking and failing US segment at this time? I doubt BMW was unaware that all American cruisers are very roomy and offer foot forward riding position; perhaps they hoped that its Euro styling would win over buyers anyway. Which marketing agency told them that Americans would pay $5K for rims or $3K for V&H pipes on a non-H-D, non-proven, first time out model range? The fee for accessories turned out to be such a blunder that BMW removed the prices from their website. What group of "experts" told BMW that American cruiser riders are all 30-something hipsters, so make sure to devote your marketing dollars to that target audience? And my last question for now, how can this bike weigh so much? If you follow the slideshow above, you can see that a Bagger and a touring version are on their way, but with that riding position only BMW diehards would show interest. H-D and Indian have nothing to worry from Bavaria. That's nothing new; Ford has never had to worry about the Europeans in the pickup truck segment either.

PART 6 (October 14, 2020):

A Bike Made for 5 Guys Named Kyle
"I'm glad Harley riders aren't liking the R18. We don't want them in our club. Why's BMW going after them anyway?" Wrote an obvious BMW fan. BMW foresees the R18 to become as big a seller as the GS line and they are shipping half of their production volume to the US. Oh BMW, where do I begin? First let's define success for BMW motorcycles USA. For them a couple of hundred units is considered a good selling model. If a bike sells 3 per dealer (~500), OMG, we have a blockbuster hit. Back in Sept. BMW announced that they think a small group of millennials with deep pockets who are into cruisers may not be as loyal to H-D or any other American brand and they might consider an alternative option. Let's break this down. Rich American millennials who are actually into heavy cruisers (instead of lighter cruisers like the Sportster or urban commandos like '70s BMWs, Triumphs and Hondas) are going to buy thousands of this bike that has little sex appeal (compared to a mega chick- and bro-magnate like H-D) to help it reach the sales volume of their best selling GS line, that's the ADV benchmark with 40 years of history, covering 3 engine platforms in 6 different models with an entry price of only $5K.

Anyone who says 'I hate to be right' is a big fat liar. I've been preaching this bike's marginal appeal since day one. For me it's not a question of being right, it's just that the US market has a distinct pulse that I have a sixth sense about and am intimately familiar with. The rules that guide our market don't exist anywhere else, not even in Canada. And Euro bike managers have never understood it. Euro brands have miniscule footprints here (~2%), because the US doesn't go big for their products. US likes H-Ds and the Japanese. I've mentioned in the past that the R18, geared for the US market, is 15 years too late. It should have been launched before the 2008 cruiser marker meltdown (and the US market in general). Will it sell here? What's our bar for a hit in the US? For Samsung it's 3M of a phone, for Harley it's 30K of a bike, for BMW US it's 3 of a model per dealer. I think it will be a "hit," as long as a bunch of well-to-do millennials named Kyle or Cooper decide that posing with this bike will increase their Instagram followers. Also counting of course on a few BMW riders who will be attracted to this bike, because of the blue and white roundel. Although BMW designed this bike for conquest of riders from H-D, it will ultimately only attract current BMW fans in the US. If BMW was serious about a chunk of the US cruiser market they should have bought Indian when they had the chance. They won't get it with this bike nor with the cramped touring versions in the slideshow above.

PART 7 (July 14, 2021):

It's Time! Ignite the US Market for Euro Brands
"You're so right about BMW. We had a choice of so many premium cars but decided on a lease on a Bimmer because of their free maintenance program. Why motorcycle brands aren't following this trend?" J. Crane, MOTO Subscriber

BMW sells as many cars in the US as the mighty Mercedes (about 300K), in fact they recently beat Merc in volume. That's due partly to MB's very weak sales and marketing team. There is no reason for MB not to double their sales here. Although BMW also has an uninspiring marketing group (the days of creative marketing seems to be long gone), but their sales and incentive team are good. They are motivated. In those days we were creating new incentive packages every month. Although I was in marketing, but I did provide sales and dealer support with promos (collaterals). In the US all new BMW cars come with BMW Ultimate Care standard. Buy a BMW car and don't spend a penny on maintenance for 3 years. Just put gas and go. You can't beat that! Talk about total peace of mind on an expensive purchase (or lease). That's the secret to their relative success in the US.

Complementary Maintenance for Life of Warranty on BMW Motorcycles and Ducati
I've been pitching complementary maintenance for life warranty on BMWs and Ducatis sold in the US for a few years. With falling US sales, it's high time that they implemented this great program. If BMW motorcycles US starts to offer the same Ultimate Care concept as their auto division, it will not only increase their volume by potentially 10 to 20% but will inspire Ducati to do the same here. This would also put Ducati on the path of combating their reliability stigma in the US.

A Boon for Dealers
Complementary maintenance during warranty is actually a real boon for dealers. This will prevent riders from working on their bikes; it will also keep bringing them back to dealerships. When the riders are in the dealers because they are getting a free maint, they'll look around at accessories, apparel and new models. Also this will create a great buzz for premium Euros. The message is simple, buy our expensive bikes and don't spend a penny on service for the life of warranty. This is how BMW auto division is winning in the US and it's time our industry followed.

It's a Win, Win, Win
BMW has a 3-year, 36K miles limit on their bike warranty, Ducati offers only a 2-year warranty. Generally speaking Duc riders don't put much miles on their machines, so a free maint for 2 years is a no brainer. It might initially cost Duc US a little extra expenditure but will bring in lasting sales boost covering that early investment and more (there is a tiny b2b secret to plan this right). And since BMW group US already has the free maint, they can easily transfer the same program to their moto division and with the 36K miles limit, there is no worry of covering BMW riders who put huge miles. This is a win, win, win. It's good for brands, dealers and riders and will generate great buzz.

The System is Already in Place
In case you're wondering if this new free service would involve creating complex (expensive) accounting and digital algorithms, the short answer is no. There is already such system in place for brands paying for service; it's called the warranty. That's how Ducati is smartly managing to offer 2-year free service to the affected Multi V4 owners. If a motorcycle develops issues while under warranty, the brand pays the dealer (at a special rate) to remedy the problem. In the same way the dealer could easily provide scheduled maintenance, if supported by the brand, for the life of warranty. The system is already in place. Euro moto brands aren't doing too well here, this will certainly ignite popular interest. In fact, they can't afford to ignore this.

PART 8 (September 15, 2021):

BMW ODs on "Kool-Aid" - The R18
If you've kept up with my writings you'd know that I consider BMW among the most highly motivated automotive brands, in reference to sales and incentives. This brand has a very unique talent for constant push for larger volumes, lower overhead and greater profit margins. For example, in 2020, the Munich-based company shipped about 2.3 million autos worldwide. That constant eagerness for expansion used to be limited to the car division as their tiny motorcycle legacy brand wasn't pressured too hard to contribute to the overall revenue. However, all that changed when BMW Group transformed their motorcycle division to become highly relevant and competitive about 17 years ago.

Up until now they have successfully maintained a coherent and consistent vision for their motorcycle division. A vision that is in keeping with the desires and expectations of the elite riders worldwide, specially for their premium models, such as the boxer (R) and the K bikes. The K1600 for example is pure BMW, even though it was a new direction for them with the 1600cc I6. No one raised an eyebrow when BMW released the massive luxo-tourer K1200LT in 1998, because everything about that bike projected BMW DNA but in a larger package.

All cheered when BMW released a totally conventional sport bike, the S1000RR, and even made it a best seller (for a while) in that segment. No one questioned that decision, because it seemed like an authentic execution, even though it had none of the usual features we expect from top bikes at BMW.

What do all these hot and successful models have in common: K1200RS, K1200LT, R1200GS/A, K1600GT/L, K1300S, S1000RR? They were designed by Mr. BMW, David Robb. Robb understood BMW design DNA and the importance of consistently of vision for a premium brand.

Back in 2012, the famed former BMW designer David Robb suddenly quit the brand. Robb was with BMW for about 20 years and he was one of the motivators for turning the motorcycle dept to be more like their cars, a performance oriented product. (I wrote about this in the last issue.) Robb also had a highly coveted VP status with this major global brand and of course was on his way to a healthy pension with perks. As a reference, the head of US motorcycles also carries a VP status. Why would Robb just give the finger and walk out? The official reason has always been that "he had an argument with a colleague." I think he left because he was unable to prevent BMW from making the replacement for the old R1200C cruiser, a giant boxer. He knew it wouldn't fly. They didn't listen and being a passionate person that he is, I am assuming that he wanted nothing to do with it. This of course is only my assumption and I could be wrong about Robb's departure, however, building a new American style cruiser has been on BMW's list for more than 10 years.

This recent widely panned misstep by BMW proves that the brand will do anything just to sell a few bikes. That's a new development and it's highly unsettling. With the touring variations on the R18, they unintentionally signal that Harley-Davidson has been right all along.

What options did BMW have to tackle this very specific wholly Harley-owned market segment? The answer is so easy it might shock you. Learn from S1000RR. Let me explain.

S1000RR - A PRODUCT OF HUMILITY
I've written about this topic numerous times, BMW won with the RR because they offered the market exactly what it was used to riding. The S1000RR was a 100% Japanese style bike that successfully projected as a BMW. There was nothing on that bike that would have prevented a sport bike rider from owning one (except for the stigma of Euro bikes' high cost of service, which BMW did nothing about, a huge mistake, but I digress). It even had an MSRP of only $15K. A total Japanese superbike with a great price, good looks but with a BMW badge. This is a textbook example of how to dominate new market segments, give them what they want, not what you think they should want.

R18 - A PRODUCT OF "KOOL-AID" OR BRAND ARROGANCE
"Drinking the Kool-Aid" means when a premium brand believes its own hype. When that happens it's game over for that company and they may not be able to correct course without new blood. BMW has only 2% of the US market. This is not an indication of a popular brand. It's a point that they simply don't get. Honda sells 20M motorcycles globally, BMW 160K even with scooters and models as cheap as 310cc. BMW did have a hit with the RR because it was conventional. It's pure Japan with a Roundel. With the R18 they should have followed that mindset with a pure US cruiser with the blue and white logo.

It wouldn't be possible to win or even make an impact as a newcomer in highly established market segments, such as sport bikes, dirt bikes and cruisers without the shock and awe factor. The RR had it in spades; the R18 in fact projects negative desirability. If BMW wanted to own this market they should have blown all the stats out of the water, like they did with the RR. BMW is not a stranger to failure, the G450X dirt bike came and gone in only a year and never even made it to the state of CA. They'll survive this error in judgment, but they are losing credibility as a high-tech leader, since tech is now everywhere on all bikes. Here's a radical thought: If BMW really wants to double their sales volume they need to take the "BMW" out from their bikes and go totally conventional, like Honda.

If they had only made a highly coveted Limited Edition Heritage model called simply the R18 Cruiser, with finite quantity, numbered and as a homage to their past, it would have been triumphant. It would have made the most sense to launch that bike in 2023 as a 100 anniversary special edition. But this monstrosity is trying to shove a brand that's not popular in the US in the first place, down the throat of stalwart, highly committed and extremely passionate H-D owners. Also their poor reasoning of assuming Hipsters going to buy it is just silly. They naturally didn't randomly come up with that data. These brands typically use large European data collection agencies and these guys can't distinguish a motorcycle from a bottle of detergent. It's not their job to be experts on bikes or on detergents, they just use routine research and provide generic data as fact.

If BMW wanted even a tiny bit of this market, they should have done what they did with the RR, take the BMW out and offer the public a German designed American V-2 Harley clone. This new R18 Transcendental is also a H-D clone of course, but is not competitive. Additionally they could have upped the game with a V4 with massive torque or even a narrow 1800cc game-changing V6. Two key points are for the side profile to project an American style V2 cruiser and it must be foot-forward. Frankly a superb V2 may have been sufficient to sell some bikes here, but a hyper fast V6 (or a V5, 3 front/2 back) would have gotten ton of attention.

Is it all downhill from here? Well, they may lose some of the purists like me, but BMW is on path for global market growth. They may not be able to radically increase their numbers in the US, but this is a huge planet and emerging markets adore BMW. Don't cry for BMW, Argentina, they'll be fine.

PART 9 (March 11, 2022):

The Illusion of Growth Sustained by the Pandemic – Will it Last? Does it Matter?
Back in the early days of the pandemic I wrote that it’s going to create the biggest cabin fever of the century. The pandemic forced people to flock to all things outdoors and luxury. It was as though they woke up and become aware of their mortality. All outdoors related industries experienced massive growth. The pandemic may have saved our small but precious premium motorcycle market too—for now. A simple glance at the 2021 sales numbers would suggest that our industry is back. Things are looking good. Numbers are up across the board.

I am happy that things are looking up for a change for the US market, but will this boost in sales last? It’s a safe bet that the US premium moto market will not crash hard post pandemic. The market, naturally, will gradually stabilize. I suggest waiting a full 3 years post pandemic to get a real sense of the market’s biometrics. This means that if we’re fully over this nightmare by the end of this year, the 2025 sales figures (revealed in 2026) will show the real health of the industry. In the meantime enjoy the ride.

Record Setting Year for Many Industries
All outdoors and transportation (land, air, water) related industries are experiencing growth and the sales of pretty much every motorcycle brand is up. Ducati hit 60K for the first time, and BMW reached close to 200K in sales. However, no other press release from any brand on any product in any industry that has experienced growth due to the pandemic padded itself on the back except for BMW. Ducati smartly mentioned that the growth is due to people needing to have fun and to get out of doors. BMW on the other hand said, we grew because we have a hard-working team. It’s not their fault, they just can’t help it. BMW’s strength is in sales strategy, they don’t get marketing and don’t write good Press releases.

2021 was an incredible year for diverse industries, not just automotive. Here are some headlines. Private Jets: “Some of the leading global private jet companies have reported record sales in 2021.” Boats: “New boat sales were up 30 percent compared to the 2020.” Yachts: “The superyacht sales market was positively booming and it looked like new yacht sales over 30 metres (100 feet) would exceed the full year 2021.” Fishing: “The fishing equipment market has experienced three consecutive years of growth, according to The NPD Group.” Luxury Cars: “Bentley had record year and a 31% increase from 2020. Another VW brand, Porsche, sold 301,915 vehicles, an increase of 11%.” I can keep going, but I think it’s becoming clear that the growth in all these industries wasn’t related to their unique and “hardworking teams,” it’s about the sling shot effect of people reacting to the pandemic and the lockdowns.

PART 10 (March 16, 2022):

BMW Achieves Wet Dream of Becoming Lexus – A Division of Toyota
“I heard you go real fast,” said to me on the phone in an accusatory manner by a BMW manager from the car side. That was in my early days of working at BMW Motorcycles US and hadn’t yet grasped the nuances of this company. The way he said it reminded me of Dana Carvey’s smug Church Lady shaming someone (“well, isn’t that special?”). After the call, I thought to myself, what the heck, isn’t BMW about performance? It took me a few more years to understand a very important point that the global branches of BMW are in fact importing companies run by managers used to handle consumer products. The real action is in Germany. And today, the Bavarians are turning Japanese to meet their constant need for growth.

If the above image of the new design direction for BMW reminds you of Lexus, that’s because it's supposed to. BMW is determined in joining the list of the world’s largest carmakers and they’ve learned that level of growth can’t be manifested duplicating the same profiles (with the famous BMW c-pillar Hofmeister kink), into infinity and beyond. BMW isn’t Porsche, in fact no brand is. Only Porsche can enjoy a certain consistency and cloning of design heritage decade after decade. To compete and expand, brands must move on and innovate. I love what Mercedes has been doing. They change their design profiles and the grills on regular basis to deliver an updated look. BMW wants to become like Toyota? I am fine with it.

PART 11 (July 13, 2022):

The Upcoming V4 BMW X1200GS

Announcing the new X Series large displacement bikes. A V4 1200cc BMW ADV is coming to compete directly with their own boxer R1250GS and help expand the range of offerings and to crush the Ducati Multistrada’s dominance as the best non-GS ADV. How true is this statement? I have created this hypothesis based on mathematical calculations of compiling the numerical values of A. The current market demands. + B. Future trends. + C. The thinking patterns of German automotive executives. - D. Total lack of interest in the eMotos for the premium market. - E. The inherent limitations of the boxer engine. ;)

The result of this unique formula predicts the following. The pemium moto brands are in no hurry to go electric anytime soon (even the 2035 ICE bans don’t really affect motorcycle sales). The ADV market is the hottest segment for the premium brands and it's getting really crowded with competitive offerings. The outcome of these calculations dictates that BMW needs a second lineup of large displacement, non-boxer ADVs with 175HP+ to totally dominate the market. The X1200GS and the R1250GS combined will leave no prisoners. As to why my calculations point to a V4? Although it has been proven that BMW hasn’t a clue in how to make an American cruiser, but they seem to know a little about ADVs. In fact, the brand calls itself a GS company.

What type of an engine would you put in a 1200CC killer machine? An Inline 2? No way, they have that in their midrange lineup. A V2? That’s another no, BMW is just not a V2 company. An I4? On an ADV? They already have the S1000XR. That’s also a no, you need something with massive torque. The BMW S Series’ puny low-80s torque doesn’t impress anyone. Hence the math supports the engine for this new monster of an ADV, to end all ADVs, to be a V4. Here's yet another calculation, we will hear about this new bike as part of BMW's 100th anniversary celebrations, next year. Look for the news on this Duc Multi killer either this fall, or next year. The Motorcycle Nostradamus has spoken.

PART 12 (January 18, 2023):

BMW @ 100 – What’s Ahead

BMW’s car side delivers within 50% of Honda annually, however, BMW motorcycles ships only about 1% of Honda motorcycles. Why such a massive disparity? Let’s dig in. Part of the reason for BMW’s low global sales is that they started with their intention for motorcycle market dominance only in 2004. The next 8 years were used to eliminate or at least try to change all the stigmas that kept the brand small. I’ve written about this extensively in my BMW’s Not So Woes articles on MOTO’s website. The US team consisted of only the marketing and communications manager and myself, in addition (initially) to an outside marketing agency, however, they didn’t last too long and I took over as their digital and communications manager in a consulting position. BMW Group was smart to invest in those marketing campaigns that we instigated in the ‘00s—they worked well. Addressing stigmas is something that Ducati has failed to do and they needlessly allow some old myths about the brand, such as high cost of repair or reliability issues, keep them small in the US. Obviously, BMW is still very new to this type of sales and growth mindset. Even their small displacement Indian adventures haven’t really paid off yet, it might take another decade.

BMW is celebrating its 100 anniversary in 2023. Although the brand was around even earlier with a focus primarily on airplanes, they mark their true beginning with motorcycles in 1923. BMW, soon after launching motorcycles, began focusing on building a car division, however, it took a few decades for their cars to gain global recognition, that was of course in the 1970s with the 2002 and 3.0 CS. I want to take a side trip into BMW cars for a moment. BMW cars were so rare in the US in the early '80s that their drivers would flash each other when they crossed paths on the roads. Not unlike our rider wave. Now they of course try to avoid each other, as the brand consistently attracts aggressive drivers. “That a-hole BMW driver” is a thing in the US. On the other hand, Porsche enjoys some of the most civilized drivers.

The eventual all electric manufacturing for premium motorcycles, that is still about 15 years away, will be a real boon for BMW. Around 2035 when top Euro premium brands may finally go all electric, having conquered the limitations of range, fire hazard and excess weight of today’s vastly sub par e-moto offerings, they’ll finally shed their quirkiness that has always attracted purists like me, but was a turnoff to conventional riders. This is true for Ducati as well. Electric power will be a real leveler for Euro brands as all their time-honored, much-loved quirkiness fade and they’ll enjoy a rather standard riding experience with varying degrees of features, power and styling.

PART 13 (June 7, 2023):

BMW K1200R Official "Respect" Video

Back in the ‘00s, we were shifting minds and changing the negative stigmas of the BMW brand in the US with controversial taglines in national ad campaigns, such as “You don’t need a Hibachi to cook Japanese” (and many other activities, most of them listed on MOTO’s website, under >Woes Series >BMW’s Not So Woes), while our counterparts in Germany started putting up stunt shows featuring BMW bikes, which was a very difficult thing to do in those days, since the bikes were not designed to be abused in that way. However, that’s what it took to change the perception of BMW motorcycles as a brand that appealed only to older engineers and retired college professors. It was about 8 years of relentless push until the S1000RR came out for the 2010 model year and forever sealed the new image of BMW bikes as performance machines. What a time to be involved with BMW.

And that brings us to this BMW Germany video promo for the K12R called “Respect.” It’s a heartwarming short film about a librarian and a boy scout who try to help a pussy cat off a tree top by standing on top of a parked K12R. Like I said, it’s very touching. All kidding aside, it’s a “touching” story of a stripper with no heart of gold and a pretty boy "bounty hunter." There is no way that today’s dispassionate, totally disconnected, 100% committee designed BMW motorcycles would produce a promo even within 1% of the raunchiness of “Respect,” but that’s what it took to make the brand appeal to younger riders. Keep in mind, none of the handful of people involved with transforming BMW in those days is around anymore. I was the last to leave in early 2012. As is evident by the R18 fiasco, the new team is strictly paint-by-numbers (I ask again, why do they need a marketing department, they just need a tiny Press office and 1 guy to maintain their website and social media.)

The current focus at these once awesome manufacturers is small bikes anyway, the smaller the better. Even Ducati is planning a single cylinder for Asia. The glory days of ICE bikes are coming to an end and the lure of Asian market is too great for them to look away.

PART 14 (September 20, 2023):

Why The BMW Motorcycles Boxer Engine Stinks and Has No Place on a Motorcycle

MOTO eMAG reader Andrew D. asks:
Here’s a donation to hopefully enable at least one more issue in spite of the “Boxer Bashing”.My last three Boxers went 100K and the current one is well on its way too. I do enjoy reading about how messed up BMW is/was back in the day.

EDITOR: Hi Andrew, To say that a boxer can last a 100K is an insult to engines and to the boxer. There are people still driving the Model T (on Sundays). 1950s cars continue to run in Cuba. There is a dude on YouTube who put 1 million miles on his Nissan Frontier. Volvos famously hit hundreds of thousands of miles. Most normal engines could last if they're properly maintained and parts are changed when needed.

My issue with the boxer engine is that it has no place on motorcycles. It stands for boredom on wheels and it stinks of mold and spider web. It’s a wrong design with no redeeming quality, except for some folks who like to go 40 on our highways and stick to the right lane hoping not to get run over by a maintenance truck doing 50. Haha, just kidding on that one, it's a little boxer humor by a former massive K bike forum founder. It's true that boxers can hit a 100. ;) OK, maybe 120 with a stiff tailwind. Lol, I can go on, but I made my point. K guys who are reading this are laughing their heads off. Some Ducatisti too. Honda guys too?

Seriously now, the boxer is an airplane engine. It instantly doubles or triples the width of the bike. It limits the cornering angle. It is like a person in a clown suit with massive clown shoes. It’s universally disliked as a performance engine. Why do you think BMW sales are so miniscule compared to Honda. How can they be only within 1% of Honda after 100 years in business? That's because of this airplane engine belonging to WWI (yes, world war one) era. Also, the point about the boxer being highly durable is all BS. Due to the wrong design of the engine and the cylinders sticking way out, they can easily get bashed by rocks, trees and so on. And a single bad drop could crack the engine. That’s why they have to be wrapped in yards of metal pipes to keep them protected. The only reason this example of early 20th Century so called German engineering still exits is due to the popularity of the big GS. I have news for you, the GS would have won with a V2 or an Inline 3 or a hampster wheel. Hope that clarifies my point! ;) Thanks for chiming in and your contribution.

PART 15 (October 18, 2023):

BMW Launched a New GS and No One Noticed, or the Feminization of the GS
Yes, it’s a kinder and gentler GS, or La Femme GS. A GS with its fangs taken out. All of the previously intentionally badass, ugly and tactical characters have been washed away as not to offend the old ladies crossing the street. I am really "touched" by the humanity that BMW is portraying with their new design direction. First the R18 fiasco and now the generic looking design of the new GS. They are trying to say, “in our hundred and one year we have turned into an everyman’s machine. We are making sure that nothing we do will offend anyone’s sensibilities."

King of the Jungle No More?
In the comparison image above of the old and the new, the 2 GSes look like a pair of male and female lions. Meanwhile Ducati is kicking their ass with their design direction. The V4 Multistrada (even the older V2) long replaced the GS as the king of the segment (as long as you keep it on the road and don’t plan to put way too much mileage). There is just one problem, Ducati has never addressed or tried to correct the various stigmas that still haunt the brand, such as, very high cost of maintenance, low reliability, attracting not too serious of riders and so on, whereas the big GS has no stigma.

Ducati Gets It
Ducati gets it. Tactical design is a hot segment right now. We are all driving SUVs, or pickups (these are tactical vehicles). SUVs and pickup trucks are looking more rugged and military like with every generation, while getting more comfortable on the inside. The tactical design is also popular in menswear; whether it’s men’s accessories or apparel. Go to Amazon and search for “Men’s tactical apparel” or “tactical shorts,” or "tactical wallets” and so on. We live in uncertain and violent times, hence the move to a safer tactical (survivalist) feel in our vehicles.

The Heck with the Public?
The key person responsible for the new GS was quoted as saying, “everyone is going big, we wanted to go small.” Hmmm, that statement is very revealing, because what he really said was, "we don’t like to sell bikes or give the public what they want. We are Germans damn it and we tell you what to like."

Catching Up with Harley
On the plus side, the R13 is over 20 lbs lighter. Much of that weight was probably reduced by taking out the tactical design elements that made it cool. It also finally keeps up with the Harley Pan AM by offering auto ride lowering height when stopped. BMW used to be 10 years ahead of the rest of the 2-wheel world with tech, now they are playing catchup. This is why I stopped being a fan about 10 years ago.

Pushed to Breaking Point?
In order to compete with Ducati’s V4 and the equally powerful V2, BMW is pushing this poor 1918 biplane boxer engine to its breaking point. You know what that means, don’t you? It means lower reliability and longevity; since it’s now sort of like a race engine.

It’s a Different Kind of “Me Too”
Look, the only thing anyone cares to know is whether it will sell? The answer is, it should. It’s a GS and does have a following, so probably will sell even if they put only 1 wheel on it. Also, people like to show off brands that they think are in demand. It’s a different kind of “me too.”

PART 16 (November 28, 2023):

The End of German Engineering?
“The death of Das Auto: Can German cars survive the end of the engine?” Politico, Sept. 15, 22.

“We are just a small step away from becoming an industrial museum from one of the largest industrial nations in the world,” General Manager of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), from the commentary “German De-Industrialization — The End of EU?” on Medium, Dec. 20, 22.

When I thought of the title for this article, I decided to search for it and find out who else is talking about this point and there is no shortage of similar thoughts.

The term “German engineering” is about superiority in all things mechanical, however, the new wave of electric vehicles is software driven. What countries come to mind when you think of software and programming? That’s simple, US and some Asian nations. Europe doesn’t figure at all.

Not Known for Software
As we move away from premium combustion engines (the one thing Germans really excel in manufacturing) and enter the world of software driven electric cars and bikes, the future does not look promising for the Germans. Can you even use the term German engineering 15 years from now? Will it have any significance when the real action will be either in South East Asia or the US or possibly China if they don’t implode.

I’ve already written how ubiquitous advance motorcycle electronic tech has become. It is now just a programming option available on most bikes. When all vehicles are being put together like TVs, will anyone care where they are made?

Out German the Germans
The Japanese have already out German the Germans by making vehicles with greater reliability and longevity. Imagine 15 years from now, when EVs are supposed to become common place, would the term German engineering remain relevant?

Premium Needs Great Designers
I leave you with this thought. I, along with many, dislike the new design direction that Mercedes is taking with their BEVs. They need to replace their exterior design director. Mercedes EV division is having their Chris Bangle moment. BMW got rid of Bangle in short few years and reversed his cheesy designs in 1 life cycle (not counting the cost of having to re-design the rearend of the then brand new 7 Series after just one year, to make it more appealing).

PART 17 (March 28, 2024):

BMW Motorcycles' Head of Production Quotes MOTO Verbatim, on Lack of Battery Tech to Support Premium e-Motos
BMW Motorcycles’ current head of production’s interview with MCN UK reads just like one of my articles on the lack of battery tech to support large displacement-equivalent electric motorcycles. Since he is copying MOTO verbatim, he could have at least given us credit.

Considering that the motorcycle press and media are sell outs and all they do, night and day, is to heavily kiss the butts of the brands, the only way this BMW exec would have gotten this level of expert advice is through us. No one else, not a single outlet, has exposed the hypocrisy that exists in the premium electric motorcycles market. We stand alone in exposing how the battery tech is simply not there for a viable premium e-moto and we have pressed that again and again in so many Issues.

Generally speaking, the managers at BMW motorcycles in Germany last a year or two before moving on to something else. None of these guys want to be at the tiny motorcycles division. They use this experience to get a job at the car side, where the real prestige and growth potential reside. They also don’t have specific expertise; only general managerial skills and they simply quote industry experts (like MOTO) and try to sound smart.

The so-called "experts" BMW normally uses, can’t tell a motorcycle from a toaster oven, that’s how they ended up with the R18 fiasco. The R18 idea was so bad, that the former legendary BMW designer, Dave Robb, allegedly quit the company on the spot in protest. Did they care, no, because their so-called "experts" allegedly told them the R18 will be a real challenger for Harley-Davidson.

Read his comments, on why BMW board doesn’t feel the timing is right to create a new electric R1300GS equivalent. I would say the timing isn’t right to even create an electric F800GS equivalent.

These are not his thoughts; he is simply echoing BMW’s policy at this time. He’s being a good soldier, hence he starts with "we feel."

"We feel at the moment that it’s not the right time to just take our bikes and stuff some electric motors in and make it look like it was before. Some brands build motorcycles like that, but they’re not super successful at the moment." [Editor: True, there is no premium electric motorcycle industry, its all just vapor, the real market right now is in tiny and cheap people movers.]

"At the moment, as we all know, the tech is expensive, it is very heavy, we don’t have proper range to get a good power output, so those concepts that we see also from other manufacturers in the higher power output are not good for the market at the moment." [Editor: Basically, he is reemphasizing that the market for premium e-motos, such as Livewire (and one or two others), is nonexistent, so why should BMW bother, which is the right decision.]

"It would be super smart to go into e-fuels as soon as possible, or synthetic fuels, to get rid of the emissions that we have at the moment with all of the range. And, then look closely into the innovation of other concepts. Electric is one of them, but it’s probably not the answer to each and every thing – unless we come up with a magic battery with no weight, and an acceptable price, that gives us an acceptable range." [Editor: e-fuels are super expensive and rare and not a real solution. The reason these premium brands, such as BMW and Porsche, are promoting it is because they know the current electric cars are not what they can be, due to lack of battery tech. Battery tech is holding back the EV growth, hence they want to hedge their bets with e-fuels.]

My final thoughts. As I have been writing in my past editorials on this topic, not only there is lack of demand for expensive, high displacement equivalent e-motos, but the major brands aren’t even considering them at this time. The battery tech simply is not there. Cars have their entire floors full of batteries and they still get about 200-mile real world range. Motorcycles have no room for this class of batteries anyway. The premium motorcycle brands are waiting for “magic batteries”.

PART 18 (June 19, 2024):

Q&A With a BMW-K.com and BMWSuperBikes.com Member

T. Giffin wrote via email.

I truly miss my '05 K1200S and the banter with S**va on the K forum. Together we achieved greatness. It was tremendously informative and well administrated. I am going to chip in for longevity sake and for the fact that my past and present are better as a result of this gentleman. At 64.5 laps around the sun, I still ride a MV Agusta 800 Brutale and my treasured Honda RC51 Nicky Hayden edition. Thank you, man and have a great summer. Keep the eloquence coming please.

EDITOR: Hi Tom, Thanks for the contribution and all the good vibes. Nice, sporty bike collection too. The BMW-K.com and BMWSuperBikes.com officially lasted for 10 years, from 2004 to 2014, however, the forums were only active for about 8 years, and went through 2 name changes, Ultimate Sportbikes and then The Need 4 Speed (TN4S). Also, I no longer go by the moniker that I used on the forums.

Soon after I ditched the severely toxic environment at BMW in the 1st quarter of 2012 (even though my fee was on par with their department heads), I put the forums on read only for the last 2 years, meaning no new content or members. I don’t miss the forums at all, mainly because it was tremendous amount of work for me as the admin and the founder, even though we had some great moderators and members. In fact, we had the best members out of all the other BMW forums. My forums were by far the classiest.

I don’t think about it anymore, to be honest. We had the forums at the absolute heyday of discussion boards, after that the social media emerged in full. Forums today are strictly for trouble shooting for the owners. Thanks again for the nice vibe

PART 19 (July 18, 2024):

MOTO Wins Again – BMW Retreats to Rugged Tactical Design on the New R1300GS Adventure

Last year when BMW released the R1300GS, I wrote in Issue 128 (Oct ‘23) that the design fizzled and it showed a large GS that has been castrated and feminized. I even showed a side-by-side pic of the 1250 vs the 1300 that resembled a male and female lion respectably. The R1250GS has a great tactical design with stamped bare metal parts but the new 13GS looks like a large dirt bike with no personality.

I stated, that off-road capable vehicles such as pickup trucks are getting more and more angular and tactical in nature (tough and rugged looking). Just look at how far the Toyota Tundra has come in exterior design. I also wrote, what may have prompted the BMW designers to kill the macho vibe of the GS, was due to recent change at Range Rover. The latest Range Rover looks like a giant egg with no personality. That may have triggered BMW into thinking that the future of off-road capable designs is bland and EV like. It turned out, Range Rover switched the design of their large SUV to this streamline form to accommodate for a future EV variant. You see, Range Roger, same as the BMW car side, is planning to offer the same car with various power options, such as ICE, BEV and hybrid, which I think is smart.

I am neither happy, nor excited (since I do not care about the GS), to report that BMW has turned a 180 on the design of the new R1300 GS Adventure (vs the regular GS) and has gone back to the tactical, tough and rugged metal stamped look. That’s another win for MOTO.

In fact, if you look at the above image of the tank area, the new 13GS Adv looks like a pickup truck. It has flat metal side panels, with a huge chrome grill up front. Good for them! You are welcome BMW. Where do I send the invoice for my services?

The Sad State of our Sellout Press and Media
Things have gotten so bad with our so-called motorcycle industry media that they just immediately praise any and all new bikes. These people can no longer be called journos, they are just corporate stooges. One of them tried to kiss BMW’s butt so hard that he wrote that BMW has just changed the game with a 8 gallon (30 liter) fuel tank on the new 13GS Adv? Excuse me? Were you born yesterday, even if you did, don’t you have access to search? The Adventure versions of the large GS have always had about 30 liters or 8 US gallons fuel capacity, and this has been going on for almost a quarter of a century.

BMW got it right with the new R1300GS Adventure, and I have a feeling that a redesign of the regular 13GS maybe in the works. But don’t ask me to get excited, since I am not a fan of the boxer engine, which has now been stretched so far from its original purpose that it makes the late Joan Rivers look like Saint Theresa.

A BMW Historian's Perspective on the Boxer Engine

Of the many hats that I wear, one of them is of a BMW, Ducati and MV Agusta historian. For several years, I conducted very popular History of the K Bikes seminars at the BMW MOA annual rallies. BMW’s boxer is an engine that was designed for biplanes of the World War One era, with 2 cylinders sticking out for air exposure. It was placed by BMW on a motorcycle for the sole reason that they were too frugal (cheap) to start from scratch with a new motorcycle specific engine design. They initially placed the engine length wise on a motorcycle, as it didn’t make sense for an engine to add to the width of the bike, but the rear cylinder would overheat so they reluctantly turned the engine around and stuck the cylinders out in the wind and in essence tripled the width of the bike. This is the worst case scenario for a motorcycle engine, because it places the cylinders in harm’s way, also a simple drop will force them to crack open. This engine which has been expanded to 1300cc with about 145 HP, is now virtually a race engine and you know what that means, lower dependability and life expectancy.

PART 20 (July 18, 2024):

BMW Motorcycles' Delusions of Grandeur and Napoleon Complex--Why BMW Motorcycles will Always be an Underdog

BMW Motorcycles has a new boss. Our sellout press is already kissing his butt and that’s not good, at all. As I have reminded you over and again, ours is the only industry without any independent Press/media reporting. 100% of our media is owned by mega corps and they just reprint news releases and brown nose the brands for their advertising dollars. This is shameful. No other industry works in this way, certainly not the auto, or tech. They are calling the new guy CEO, he is not. BMW Motorcycles is a tiny and minor division, within the massive and highly successful BMW Group. The people who normally get to run the motorcycles division, are either on their way up on the car side who take a brief 2-to-3-year detour into the Motorcycles division or are retiring.

The new guy has made 3 statements that do not make sense to me and show great naivete about motorcycles and the lifestyle. I truly don’t care if the execs who run the brand can tell a bike from a toaster oven. That’s not important. What’s important is if the engineers, the designers and managers who do all the real work anyway, are into bikes in a serious way. Execs’ (or the Suits’) job is to be a middleman between the board and the managers, this is true in many corporations. Talk to any creative professional, whether actors, directors, writers, designers and so on, they all bash the Suits as clueless.

New Head of BMW Motorcycles’ 4 Statements and My Analysis of Each.

1- No plans for large displacement equivalent electric motorcycles, due to lack of battery tech. The EV focus is only on scooters.

EDITOR: This is spot on! He is not apologizing, nor is he saying that he hoped things were different. He is simply echoing my research and what I have been preaching for so long, that if BMW made a R1300GS equivalent EV (e-moto), that bike would have to weigh at about 1000 to 1200 pounds. In fact, it would probably have to drag a little trailer behind it to carry the rest of the batteries so it can deliver a measly real world 300-mile range. ICE motorcycles (free from any ICE ban dates) are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

2- BMW has successfully captured 77% of the market with their electric maxi-scooter.

EDITOR: This one is really silly. He is using fuzzy logic. There are some 10,000,000 electric two-wheelers already in use, almost all are e-bikes and small commuter e-scooters, so obviously BMW’s minuscule volume has no impact on that whatsoever, so what is he talking about? You see, since all BMW execs are employees, they try to show off to their superiors with manipulative data. “See how good we are doing, boss.”

His reasoning for such a wild and weird statement is this, since there are no large displacement equivalent electric Maxi scooters in the world, then by default BMW can claim a win. Sadly, to mention it is in poor taste and shows desperation on the part of the new guy.

3- BMW Motorcycles is the largest premium brand in the world.

EDITOR: Another silly statement that is being delivered using biased data. How can a brand with only 200,000 sales a year claim such a coveted position? Easy, if you change the rules of how data is presented. Pierer Mobility, the makers of KTM, sold 381,634 in 2023. And Honda Motorcycles delivered 18,500,000 motorcycles (of all types) last year. BMW, by assuming that lots of KTM bikes are being used for off-road or dirt, don’t qualify as "premium," hence BMW is now the "king" of that segment. Considering BMW is also an off-road company, of all sizes, from the single cylinder GS versions to the large boxers; the fact that they consider themselves as “premium” but not KTM is truly preposterous. Head stuck in sand forever.

What’s doubly shameful about this statement is that, in order for BMW to come up with this lie, they cunningly assume that Honda is some cheap, low-end marque that doesn’t fit the “premium” definition. Honda motorcycles doesn't have the same place in our market as Honda cars in the automotive world. Honda cars may not be premium, but Honda motorcycles is.

There is no more trusted, successful, envied and reliable motorcycle brand in the world than Honda. Honda Motorcycles is indeed premium.

Until BMW wakes up to the fact they are playing within only 1% of Honda Motorcycles’ scope and by consistently keeping their heads in the sand, and try to impress the BMW board with these nonsensical manipulated data, they will always be an underdog.

4- Let’s go MotoGP racing.

EDITOR: New execs who pitch racing as their first agenda, prove that they are very naive about the motorcycling lifestyle and ways to expand market share. Again, this is expected from the Suits. Racing is a lay person’s suggestion. If racing sold bikes, Ducati should be selling 500K motorcycles a year, instead of sub 60K. If racing sold bikes in the US, again, Ducati should be selling about 40K bikes here, instead of 6K. In the place of racing, why not put that massive budget into great marketing campaigns, creative events and commercials that inspire (although Germans are the absolute worst at marketing). Why not use that money instead to offer complimentary service for the life of warranty on all BMW motorcycles, like their auto division, to attract more new buyers. I have lots more ideas of where they can successfully use that massive budget to increase their annual volume and attract new BMW fans to the brand.

Can BMW afford to go MotoGP? Sure, what do they care if they blow $500 million in a few years, it’s not the execs’ money anyway and the BMW Group can certainly afford to lose that much. Will it have impact? No, but you can be sure with manipulated data and fuzzy logic, they make it sound like it did.

Look, this new guy will move back to the car side in 2 or 3 years, however I am hoping that he may actually want be remembered for something positive. His predecessors were known for the G450X and the R18 fiascos and the nuclear meltdown that was the brief Husky ownership with 12K unsold bikes still on factory floors a year after production.

PART 21 (December 18, 2024):

BREDEFINING THE PREMIUM TWO-WHEEL SEGMENT

In 2024, another totally unique editorial, I debunked the myth that the premium motorcycles segment belongs only to certain Euro brands. Premium segment is wide open and anyone can enter. There was a time that the only premium cars came out of US and Europe. Then Japanese entered the segment with Lexus. Followed by the Koreans with the Genesis. The two-wheel industry works the same way. I argued that today, the Japanese bike brands are as premium as their Euro counterparts and the brands from India and China have replaced their former position as standard or generic.

During the motorcycle print days when you subscribed to a magazine it came to you directly. You didn't need to seek it out. MOTO works exactly on that principal; it comes to your Inbox directly. This is the magic of such a concept. And of course we are the only Ezine that is all premium all the time. Targeted buyers of top motorcycles and performance accessories don't typically have time to visit motorcycle news sites, hence they rather join MOTO and receive curated content on topics they care about the most.

Do you represent a stellar product or dealership, then you belong on MOTO. MOTO is in its 6th year and it has become extremely popular and influential, thanks to our large readership of elite riders and industry professionals. We're experiencing massive open and chart topping click rates. We focus only on the best of the best for the US market.

MOTO's founder has a unique resume in the industry. He is a major influencer and a longtime marketing consultant to top Euro brands such as BMW (10 years) and Ducati (5 years). In addition he has Euro dealerships experience and has launched massive rider communities for himself and also for BMW. Added to the above are over 20 years of press and journalistic experiences.

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