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17,448 Posts
BMW tried to do this back in the 80s with the brick series of engines. A friend of mine has two K750s and very nice bikes they are. They handle well. BMW announced that they were going to phase out the twins in favor of the bricks. Nyuck nyuck nyuck. They didn't sell. So long bricks.. hello oilheads.
BMW got badly burned because much of their public is at least as hidebound as the worst of the HD crowd. Heck, they have people who still think that anything but an airhead is not a "real BMW".
I doubt they have the courage to try to beat the Japanese in the sporting/sport-touring market. And why should they? Look at Triumph's experience. Their sportbikes are met with howls of derision, even though the howlers generally couldn't get full performance out of a Sportster 883, much less the latest CBRZXGSXwhatchamacallit.
Apparently BMW's m/c division is perfectly happy to cater to their particular niche and feels no need to take the entire world by storm. A good thing too. Nobody can beat the Japanese at their game.
BMW got badly burned because much of their public is at least as hidebound as the worst of the HD crowd. Heck, they have people who still think that anything but an airhead is not a "real BMW".
I doubt they have the courage to try to beat the Japanese in the sporting/sport-touring market. And why should they? Look at Triumph's experience. Their sportbikes are met with howls of derision, even though the howlers generally couldn't get full performance out of a Sportster 883, much less the latest CBRZXGSXwhatchamacallit.
Apparently BMW's m/c division is perfectly happy to cater to their particular niche and feels no need to take the entire world by storm. A good thing too. Nobody can beat the Japanese at their game.
