BMW R1200C, Why wasn't it replaced?

[dduelin]

Originally Posted by Joseph Maniaci

I did place it in a context, best-selling BMW in the U.S. market, which incidently is the biggest market in the world for virtually every car/motorcycle/luxury good manufacturer. If I'm off base then maybe someone can explain the marketing brilliance of abandoning the biggest motorcycle segment in the world's biggest market! In fact, BMW's biggest bump in sales in North America came with the introduction of bikes in two huge market segments that they had previously ignored, the cruiser and luxury tourer (R1200C and K1200LT). A few thousand sales a year, by your figures, would be nearly a third of their North American sales, enough to easily put it in the top few models in popularity.

I make no attempt to explain what the heck BMW is trying to do. That is your deal.

BMW sold about 13,000 bikes here when they sold just under 100,000 worldwide. The US market isn't what it used to be for BMW. It is important but 13% is 13%.

If they sold 3,000 (SWAG) Chromeheads annually here and a few hundred in other markets that is about 3% of a year's total. They can't afford to build a US market bike that doesn't sell in other markets as it is expensive to get safety and emission certified here and not there. 3% does not sound like a big seller to me but I have no bike to shine or axe to grind.

[RedRocket]

Whoever mentioned them being great sellers has overlooked the fact that just last year there were still brand new 2005 model year 1200C's in dealer's inventory.

[Roketman]

Big Dave, my name is Larry, not Bob, but I've been called worse. And to all who rag on this bike, it is a MAJOR pain in the ass to keep clean, with lots of chrome and spoked wheels. I personally can't ride a dirty bike. Even if I had an off road bike, I'd try my best to keep the mud off. What can I say? Maintnenace wise, its a bullet proof bike, which should outlive me. But I'll tell you one thing, in a parking lot, restaurant, or gathering of most any kind, parked next to most any other BMW, (except maybe an antique), or next to most any other bike, custom or stock, my bike seems to get the most people gathering around it, talking about it. Harley guys, Jap bike owners, metric cruisers and many others just can't believe its really a BMW as it looks like no other. It may not have the horsepower of an RT or an LT, and it may not have the torque of an FJR or a Ninja, but wherever we go...we go in style. No right...no wrong. Just personal preference, and it grows on you. I still have my first bike, an '82 Suzuki GS850L which looks and rides showroom new, so I'm a pretty loyal guy. I may add other rides to my garage over the years, but my cruiser is a keeper. And I am proud to be a "Chromehead".

[madleemark]

I have had many bikes,and quite a few bmw, but my R1200C gets my vote as a great bike to have, its good to have a cruiser thats not a harley clone,and who can knock bmw for making bikes there way. I dont care if other bmw folk dont think the R1200c is a proper bmw, each to his own and all that, fact is they did make it, and i hope they do another cruiser that is different.

[bugeyed]

Rumor has it that there will be a new cruiser. We all know there is usually some truth to rumors. I ride an '04 R1200CL, you know, the one with all the headlights. Fact is the unique look of the bike is what drew me to it. Nothing, and I mean nothing else on the road looks like it. Harley guys wave tentatively but stare as I roll on by. I guess they are trying to figure out what it is. That is part of what endears me to it. I love this bike and will ride it until it falls apart, then I'll fix it and do it over again.

This bike is substatially more top heavy than the regular C and I have no problem doing 18' U-turns. Yeah, it's challenging going slow, but once you get used to it's mannerisms, it's like any other big bike.

[jdiaz]

The reason I hated the R1200C was because, at the time, I owned a '96 R1100RT, a bike that was within a gnat's eyelash of being the greatest sport touring bike on the planet. I was angry that the development money the Cruiser sucked away wasn't used to fine-tune the RT instead.

The 1996-2000 RT turned out to be reasonably popular anyway.....what do I know.

[twinrider]

I've always liked the look of the R1200C and really respect BMW for managing to design a cruiser that didn't look like a Harley clone.

[jdiaz]

Originally Posted by twinrider

I've always liked the look of the R1200C and really respect BMW for managing to design a cruiser that didn't look like a Harley clone.

What would you know about ugly bikes Jim? Oh yeah, you ride a TDM900.

[twinrider]

Originally Posted by jdiaz

What would you know about ugly bikes Jim? Oh yeah, you ride a TDM900.

Yup, still gives me a jolt every time I look at it

[xlcr]

Originally Posted by RedRocket

Whoever mentioned them being great sellers has overlooked the fact that just last year there were still brand new 2005 model year 1200C's in dealer's inventory.

It reminds me of how Cadillac boasted of delivering more cars than Lincoln during one sales period. GM was pushing unsold inventory on the dealers and eventually had to take the cars back.

[xlcr]

Originally Posted by kbasa

It would have been better with some horsepower. My R100 is rated the same as the C was, I think. I couldn't figure out why they didn't just put the standard R259 powerplant in it.

If you look at the photos, you'll see that there are no throttles on the heads. Clearly, the engine is a diesel, which explains the lack of power.

[NativeSon]

the following link is the reason they don't make them anymore (at least in my modest opinion):
http://powersports.honda.com/motorcy...elId=VTX1300C8
i know many older gentlemen and a few women who own that bike, and they simply say you can't buy a better cruiser for the money. i think the reason they pulled the bike was that it had trouble competing with japanese harley knock offs that cost far less, especially when proper cruisers were considered to all have V-twins. and the bike wasn't personalized at the dealership extensively the way you can with honda, or the other brands (maybe that's just a recent development though).

i'll admit there are parts of the C i liked. i really liked the retro style leather looking bags they had the first few years. I liked the exhausts, and i kind of liked the passenger seat on the hinge that created a backrest for the driver.

I think they had the right idea, but executed it wrong. the styling is hit or miss with almost everybody and doesn't have mass appeal the way cruisers do with the general public. I would have loved to see them come out with a retro styled cafe cruiser, similar to the bonnie or the gt1000. take that with a grain of salt though, I'm an r90 owner. i think bmw's idea of nostalgia is painting the roadster black, putting white pinstripes on it, and occasionally offering spoke wheels.

at any rate, i think another cruiser doesn't make tons of sense when harley is struggling so badly to sell bikes. on the other hand, according to one of the press releases, they're developing the sportbike to appeal to customers in market segments bmw's not strong or non-existant. maybe a cruiser is their next goal.

[NativeSon]

weren't cruisers supposed to have girls posing on them?

http://www.bobsbmw.com/community/top-model.html



photos of the bob's bmw cruiser chopper:
http://gallery.dirtyhandschoppers.co...obsBMW?page=76

[ikonoklass]

I, like Bugeyed, owned an R1200CL. Fortunately, fate intervened to take it off my hands and replace it with a GS at no additional cost. Pros: it was comfortable and handled brilliantly for a cruiser. Lots of clearance compared to Milwaukee iron. An amazing array of amenities (when they worked). The biggest "con" was the lack of power. Yes, you could surf the torque wave, and yes, it was at a disadvantage here at altitude, but the fastest I ever got the thing to manage was about 90, and it wasn't easy. If it had the Hexhead engine, it might have been worth working with. The other big "con" was the windshield, which, instead of going straight across just below your line of vision, had a huge dip out of it. I think this might have been done to reduce buffeting, but getting air full-blast at highway speeds is inconsistent with equipping the same motorcycle with a radio and a CD changer! Utterly ridiculous, and it points out the parts-bin nature of the bike. Still, a redo with a proper engine would sell. I think a Boxer has at least as good a claim to the cruiser market as Triumph's new parallel twin, and it would appeal more strongly to the bling-bling set.

[CrazyMike]

Originally Posted by ikonoklass

the fastest I ever got the thing to manage was about 90, and it wasn't easy.

90??? While I have the standard R1200C, I've it up to 118 without even trying. Hell, I even went out riding with a bunch of wacky squids who were amazed that I could even keep up with them on their liter sport bikes. That was in South Georgia where the roads are straight as an arrow with no hills.

I didn't think the CL's carried that much weight but maybe the do...
There was never any argument that the CL's were underpowered. I still like the torque and set up of my R1200C.