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Not everyone lives in your particular corner of the world.
Too many different words....
"more different" = redundancy...
Yup BMW is very different in many ways from the /5 days you first wrote about. Some of the changes are pretty darn good. Upping the HP and torque brought the performance up as did the 6 speed gear box. Suspension upgrades improved handling and made it fun to hit the twisties.
Other things increased the complexity of the machines and IMO degraded the reliability factor considerably. Again IMO the cost of ownership, for the majority(or minority on the board here) who cannot for one reason or another do their own maintenance, has gone up sharply. It's much like owning a Jaguar from the late 1990's and 2000's. It is a great car but it is your mechanics best buddy.
BMW motorcycles are more different than most, but Moto Guzzi make the most differentest motorcycles.
"BMW must be doing something right, the R1200GS is the 5th best selling bike in the US"
This is an excerpt from your original post.
Uh, no. I didn't write that. Perhaps you should pay a bit more attention to who wrote what.
Yes, you are correct, my mistake.....but you did try to get you dig in with the my part of the world bit.
The OP was obviously tralking about the US market.....his data was wrong.
Perhaps you should pay more attention to the relevance of your statment.
... So I guess the way I see it, they have a brand reputation and truly their business built around being distinctive, innovative and technologically advanced; in other words, different. Following that path doesn't come without risk and sometimes their forward progress stumbles and doesn't produce their best motorcycle, but it still produces a BMW.
OP's question was really not about how BMW has changed over the years compared to where they were at some previous time, but how different are they know (and previously) to other m/c manufacturers.
(i'm in teacher mode right now. you failed that essay question, bucko. try a redo, and resubmit for an improved grade?) (smiley face added)
However, building off what you began--
think of the /5 bikes, and compare them to other bikes of similar vintage.
shaft drive BMW vs chain drive almost everyone else.
opposed flat twin BMW vs upright twins or singles from most everyone else, or V-twins from H-D or Guzzi.
weird sideways kick start BMW vs normal rotation for everyone else.
electric & kick start BMW vs kick start only most everyone else.
12 volt BMW vs 6 volt most everyone else.
motor that will last 50,000-100,00 miles before needing an upper end rebuild vs throw it in the garbage before 100K miles most everyone else.
yup- more different, even then.
Uh teach, perhaps you didn't really read the OP, here let me quote a part of it.
"I grew up looking at BMWs as the old man's bike that cost a lot, didn't perform but ran forever. Also a lot of quirky guys had them and some of them showed up at Alices and some were even pretty cool - but they were really an old man's bike."
Having started with BMW at the beginning of the /6 line, the description fits the /5 pretty darn well don't you think?
"Then BMW decided to change things up and increased the engine size to 900cc and put a bikini fairing on the thing - and hey that paint job was cool! I went to Laguna Seca and saw the R90S with Pridmore and McLaughlin riding them and they were damn FAST on these things sponsored by Butler and Smith. Man, they sounded cool too (should've heard the Ducati 900SS and the Guzzi LeMans too)."
Pardon me, but this looks pretty much like a chronological progression to me since he talks about the way bikes USED to be and how they changed as time went on. Kind of an as the years went on thing don't you think? Yes he does mention Moto Guzzi and Ducati but only as a comparison to sounds. It still does not negate the chronological progression specified in the BMW models the OP listed as changes.
Lastly if you want to correct my post in teacher mode, do you not think you should proofread your own for proper word usage first? The words "know" and "now" are not interchangeable nor do they have the same meaning. It is also proper to capitalize "I'm" as well.
You ain't the only one to have been in the front of a classroom on pay status "bucko".
Which then leads us to the query of "is it possible to be "different" from one's self?"
Yes. Folks think of "old guy touring bikes" but the S1000RR was their best seller in the U.S. in 2011. That is BMW being different than themselves in my book.
Yes. Folks think of "old guy touring bikes" but the S1000RR was their best seller in the U.S. in 2011. That is BMW being different than themselves in my book.
As they were in 1973 when the R90S was introduced. It, too, wasn't an "old guy touring bike" (although I'm sure plenty of folks have used it that way).