knary
looking for a coal mine
dlearl476 said:Classic design vs. Fad The best instance I can think of is 911 vs Z car. Look at one of each from, say, '75-'80. Funny you should mention the K bike. People are often surprised that my RT is a '94. Even more so when I tell them they came out in '86 (IIRC, or '88)
Another prime example is late model Chryslers. Sure that Charger RT looks nice, but look at the cars from the advent of the "cab forward" design era, which looked GREAT when they came out, compared to a similar year BMW. One looks like an old american car, the other could be this years model. And IMHO, it's much more than simply longer product cycles.
The Datsun Z? THAT is a beautiful little car. As is the 911. But comparing them really isn't fair, is it? They were two very different cars priced, designed and built for two different markets.
I'll refrain from offering my view of the K75RT's design.
I totally agree. But sadly, IMHO, it's gonna be in spite of it's design rather than partially due to it. And ten years from now, I predict it will look horribly dated.
Calling them faddish suggests that the designs lack any cohesion over a series of models and years. It also suggests that they've following someone else's design lead. Neither is true. The floating panels, as Kbasa mentioned, fits neatly with the new RT. The RT, in turn, follows the lead paved by the GS and BMW's automotive division. There is cohesion in what BMW is presenting. And these bikes are clearly, within the scope of their latest style approach, BMW's. Though form guided by performance is pushing all bikes towards some similarities of form (like a porpoise and a penguin and a shark), that F800S doesn't look like a Honda or a Ducati. Neither does the R12S or certainly the K12GT.
In the end, all you're telling us is that you don't like the designs BMW is coming up with today. That's one opinion. My own is that their designs are, with few exceptions (no one bats a 1000), getting better and better. These are just opinions. Which, in the end, is sort of my point.