Dealer said F650 has ceased production?

[travlr]

My dealer said BMW has stopped producing the F650.

Can anyone confirm or deny?

T

[PacWestGS]

I'm gonna say it's a lie. They may have ended the '06 production year but this is their number one selling / entry level bike.

I asked my dealer the same question recently and he was sure the 800 was not going to replace the 650 but add to it.

JMO


Doc

[Ridealot]

My dealer said BMW has stopped producing the F650.

Can anyone confirm or deny?

T

They haven't stopped producing the F650. They did stop importing the F650CS to the States last year though. Is that maybe what your dealer was referring to?

[Mika]

Spend some time at the BMW sites for other countries and you will see models that are no longer available here. Ireland has 2006 850 and 1150 Roadsters for example. They also have the 800 already. All what marketing and manufacturing supply to any given country.

[PAULBACH]

Checked out the website for BMW motorcycles in Ireland

Irish BMW (http://www.maddockonline.com/go/new/c1.html)

Notice the C 1 is available for sale there as is the 850.

Maybe BMW is trying to sell high end profitable rides in the USA and reserving the less profitable rides to suit the pocketbooks of other areas of the world. There has to be more money in selling a R 1200 GS or a K 100 R than in selling a 650CS. Maybe that is why the 800 bikes are being delayed. :brow

The C 1 would sell like crazy in the US but would the profit margin be as high as selling 1200cc rides?

[PacWestGS]

Maybe BMW is trying to sell high end profitable rides in the USA and reserving the less profitable rides to suit the pocketbooks of other areas of the world. There has to be more money in selling a R 1200 GS or a K 100 R than in selling a 650CS. Maybe that is why the 800 bikes are being delayed. :brow

The C 1 would sell like crazy in the US but would the profit margin be as high as selling 1200cc rides?

Just a side, but wouldn't it also have to do EPA and CARB certification that BMW doesn't want to redesign a bike just for us Americans'?

I can understand the additional displacement choices over in Europe because they have graduated licensing, so it helps them sell more bikes to more people.

Seems here in America it always has to be the BIGGEST, most powerful, when you can't even use it on the American Highway system? I think the new F800 is going to be a hot ticket item for BMW because it's lighter and more nimble than all the other choices, other than the 650.

(What I meant earlier is that the 'Production Line for '06 F650s may have run its course this year. I don't know if BMW retools like Japan and builds all of certain model than gets ready for another model altogether?)

JMHO
YMMV

Doc

[PAULBACH]

Not only would they have to meet EPA requirements and carb certification but meeting them on a small profit margin ride just would not make cents. :rofl

Sorry, it just slipped out

[Sadlsor]

<SNIP>I think the new F800 is going to be a hot ticket item for BMW because it's lighter and more nimble than all the other choices, other than the 650.
It may be, but it NEEDS a chain! How ya gonna go rock-crawlin' wid all dem Big Orange Katooms if'n deys no chain?! :dunno

[PacWestGS]

It may be, but it NEEDS a chain! How ya gonna go rock-crawlin' wid all dem Big Orange Katooms if'n deys no chain?! :dunno


I'm gonna bet they put a chain on the GS version, just like they put belt on the F650CS.

Agree, belts off-road are a bad thing, they damage the belt when little rocks get rolled around the spindle.

[PUDGYPAINTGUY]

Just as an FYI the new Uly belt has been tested over and again and is truly resistant to the rock damage. The older series of belts used to break and shred, the new ones are really making headway as a viable replacement technology for consideration. It would be pretty interesting to see a GS w/o a chain.

[dlearl476]

Maybe that is why the 800 bikes are being delayed. :brow

The C 1 would sell like crazy in the US but would the profit margin be as high as selling 1200cc rides?

The answer to both questions is three letters. DEE OH TEE.

The reason we won't see the 800s until next year is that it takes a big manufacturer like BMW that long to do the certs. Being a new engine, they have to certify that as well as the bike.
As for the C1, we'll never see that here because due to some definitions in the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) it is a car, and as such it will never pass the crash tests or emision limits required for sale in the USA.

[Polarbear]

I heard the BMW/Aprilla partnership was in the works again, for the F650, as in the beginning. My F650/'99 model sure was a cool bike. I miss it. I guess I'm still a Chainganger,#728 from the past. Aprilla sure has been a player and makes really nice machines. The 850 coming and 650 are two worlds apart and not competeing,imo. One is strickly street oriented.Yes? I would be cool to see the F650 bumped into a larger single, say 700, or 720 or ? . I would probably come around again and look at these serious. Rotax listening? Boy, would this be cool. 70hp single, oh boy! :D