Why Ugly BMW's?

[PGlaves]

And that's the point.

When you're a designer of great renown and have what it takes to be hired by the likes of BMW, you're the one that sets the trends that the rest of us "come around to."

If all you can do is repeat the past, you don't get hired.

Except maybe by a certain maker of American assembled motorcycles.

[lmo1131]

Except maybe by a certain maker of American assembled motorcycles.

Whose name(s) shall remain anonymous, but begins with "T" and ends with "L", perhaps?

[JWMcDonald]

I used to think that BMW motorcycles were the ugliest things on two wheels...

Then I rode one, and I've not turned back...

[hultman]

And that's the point.

When you're a designer of great renown and have what it takes to be hired by the likes of BMW, you're the one that sets the trends that the rest of us "come around to."

If all you can do is repeat the past, you don't get hired.

All I can say to that is "to each his own". So these great designers can come up with nothing better than the Pontiac Aztec and GS BMW's? And I suppose great composers are responsible for modern rap music as well.

If that's the future, I'll take a retro V7 Guzzi and rock and roll!!

Livin' in the past is lookin' better every day!

[osbornk]

I used to think that BMW motorcycles were the ugliest things on two wheels...

Then I rode one, and I've not turned back...

You can't see them when you riding them. I only see what is in front of my eyes as I ride and that ain't my motorsickle.

[mcmxcivrs]

Whose name(s) shall remain anonymous, but begins with "T" and ends with "L", perhaps?

I think he was referring to a brand that starts with an H and ends with an N and is two words.

I get that not everyone likes what is being made today. I do. I've had many plastic covered bikes and have liked them a lot for their form and for their function. I've had lots of very technical electronically laden bikes and like them for their reliability. I've had far fewer problems with those bikes than the ones the you could and had to fix at the roadside (more often that I ever wanted to). I don't agree with those who issue blanket statements about what I like and call it crap because its not what they like. I don't like old technology and old designs. I have no intertest in a retro styled bike nor the original it mimics. But if that's what you like, good for you, nothing wrong with that, just don't expect me to like it too.

[sdpc2]

I prefer simple.

my stable is similar as well.

'04 R1150RT
'99 R1100GS
'77 R100S
'98 DR350

If BMW designed a basic off road motorcycle then they couldn't charge >$20,000 for it. More tech to keep people from working on them like the good old run for ever easily maintained by someone w/ basic mechanical skills airheads.

When BMW went to CANBUS, is the last time I looked at BMW as a bike I'd buy as this is entering into their car realm which means to me, don't own a BMW after the warranty goes out as it's gonna cost some serious cash to repair.

While new BMW's maybe for some, not for me as I like to keep things for a long while. I've got two BMW's a R1150RS and G/S, the G/S will be the last to go...if ever.

If you think about it an old G/S ain't the prettiest bike either, until you own one. It's was designed for a purpose, to be ridden as a DS bike, function over form.

[71243]

You know,I agree that so many new BMWs are kind of ugly. I plan to stick with my 04 RS until something new comes out that is at least as good looking. I'm still kicking myself for selling my grey 82 RS. Now that was a beatiful bike!!

Had one!...& me too. Also miss my 84 "CS"..overall my favorite Airhead! Just a neat looking well performing motorcycle.

However, new technology comes along,..better charging,tubeless tires, better suspension,..and well we're forced to move 'up' if we want that stuff.

That said though...I do like my R1150R ...for it's looks and performance. Seating was a bit cramped, but did some adjusting, & it is better.

THAT said...when I had my Airheads, I was younger & more flexable

[40427]

Why does BMW make such ugly motorcycles ?

No easy answer to that question, I think a lot of things are nice looking while others would beg to differ.
BMW must be doing something right , at least in the sudo off road market, since everyone and their brother has something today that looks a lot like a BMW in more ways than not.

Me personally; I like older things, cars, bikes , boats and airplanes. I also prefer women with a certain look of maturity, a bit rubinesqe, a few smile lines and a lot of experience. They need to at least like motorcycles and allow me my passion about them.

My BMW preference is the Airhead version, simple lines, easy to live with and a personality that talks to me. I don't think I have ever seen an airhead that did not make me look twice and smile.

[PGlaves]

This post speaks less to the style of new models and more to the technology. When I buy a bike it is with the expectation that I will do all or almost all of the maintenance. And it is certainly with the expectation that when something breaks, at home or on the road, I am responsible for knowing what needs to be done to fix it.

So any great leap in technology - fuel injection on the K bikes, ABS I, II, iABS, Canbus, etc. is my responsibility to figure out. And, to figure out without benefit of a dedicated new model school put on by BMW. So each leap forward is faced with some trepidation.

I used to use a dwell meter. Now I use a GS-911. I used to set carb floats. Now I adjust the TPS.

Every model I have ever worked on had troublesome warts: slingers, broken transmission springs and shift kits, missing circlips, spline wear, burned out fans, HES wiring, water pump issues, antenna ring failures, axle tube defects, and/or whatever.

Almost without exception, each technology advance has made the bikes more trouble free, not less so. But there is a steep learning curve to cover the exceptions. That is the way it is. They have added a dozen or so new elements to the Periodic Table of Elements, and are talking about the Higgs Boson, absolutely inconceivable in my school days. Time marches on. With us or without us. And to our benefit or detriment. It is our choice.

[88bmwjeff]

Some of this, IMO, is attributed to the general trends in vehicle styles. Cars were kind of roundish in the 60's, then they went to a lot straight lines in the 70's and 80's, then went back to roundish in the 90's and early 00's. In the mid-00's, straight lines came back. There's a lot of sharp angles in vehicle design, which I see has carried through to an extent in BMW designs. I'm not a big fan of these straight lines and sharp angles. At some point in the future, softer lines and curves will come back. It's just the nature of things.

[Rich]

I don't care what anyone says, my 07 1200GS is beautiful.

[David13]

A motorcycle has looks that only the owner can love. Like a child. Looks only a mother would love.
I used to think any motorcycle with a fairing was ugly. Until I finally realized that I only like motorcycles with fairings. Now I think they are beautiful.
As to the bigger is better syndrome. It's a marketing thing. That's what they consumer wants.
I don't know anyone who went to a K bike that didn't, usually first and foremost talk about the "power" of it.
They are power hungry.
It's an old marketing concept about cars, each year has to have new and improved, bigger and better, and ... more power.
A car starts out as an econo box and ends up as a luxury model.
Every year more horsepower, more options, more features, bigger trunk, etc.
It's the american way. Or maybe common amongst all humans.
dc

[PeoriaMac]

I'd worry about riding an ugly motorcycle, but frankly, I'm not that good looking myself. A
good looking bike might help my ego for a while, but the undeniable truth is I'll still be a fat guy on an old, odd bike. Hultman, I assume, must be the guy in the corner with the designer jeans...

[sfarson]

Well, for sure, looks are subjective. Personally, I think the current BMW line-up is quite impressive aesthetically.