R1200S spotted today

[fontana]

In Oundle near Peterbrough.
06 plate in the stripey red and silver with remus cans.
It turned a few heads as it cruised through the high street.
Sounded lovely.
Stunning bike and a definite future classic IMO.
I cant figure out why it was a sales flop.

[Herb]

My personal opinion is because they were over priced and underpowered compared to the competition.

Mine was £9500 new, at a time when you could buy a 1050st for £7000.

Not sport enough for the sport bike crowd, too sport for the sport touring crowd.

[slparry]

My personal opinion is because they were over priced and underpowered compared to the competition.

Mine was £9500 new, at a time when you could buy a 1050st for £7000.

Not sport enough for the sport bike crowd, too sport for the sport touring crowd.

plus it's only the discerning few that appreciate class

[fontana]

Not sport enough for the sport bike crowd, too sport for the sport touring crowd.

Hmmm
Perhaps the same analogy can be applied to the R NINE T Racer.

[boxerscott]

My personal opinion is because they were over priced and underpowered compared to the competition.

Mine was £9500 new, at a time when you could buy a 1050st for £7000.

Not sport enough for the sport bike crowd, too sport for the sport touring crowd.

I think that sums it up succinctly. Does not mean to say that it was not or is not a good bike. Low sales volume = scarce, scarcity = collectable. An RSV Mille would have been my choice back in the day.

Chris

[Herb]

Not sport enough for the sport bike crowd, too sport for the sport touring crowd.

Hmmm
Perhaps the same analogy can be applied to the R NINE T Racer.

The racer is aimed/marketed at a slightly different customer, where perhaps outright HP isn't a deciding factor. The 12s was aimed at the sportsbike crowd and fell short by about 50 HP.

[fontana]

The racer is aimed/marketed at a slightly different customer, where perhaps outright HP isn't a deciding factor.

Nevetheless, early signs are that it's not going down too well.

[Herb]

The racer is aimed/marketed at a slightly different customer, where perhaps outright HP isn't a deciding factor.

Nevetheless, early signs are that it's not going down too well.

I haven't seen any sales figures. It's a nice looking bike, must be a market for it I would have thought?

Hopefully they will keep it around and see if sales gain traction. My personal opinion is they finished with the 12s far too early.

[David_S_Walker]

Hello,

For what it is worth when I went to my local dealer to buy I was steered towards the newly re-released K1200S (After the "Chocolate Camshafts" debacle) and after a ride I bought one. However I remember there being a Colgate R1200S also available which I did like the look of but I was steered away from it by the salesman who said "You wouldn't like it" - I suspect there was more commission in the K1200S?

The K1200S was a good bike with faults though but that did not stop me from buying a second one and then a K1300S which I did think was shaping up to be the best bike I had ever owned until some scumbag/scumbags stole it from the O2 whilst I was inside at a Peter Kay gig!

I couldn't bring myself to buy another nice bike for nearly a year after that when I remembered the R1200S....and thought hmm....

I managed to source a low mileage example for this very forum which I bought in 2012 - a black one which fast forward a few of years has all the toys and I absolutely love it - I have a liking for quirky unusual machines having a owned a Laverda Jota for some 32 years and the R1200S suits me to a tee although I don't use it very much as I commute into London every day and it is not my idea of a commuter bike - I leave that to my Honda Crosstourer DCT which does the job with a lot more comfort in traffic.

I think (Personally) that it didn't really stand much chance against the new K1200S machines unless you were a diehard boxer fan back in 2006 but again just my opinion, it stacks up very well and I find it often admired when it is parked up!

Best regards,

David

[fontana]

I haven't seen any sales figures. It's a nice looking bike, must be a market for it I would have thought?

.

There is doubtless a market for it, but from what I can gathet from my BMW dealers, its started disappointingly.
They've sold three so far, which is very poor for a new model.

Would be interested to hear from Steve to find out how many his dealership has sold.
Having said that, the beauty of modular bike building is that you can introduce and delete new models at relatively low cost.
The new Urban looks like its going to be a big hit, and rightly so.
Its more every day useable whereas the Racer perhaps is not.
If it fails, then the only outlay was for that fairing and bar arrangement, so no big deal.