Cycleworld comparing Harley, Indian, and BMW, heavy cruisers.

[fourteenfour]

 

The BMW got kudos for amazing fit and finish, even challenging Harley's consistent effort in that category. Indian got rightfully chewed out on their near complete lack of it. In the end they gave their top score to the Harley because no one does it better and while not a BMW rider's cup of tea they do what they set out to do very well.

 

 

https://www.cycleworld.com/story/motorcycle-reviews/baggers-comparison-test-review/

 

 

[MichiganBob]

Interesting to view ... Thanks F. Sounds like the Beemer has a ways to go if it wants to convert the Harley or Indian crowd. The negatives that stood out to me was the engine vibration and the complex navigation buttons and entertainment system. Interesting in that for the latter, I have become accoustomed to going through all the steps to get to a place like heated seats or audio bluetooth. I can see why that would seem cumbersome to a newby.

[Ponch]

On 1/29/2022 at 9:39 AM, MichiganBob said:

Interesting to view ... Thanks F. Sounds like the Beemer has a ways to go if it wants to convert the Harley or Indian crowd. The negatives that stood out to me was the engine vibration and the complex navigation buttons and entertainment system. Interesting in that for the latter, I have become accoustomed to going through all the steps to get to a place like heated seats or audio bluetooth. I can see why that would seem cumbersome to a newby.

 

it's ridiculous for BMW to think it can covert the HD crowd. They are falling all over themselves fêting HD SM influencers with test rides and short term test bikes when they'll never buy in, not to mention SM influencers aren't all that objective(not the ones I have seen that are HD fanboys) and there's no integrity as there's no wall between money and editorial. It's a wasted effort. 

[Hosstage]

10 hours ago, Ponch said:

 

it's ridiculous for BMW to think it can covert the HD crowd. They are falling all over themselves fêting HD SM influencers with test rides and short term test bikes when they'll never buy in, not to mention SM influencers aren't all that objective(not the ones I have seen that are HD fanboys) and there's no integrity as there's no wall between money and editorial. It's a wasted effort. 

I agree with you 100%, HD riders are not going to switch to BMW big cruisers en masse. Maybe one or two, but not 100,000.

[9Mary7]

The Germans don't understand the cultural aspect of HD's customer base......... they seem to think that if they build a "better mousetrap" then the customers will buy.

The HD faithful will continue to use the (basically) same hammer....

[fourteenfour]

1 hour ago, 9Mary7 said:

The Germans don't understand the cultural aspect of HD's customer base......... they seem to think that if they build a "better mousetrap" then the customers will buy.

The HD faithful will continue to use the (basically) same hammer....

 

I was all set to wait and buy a R18 Bagger when we first starting getting hints of the R18 in 2019 if not earlier. Then reality hit.

 

BMW could not even convert existing BMW riders. I can excuse them on the base bike because it really was pushed as something that you can make your own with customization but sadly much of those extras were hard to or impossible to come by.

 

However there is no excuse for the B or Transcontinental. They are everything riders accustomed to BMW touring bikes are not. They are ridiculously heavy, the do not have advanced suspensions, they feature fixed wind screens, and their engine characteristics are very poor. BMW might have converted some riders to their bikes from other brands if they had a bike with traits people associate with BMW motorcycles but these bikes are not those.  How can BMW justify a bagger that starts at over eighty pounds more than the competition combined with a seat height nearly two inches taller?

 

 

[9Mary7]

The weight is inexcusable......

[Hosstage]

24 minutes ago, 9Mary7 said:

The weight is inexcusable......

That was my first thought when I read the specs.

Weight, or lack of it, is one of the main reasons I got interested in BMWs. 

[Ponch]

On 2/8/2022 at 8:12 AM, fourteenfour said:

 

I was all set to wait and buy a R18 Bagger when we first starting getting hints of the R18 in 2019 if not earlier. Then reality hit.

 

BMW could not even convert existing BMW riders. I can excuse them on the base bike because it really was pushed as something that you can make your own with customization but sadly much of those extras were hard to or impossible to come by.

 

However there is no excuse for the B or Transcontinental. They are everything riders accustomed to BMW touring bikes are not. They are ridiculously heavy, the do not have advanced suspensions, they feature fixed wind screens, and their engine characteristics are very poor. BMW might have converted some riders to their bikes from other brands if they had a bike with traits people associate with BMW motorcycles but these bikes are not those.  How can BMW justify a bagger that starts at over eighty pounds more than the competition combined with a seat height nearly two inches taller?

 

 

 

The suspension is better than a HDs, but that's not hard to do. There's only so much that can be done with 2-3" of suspension travel. I also think they should have used an electric windscreen. IDK. The question for me is, if I spending X on a bike, how does it compare to what else is at that price point? Another factor for me is, what's the process like of buying a particular brand? Whenever I go into a HD dealer, I feel like an atheist that walked in on a Pentecostal revival. I just don't believe enough to go through the fleecing that happens there.