Other Bikes » R18 Pic from BMW Website

Ya know, when I see this..........I understand why there's several R18's sitting on the floor at my dealer and the finance & rebate offers are generous.
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The Ford Edsel comes to mind!

Chris

I rode a classic and hating how cramped the riding position was (probably why he has his legs up on the crash bars). The Transcontinental I almost pulled a groin muscle getting it off the side stand! I'm not weak by any stretch, but man it's HEAVY

Yesterday I attended the "open house" event (which continues today) at the BMW dealership in Sonoma, California. The BMWNA truck would be there and would be offering test rides of their new models. So I on my RS and my daughter on her Triumph Bonneville, rode up to the event to check it out. I was planning on test riding the new 1250RS, one of the R9T models and maybe an F750GS. No such luck.

When I arrived I saw a big semi-truck with R18 pictures painted on its side and rows of R18 bikes lined up in the street. There were more R18 models on display in the shop, around the outside of the building and lined up in the middle of their driveway. If you wanted to test ride a BMW motorcycle it was going to be on an R18 pig or nothing at all. I saw one or two people riding around on an R18, but it was unclear if they were visitors or part of the NA staff. Later in the day, things got so bad that members of the shop's staff were going around to the people cooling their heels, practically begging for them to come ride one of the R18 models that had been hauled to Northern California all the way from New Jersey. Neither I nor my daughter took them up on the offer. And I didn't see anyone else do so, either.

So my question is: Is anyone actually buying the R18 or is it a complete sales dud that NA convinced the BMW factory to build and now has egg on their face because no one wants them?

Photos of the event are attached.

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