BMW needs to build a 600cc RR model

[flyrider]

Go head to head with GSX-R 600...sell a bunch of them. Any reason why not?

[TelemarkTumalo]

Huh? 600 cc Sportbikes are a dying breed. The only excitement for the bike builders in recent years has been the Daytona. BMW has a niche in the large displacement, low revving, high torque touring and GS market. Why take the time for the R&D and build expense, just to chase a shrinking market? As much fun as they might be, the sales numbers for the 600 cc sport bike market, just don't pencil out.

[Aussie Rider]

Saw a rumour on another forum about 6 months ago regarding a 675RR triple to take on the Triumph. Not sure it will happen but I would love to see BMW enter into racing super sport.

[DH63]

NO. OK, in drag racing America, where magazine editors "sell" bikes on track measured performance to dreamy 20 something racer-boy hooligan wannabees, who never use they performance they purchase, MAYBE yet another 600 cc over tweaked four is the way to go. Or not. Because it better come out at the top of the performance chart, or it is toast in that marketplace.

What they could do, though, is tune the 800cc twin for MORE performance. (Ought to be easy.) Take some weight off and keep a nice, narrow frame. Put a first class, sport adjustable suspension on it and an all out sport riding position. Something that maybe isn't quite so quick on a drag strip, but is an agile machine that can turn in its own wheelbase and hits like a catapult at 3000 rpm and keeps on hauling.

A torque monster for the canyons, mountains, and other real world, real road twisties.

In other words - what the F800S should have been the first time around.

What Suzuki got right - for 20 years and a couple million bikes - was the GSX-R and GSX-F (Katana) stablemate concept. One hard edged sport bike and one very capable sport tourer. That's the part of Suzuki BMW needs to copy, but do it on their own bike concept. Offer an alternative to the UJM of the 21st century, sell to the rider who doesn't want to be like everyone else.

My humble opinion.

[notacop]

BMW is an egalitarian provider. They don't need no racer boy 600. They have gone after world titles and have held many. They enter the market where they feel they can best make a profit.
Notice they don't make the Cruiser model anymore. Found Germans don't know squat about that market. It's too dang expensive to just throw things out there and see who opens the wallet.

[flyrider]

BMW is an egalitarian provider. They don't need no racer boy 600. They have gone after world titles and have held many. They enter the market where they feel they can best make a profit.
Notice they don't make the Cruiser model anymore. Found Germans don't know squat about that market. It's too dang expensive to just throw things out there and see who opens the wallet.

Maybe...but they built the new GT...where did they get the idea there was a market for a tricked-up ST, which ostensibly wasn't a big seller?

[Aussie Rider]

They bought the S1000RR out for the dreamy boy racer wannabe/hooligan and sold plenty and won races and went close to taking out the super bike world championship. I would`nt write off something in the 600 class in the future. There`s probably a bit of hooligan hidden in most of us, thats why we ride otherwise we`d take the car.

[flyrider]

They bought the S1000RR out for the dreamy boy racer wannabe/hooligan and sold plenty and won races and went close to taking out the super bike world championship. I would`nt write off something in the 600 class in the future. There`s probably a bit of hooligan hidden in most of us, thats why we ride otherwise we`d take the car.

Exactly. And to the poster who said the 600 is a "dying breed"...check out the sales figures for Suzuki and show me the mortality!

[TelemarkTumalo]

http://www.sportrider.com/features/1...ortbike_sales/

[Mokkybear]

What they could do, though, is tune the 800cc twin for MORE performance. (Ought to be easy.) Take some weight off and keep a nice, narrow frame. Put a first class, sport adjustable suspension on it and an all out sport riding position. Something that maybe isn't quite so quick on a drag strip, but is an agile machine that can turn in its own wheelbase and hits like a catapult at 3000 rpm and keeps on hauling.

A torque monster for the canyons, mountains, and other real world, real road twisties.

In other words - what the F800S should have been the first time around.

Not enough discerning buyers out there for that sort of thing. Would need to have a more radical image than BMW has to offer at that level. Maybe something with the Nuda 900cc (but a slanted version) for the extra grunt and character (offset crank).

[flyrider]

http://www.sportrider.com/features/1...ortbike_sales/

Awesome article...thanks for posting it. But at the heart of the matter is the question of demand vs credit availability. The lack of the latter seems to have more to do with 600 cc sales declines than lack of the former. But you can't fault a manufacturer for bowing to the realities of our upside-down financial system at the moment...they'd be crazy not to. That said, I'd still buy a 600cc BMW "RR" model bike in a heartbeat...if I could.

[TelemarkTumalo]

That is a crowded market, but maybe BMW would consider it after the success of the S1000 RR. That bike has brought a whole new buyer to the staid and stuffy (?) BMW community. I gotta say though, that the Triumph Daytona 675R seems to be one awesome sport bike. If I were in the market....

[flyrider]

Looks like this idea isn't new...there was speculation a few years ago:

http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/mod...w_ss_600rr.htm

[Aussie Rider]

Thanks flyrider, thats the one I saw. I love it.

[flyrider]

A 4-cylinder model would be more to my liking, though.

[Aussie Rider]

Thats probably the way they`d go by making a smaller version of the 1000RR they already have. Personally I would`nt mind seeing a 3 cylinder model cos if anything like the Triumph its a sweet engine.

[Aussie Rider]

http://bmwsuperbikes.com/gallery6.htm
675RR

[Scorch]

My understanding was that BMW took a massive hit to produce the S1000RR and bring it to market at the same price as all the other litre bikes. They did this to break into the market and start stealing share from the other manufacturers. It has proved to be massively successful, and I assume that they have recouped much (or all) of the initial expense from the bike's development.

However, I recall reading that they weren't contemplating a Supersport model because they would have to repeat a great deal of the development, and then have to sell any new machine for even less than the S1000RR, thereby taking an even bigger initial hit. This is going back a couple of years, though, so it's very possible that the massive success of the S1000RR might have changed their minds.

Personally, I don't think the 600 sports bike class is dying at all. Certainly not in the UK and Europe, where there are thriving national and international Supersport and Superstock championships. These series drive sales of the roadgoing versions of the bikes, and I still see any number of new rice rockets zooming about when the weather is nice.

Having just bought myself an old 600 track bike (2001 GSXR-600), I currently only see myself upgrading to newer versions in the first few years, until I learn how to ride them properly. Only then would I consider getting onto a 1000cc track bike.

[racer7]

600cc bikes might be live across the pond but they're near to stone dead here. Mostly due to the continuing crappy economy. The bikes sales these days are to low buck newbs and older folks with cash- not kids with big loans (student loans put many out of the new bike marketplace already) We're still losing dealers, not having new ones open.

[Carlos Fandango]

I think there is a market for a smaller capacity RR, look how successful the 899 Panigale has been, if BMW built a 750cc 150/160bhp RR my view is that it would be a big seller, the 1000 is just for some people a bit too insane.

[de100kb]

In a interview I read a few years ago the BMW spokesman said it wasn't ever going to happen because they have made the calculations and it would have to be sold at almost the same price as the S1000RR which would make no sense at all.

I'm still hoping for a F900 based HP1 Please BMW

And a F800GTL!