Fwd: Premium Motorcycles eMagazine - Issue 100
rtrendowski at verizon.net
rtrendowski at verizon.net
Thu Apr 15 18:50:23 EDT 2021
NJSBMWRers
In case you don't receive this e-magazine..... there are several paragraphs that talk about BMW S1000RR and market segments they target. also another article on the K1200RS
Roger T
-----Original Message-----
From: MOTO eMAG <noreply at moto-emag.com>
To: rtrend at verizon.net
Sent: Thu, Apr 15, 2021 4:30 pm
Subject: Premium Motorcycles eMagazine - Issue 100
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| The Independent Voice For Premium Riders... |
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| No.100 - The Independent Voice For Premium Riders"Your email is one of the few things that comes across my desk that gets read completely from top to bottom when it shows up. Keep up the great work." A. Dulay with PP donation. "The Love Bike - My K1200RS - Part 1, I loved this motorcycle. If they made it today out of exotic materials (shed 100lbs) I would buy it. I had both the first (perfect design) and second (committee designed) versions. Great motorcycle with near electric motor power delivery." J. Greenfield from Facebook.
"It would not be possible to find editorials on motorcycles with this level of openness. It's a rare treat." K. Morgan with PP donation.
"Oh my eyes! How can a new bike [Pan Am] be that hard on the eyes?" B. Kaminsky with PP donation.
Welcome to our 100th issue. MOTO was launched 5 years ago on March 17, 2016 and the world of US premium motorcycling hasn't been the same since. The cover image says it all. We "ka-powed" our bewildered and corporate owned state of industry reporting and broke many grounds. We had the guts to point out the 800 lbs gorilla in the room that our industry is shrinking and that was back in 2017. We painstakingly and openly discussed the ongoing demise of H-D when everyone else was turning a blind eye afraid they'd lose points with the brand. Unlike typical reporters we don't dwell in theory, our editorials and commentaries ring true because they are from an insider with 2-decade experience in the industry. Things are only going to get more fun and even more candid. To quote Betty Davis in All About Eve, "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride."
Thank you all for your supportive comments and donations on PayPal. I very much appreciate that. Scroll down to kick this 100th issue into gear. |
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| H-D Pan America - Beyond Retro - Part 2 |
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| The above image makes me laugh every time. In Part 1 of this article on H-D's new entry into the well-established and popular ADV market, I explained in painful detail why the Pan Am is a miss. The hardest (sometimes even impossible) thing in the world of premium motorcycling is penetrating new untapped market segments. When a brand like H-D, that is known for over a hundred years only for large old-school cruisers, tries to act like it's BMW all of a sudden, it just won't work. Even if its new offering wasn't so offensive to the eyes, it has no chance. Harley is done making bikes; it's just a matter of time. Its future is in global branding and licensing management and rebadged bikes such as the new small CC models currently being built in India by Hero utilizing H-D logo and a similar venture with a Chinese factory.
How to Conquer Previously Untapped but Well-Established Market Segments
The benchmark and textbook example of how to do this right is BMW's first ever entry into the modern superbike world, the S1000RR. Yes, the 1970's R90S is also technically a superbike, but it wasn't designed to conquest riders from other brands. I was a marketing and communications consultant to BMW for 10 years, from 2002 to 2012. The last 6 years were full-time as the Digital Director. Initially I began as a brand expert to the marketing agencies that supported BMW, but I gradually took over. I formed my own small agency and worked with BMW directly. Generally speaking, marketing & advertising agencies don't care if they are pushing laundry detergents or Ducati. They rely on experts in each industry to make it all work.
The S1000RR was launched in 2009 as a 2010 model. Even those at BMW were surprised at how well built and trouble free this brand new model was off the gate. Shocking really! That's because back in 2004 when BMW first released the K1200S (a Hyper bike, also a brand new model segment for them), it was plagued with issues causing a 6-month delay to the release. The issues were never fully resolved until the updated K1300S was introduced in 2009. I had passed on buying the K1200S (not refined enough), but grabbed a K1300S as soon as it was possible (even though it had its own minor teething problems for the first year).
We launched the RR at the height of my involvement with BMW. Since we were only a 2-person marketing team (the marketing and communications manager and myself) we naturally handled every detail of the yearlong pre-release events, the launch and then the marketing in addition to the sales and press support for the RR. So, what made the S1000RR such a success from a brand with no prior experience in building Japanese style superbikes and specially from BMW that was known as a builder of bikes for old college professors and engineers. How did BMW get this bike so right? They stopped drinking the Kool-Aid, meaning they threw brand arrogance out the door and researched the heck out of the global superbike market. We were contacted for detailed analysis of the US sportbike riders as early as 2004. These included providing images and videos of riders and events, their habits, brand loyalties, customization, the concepts of street cred, bragging rights and so on.
BMW knocked the RR out of the park, because they found a market segment asleep at the wheel. The Japanese had become so complacent in their decades long total dominance of the superbike market that they weren't really trying. By introducing Bosch rider's aid tech to superbikes, which BMW was already using on their other top-tier bikes anyway and cleverly designing a controversial but instantly recognizable winking front headlights (a gimmick), plus a MSRP of only $15K mixed with great power delivery, effortless cornering (it corners by itself as if autonomous) and comfy ergos it became a legend.
In direct contrast the current ADV market is thriving and is extremely advanced. No one is asleep at the wheel waiting for H-D to save the day. There are more examples of failures in new market penetration by premium brands than wins. The new H-D Pan Am is a fail, so is the BMW R1800, as was the long-forgotten BMW G450X dirt bike (it was in and then out in just about a year and never made it to the state of CA). Over and out! |
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| Ducati's Woes - Part 6 - Ducati in Damage Control |
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| Why is Ducati sending out a press release congratulating themselves on last year's (-9%) sales report in late March of this year? That's called damage control, but why should it matter to Ducati. They are sitting pretty, within one of the world's largest automotive groups with infinitely deep pockets. VW already voted to keep the brand (for now) so what's the worry? Hold on to that thought, there is more to this story. Ducati has announced a recall and full engine replacement on the brand new Multistrada V4 motorcycles, just launched in the US. Of course this begs the 2nd obvious question of why new Ducati motorcycles either catch fire or have serious engine issues that's discovered right after dealer delivery. Are these bikes untested? Do they just ride them around town for a couple of days and decide, "they are perfect, like everything that we do, no need to touch them further, let's ship them out." 3rd issue is the armed FBI raid on their HQ.
Jaguar Land Rover CEO recently made a shocking but very honest announcement, he said we could increase our production by 100K if we made more reliable cars. Imagine if Ducati CEO was that upfront. Here's an interesting twist, Ducati announced an uncharacteristically rather OK compensation package to the new Multi owners affected by the recall. This package involves $1500 in Ducati branded merchandise and free service for the life of warranty (2 years).
A seemingly generous recall compensation package, a sales report for the previous year in late March of the next year stating, it really wasn't that bad. Even though the year in question was during once in a hundred years global crisis, and a FBI raid. There are only 3 logical explanations: 1. Perhaps their top brass is attempting to save their jobs. 2. They're also trying not to give VW any more excuses to sell the brand. 3. An unlikely explanation could also be they are softening the blow for a less than stellar first quarter report. Time will tell. |
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| 4WT*MTS IV - The BMW Curse |
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| There was a time when front grills on cars were cute. Those days are long gone and the new EV revolution has made them totally superfluous. However, poor BMW is stuck with the kidney grills into infinity. Other brands could have also succumbed to the curse of the grill, but cleverly maneuvered out of it. In the above image, on the left is Mercedes, old and new. Mercedes could have easily fallen into this trap, and like Royce Rolls, forever featured a tall and majestic front grill. But why? How boring would that be (RR is the only exception to this rule). BMW, instead of gradually phasing out the grill and offering much more exciting designs, has decided to double down with the most garish and widely panned new gigantic grill feature (image). These are going to get even bigger, much bigger. I get it, BMW had become desperate because their cars were looking really dated. The same overall shapes for almost 20 years, plus the most boring, old school interiors coming out of premium Europe. Why is it that Mercedes, Porsche and Range Rover can have the most cutting edge interiors, but not BMW? The answer to such questions is always the same: "Kool-Aid." Why try too hard when you can move lots of cars through the best incentive programs in the country and perhaps the world.
BMW sells as many cars in the US as the mighty Mercedes (about 300K). That's due partly to Merc's weak sales and marketing team. Although BMW also has an uninspiring marketing group, but their sales and incentive team are good. They are motivated. That's also true for their motorcycles department. In those days we were creating new incentive packages every month. All new BMW cars sold in the US come with BMW Ultimate Care standard. Buy a BMW car and don't spend a penny on maintenance for 3 years. Just put gas and go. You can't beat that! Talk about total peace of mind on an expensive purchase (or lease).
Complementary Routine Maintenance for Life of Warranty for BMW Motorcycles and Ducati
I've been preaching complementary maintenance for the life warranty on BMWs and Ducatis sold in the US for years, but these US motorcycle divisions feel they maybe too small to be able to successfully burden the added expenditure. However, I think if BMW motorcycles US starts to offer the same Ultimate Care concept as their auto division, it will not only increase their volume by potentially 15 to 20% but will also inspire Ducati to do the same here. Complementary maintenance during warranty is actually a real boon for dealers. This will prevent riders from working on their bikes; it will also keep bringing them back to dealerships. When the rider is in the dealer because they are getting a free oil change, they'll look around at accessories and other models. Also this will create a great buzz for premium brands and frankly will help to reduce Ducati's stigma of being unreliable. The message is simple, buy our expensive bikes and don't spend a penny on service for the life of warranty. This is how BMW auto division is winning in the US and it's time our industry followed.
In case you're wondering if this new free service would involve creating complex (expensive) accounting and digital algorithms, the short answer is no. There is already such system of brands paying for service in place; it's called the warranty. That's how Ducati is smartly managing to offer it to the affected Multi owners. If a motorcycle develops issues while under warranty, the brand pays the dealer (at a special reduced rate) to remedy the problem. In the same way the dealer could easily provide free oil changes and basic maintenance, if supported by the brand, for the life of warranty. The system is already in place. |
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| The Love Bike - My K1200RS - Part 2 |
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| My nostalgia editorial on the Love Bike continues with Part 2. Previously I mentioned my crazy experience demoing the K12RS in 1999. Sometimes just one ride is all it takes to fall in love with a motorcycle. The BMW K1200RS was made with no compromises. They pulled out all the stops in creating this ultimate BMW. It was the most powerful BMW motorcycle to date, providing an extremely smooth ride with very high torque. In fact the torque is so good that you don't need to shift down from the 6th on the highway unless coming to a stop. The bike pulls incredibly well in 6th at 30mph as it does at regular highway speeds. Of course you don't want to make a habit of this (undue stress on clutch), but it's a good feature.
My then new fully loaded K1200RS cost me a cool $20K in 1999 out the door. That's not including the custom paint. That was a lot of money for a bike back then but it was worth it. However, expenses follow this bike through its ownership history. Not that it's unreliable, far from it--it's in fact bulletproof. But because this bike was made with no compromise whatsoever, it was designed with no consideration for cost of service. One alternator swap required 11 hours of service and cost me $1600. I had my K12RS for about 12 years but was actively riding it for only about 9, mainly due to having access to so many other bikes. In that time I put exactly 80K miles on it and have estimated that I've spent well over $25K on service. The K12RS never left the dealer after a service for less than a grand or two or even three. Although I had kept all the receipts, and handed them to the next owner in a nice folder, I never bothered to actually tally up that thick stack of dealer invoices.
BMW resolved most of this unneeded service costs with the K1200S by designing a bike with ease of maintenance in mind. Of course the K1300S really perfected that model line's history.
My motorcycling adventures and related professional career started with this bike. The very first article I had written was a cover story for BMW Owners News in June 2000 (image). It wasn't my first writing gig, I had already 4 books in print by then (now 7) but those are in very different topics. In that BMW ON cover I had organized and led what was called the first cyber rally, meaning utilizing only the newly created online tools for the entire process of organizing and handling a motorcycle rally. It was also unique for being a single model rally--BMW K1200RSes only. In that cover image you can spot the color ranges that were available for the K12RS. Mine is front center in custom black. My bike remained unique until BMW released the black color option a couple of years later. The image on the right is of me riding my black beauty in the Vermont twisties with Motolights blazing. To be continued... |
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| MOTO eMAG: Premium Motorcycles eMagazine - The Next Generation.
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World's Largest, Most Influential Premium Motorcycles Ezine.
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