Video review of the new ‘23 R and RS…

In the United States, a new loaded R1250R will set you back around $20,000 before any type of negotiation and manufacture incentives (which only sporadically occur). Like this '23 Ice Gray for $19,345 at my local dealer...with state sales tax, freight and setup, document fees, etc., the OTD price will be in excess of $22,000:

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I don’t know the prices of bikes in the USA, but as you can see from my list above the R1250R is a great value option in the UK.

Fully loaded? The Japanese bikes often come with lots of nice stuff as standard and their options lists tend to be short.

BMW probably has the longest options list, and it is in the UK a made to order motorcycle. I don’t know exactly the buying process with the other European makes but they do seem to have expanding options lists too.

BMW are world class experts at fleecing their customers on the options lists. Yup you can drive the price of an R1250 towards and past £20,000 in the UK if you want to. Will you end up with a better bike than mine (cruise control, heated grips, ESA, TPC, centre stand, luggage grid – new today £14,595), not in mind you wouldn’t. So, carefully specified these bikes are still great value compared to the opposition (in the UK)

Interesting variation in comparative prices Gareth.

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There are factors such as exchange rates, import duties etc to take into consideration. But then quite a number of these bikes are EU bikes. Why is the boxer very affordable in the UK but expensive elsewhere?

Or perhaps it’s the legacy ‘pipe and slippers’ image of the Boxer.

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It could be. But it has lost its weirdo oddball styling of old. I tried cracking some BMW pipe slippers cloth cap jokes with the young(ish) salesman I dealt with – I just got a blank look. Maybe he didn’t appreciate my banter – or maybe he genuinely didn’t know what I was on about – I dunno.

Competitors? Again, I dunno. Really looking at my list above, well the R1250R, it kinda fits but not quite. Seems to be plenty of competition for the RS, but not so much when it strips off and becomes an R. I think it sits out on its own a bit.

I’ve only watched a few minutes of the above road tests. As is usual with youtubers they struggle to make their reviews snappy and short like the old pros, so I tend to give up on them.
But I’m guessing from what you guys are saying they really enjoyed themselves. My personal experience of a super naked was it was a bit too wild and frantic on the road – I survived my test ride, just, and went off looking for something else. I mean some of these bikes have 200bhp – that’s just a number to boast about down the pub, that’s all it is.

A few wee things I noticed;

You can’t option TPC from 2023 onwards unless you also option keyless ride – why? I mean really?

The base price has risen a bit over the years, and that’s partly due to more stuff becoming standard.

The tracker became standard in 2020. The first year is free then it is 120 quid a year thereafter. So, I’m left with a tracker that I didn’t want, I don’t subscribe to, but yet it continues to drain my battery. Leave your bike parked up and unconnected to a trickle charger for a few days and it won’t start.

BMW SOS Teleservices – appear to be standard from 2023. Connects via a SIMM card, which means it won’t work across much of Scotland. Presumably there’s another subscription involved. Hopefully it doesn’t impact on the battery like the tracker.

UserNameKate? MotoBob? Lamb Chop rides?
Who are these folks? Seriously, who the **** are they?

It is time I ordered my motorcycle mounts for the GoPros I use on my bicycles, do a few bike reviews, then get my name down, maybe even my actual name, on the all expenses paid international motorcycle launch promotion circuit. I’m your man.

Or is it that all BMW can manage is to tempt a few youtubers over for their re-launch, of which in terms of sales, are ‘also ran’ bikes.

I mean what have we got here, a promo launch for some new colours, an LED headlamp and a software update. Wow!

Hey me a buzz Motorrad, I’m up for a wee jolly and I am happy to stick a wee video together. Worried I won’t like the bikes?

I’m very flexible, I can follow a script though I prefer cash.

Gareth said:

UserNameKate? MotoBob? Lamb Chop rides?
Who are these folks? Seriously, who the **** are they?

Or is it that all BMW can manage is to tempt a few youtubers over for their re-launch, of which in terms of sales, are ‘also ran’ bikes.

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They are the people (among others, of course) who have decimated the motorcycle magazine market in the United States. There appear to still be some magazines present over in the U.K., but here in the States, with perhaps an exception (RoadRUNNER) or two (or those who have gone to some gasping-for-breath on-line magazine presence), the entire magazine industry gave way to the flood of eyes that are all on YouTube these days. There are other factors (increasing costs, distribution, etc.) that played into the devastation, of course, but a primary driver, one that did away with any possible recovery from these other factors, was the migration of readers to YouTube and other on-line venues for reviews...free, more entertaining (arguably) and more timely, with far more views of these videos than any slice/player of the magazine subscription department could possibly aspire to.

I miss the old days of a half-dozen subscriptions of in-depth, professional analysis of different models, but it's these YouTubers with funny names that are driving market opinion these days, certainly more so than the professional magazine stalwarts of yesteryear, most of whom aren't even around to compete any longer. That's why the marketing budget among many (most? all?) manufacturers have largely migrated from magazine ads and traveling shows (like the now suspended/canceled IMS) to invitation-only launches for YouTubers and other influencers like this one in Spain...that's where the eyeballs are.

I miss the old days of a half-dozen subscriptions of in-depth, professional analysis of different models, but it's these YouTubers with funny names that are driving market opinion these days, certainly more so than the professional magazine stalwarts of yesteryear, most of whom aren't even around to compete any longer. That's why the marketing budget among many (most? all?) manufacturers have largely migrated from magazine ads and traveling shows (like the now suspended/canceled IMS) to invitation-only launches for YouTubers and other influencers like this one in Spain...that's where the eyeballs are.

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I’d say at the moment the UK motorcycle magazine market is fairly healthy. There are quite a number of mags available and yeah they are quite varied. Some are dreadful though. I like Motorcycle Sport and leisure + Classic Motorcycle Mechanics.

I do remember some of the mags in the UK boast of their independence and warts and all reviews, whilst slagging off American magazines for being the promotional wing of the big Motorocycle Corporations – how true that was I don’t know.

Having said all that, I’d guess that the magazines left in the UK are all fighting for survival. But yeah I’m amazed by the bulging magazine racks covering all the usual interests in my local newsagent. Buff books are deid though - history

All printed press is struggling in this day and age. I’m not sure if younger folks bother with printed press at all.

I guess advertising is as big, or maybe bigger issue than the growing army of youtubers. Looking for a new bike, or maybe just some parts, how about some clothing – we all just turn to the internet and start googling now.

I love youtube. So much good stuff on there. With the kit available and platforms like youtube anybody can produce reasonably high quality content. But finding good content is not easy. All of the above just bore me – all doing the same thing and taking far too long to do it.

Right I’m off to brush up on my video editing skills…..