quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
[picture of Moto Guzzi]

More bikes should have fork leg gaiters/boots. Especially "upside down" forks with the fat part in the triple clamps and containing the oil. What happens if you nick a fork tube? Instant oil dump.

I try and not knick my forks

The reverse fork is good looking, very much a racing look.

For what it is the R18 is different, $19K base price, not bad, about the price of a new Heritage Softail...

I love it! That one with a set of apes would make a nice addition to my Road Glide.

You have to know the next Bond bike will be electric...

I like the looks of the motor, just not what's wrapped around it.

Moto Guzzi is one of the few I haven't ridden. I need to address that some day.

Checking BMW's build it website, I found they have an optional bobber kit that is pretty sharp looking:

Got to love those ginormous German license plates, they really jazz up the look of those bikes!

Those chrome pipes are hideous and I'm not sure why they stick with the boxer engines, they just don't look that good to me, way too agricultural looking. Maybe that is what they are going for.

The standard bike with the dual seat, regular bars and the black pipes is the best configuration in my humble opinion. My favorite BMWs were the K models though, wonder if they will bring those back some day. Looks like the S1000 isthe closest model to the old standard K model that they have now. The standard K seemed like the best German answer to the UJM (universal Japanese motorcycle). I really miss my Honda NightHawk CB700SC with the inline 4 and shaft drive. Very simple straight forward all around motorcycle. Loved it.

I own a 2000 Harley Dyna Sport in all black that is I guess a cruiser, but a minimalist one if that, no fairing or windshield and to me it was the closest thing to the standard UJM that Harley made in the day.

The forks and exhaust need work... Otherwise, its a pretty nice looking bike...

Odd how heavy and awkward the exhaust and forks are, though...

BMW has a few bikes I would like to ride but that is not one of them.

Personally I find the open drive shaft a potentially dangerous thing.

Some type of slim cover would be aesthetically pleasing and keep the rotating mass insulated from dangling things.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Checking BMW's build it website, I found they have an optional bobber kit that is pretty sharp looking:

Looks great othrr than the horrific exhaust. I bet 95% of them come off for aftermarket.

^^ Eh, I'm not sure I'd go for a BWM if what I wanted aesthetically was something that looks like an old US Army Harley from WWII. It's sorta like buying a semiauto M14 from Norinco; there's just something about it that ain't quite right.

quote:

Originally posted by Snapping Twig:
Personally I find the open drive shaft a potentially dangerous thing.

Reasonable on it's face, but...BMW's been making motorcycles that way since the 1920's, and provided two of the most reliable motorcycles the German Army ever fielded (the R4 and R75). The latter was so reliable that the Soviet Union essentially pirated the entire design which lives on in the still-popular (at least in Muddy Russia) Ural motorcycle. With all of the people hanging all of the things they do off of BMW motorcycles when they've gone on long trips over all of those years, I think BWM's figured out how to tuck the drive shaft away so that it doesn't pose any risks or problems.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
The forks and exhaust need work... Otherwise, its a pretty nice looking bike...

Odd how heavy and awkward the exhaust and forks are, though...

If you go to the Kerz-figerinstaz-iater, ie configurator Link they have optional exhaust that don't look like canoe paddles..



Or change it up, Bobber, apes, billet wheels blacked out engine cover, headlight ring, mufflers..