I see a lot of people #$%*ing about this bike and how it's crap.
I don't care. It made me interested in a modern bike. It does need few things taken off and/or replaced but it works for me.
The price tag that will come with it is a another story ...
Really? You wouldn't make this up, would you? I don't see how "people" can say that it is all crap--since aside from the test drivers that I met in the Alps, nobody has driven the new boxer. What I hear though is great disappointment from potential buyers (And I know quite a few of them from the RR forum: male, over 45, already a new HP4 and GS parked in the garage, and the money to purchase whatever bike they like to--without having to ask their mommy first). People are not happy with the design. Furthermore, after the R90S concept anniversary bike, BMW heightened expectations for a café racer. The removable passenger seat cover definitely does not suffice to fulfill this classification. Potential buyers expected something like this:
I wouldn't touch it either. But then, I already know what to settle for. No "wanna-be retro" here, but the real thing: an honest hand-built bike built in the continued tradition of Norton (the name alone gives me goose bumps).
I know, everybody has a different taste. I hear that some guys like heavy and hairy women. On the other hand, that is not what I see in the magazines, so perhaps...