[BoxerFanatic]

$18,000...

I wish BMW good luck with that one, but they won't sell 'em.

Maybe on the megamoto and stuff like that, where on dual-role motorbikes, lighter and simpler is better in many ways...

but on a street bike... stripped down is supposed to be cheaper and more attainable, not more expensive for fewer features. Otherwise R1200R would be more expensive than HP2 Sport.

There is no way that it would make it into my garage anywhere near that price. It would have to depreciate for 5 or 10 years first... and by then, who knows...

Why would someone buy this for anywhere near $18K, when R1200S sold so modestly at it's price? R1200R is not exactly breaking sales records, either, I don't think.

And why would they buy it over something like a K12R, or R-Sport, or it's 1300cc upgrade?

Why would a BMW enthusiast buy a bike like this with meager to non-existent touring features, no apparent fairing, and no BMW-trademark alternative front suspension systems, or anything, for more money than some of BMW's more traditionally sophisticated machines?

And who on earth would compare this BMW to other brands, and think that that price was anywhere near appropriate? That is almost 7 grand more than the price of a Speed Triple, and more than double that of the Bonneville Thruxton, which is less than $9k base price.
That is more than the Ducati Sport 1000, Monster 1100S, Hypermotard, and maybe even the same or less than the base Streetfighter 1098.
That is the kind of money that goes for an MV Agusta Brutale 910R, or 1078 upcoming model.

I am just not seeing that price point being workable for BMW. It isn't a special edition of the K1300R with all the features, it is a stripped down boxer street bike. Configureable, definitely... exotic, hardly.