Getting Younger With Age
Getting Younger with Age
ROUNDUP
It’s not like BMW has reinvented the wheel, just itself
BY BLAKE CONNER
TEACHING AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS is hard enough, but what if you are the old dog? How do you learn to change with the times and appeal to a younger demographic? Many marques have stereotypes that are virtually (and, in some cases, literally) tattooed to their likeness. Harley-Davidson wouldn’t have it any other way. As for BMW, which has recently expanded into two of the most hotly contested arenas in motorcycling-superbike and enduro-it’s about new segments that give the ability to grow beyond the sport-touring and big-displacement adventure markets the company has already saturated.
New models like the inline-Four S1000RR superbike, G450X dirtbike and now the Lo Rider Concept-unveiled at the Milan Show last fallhave many buyers who were previously not interested in BMW paying attention for the first time.
“We’ve been looking at other seg-
ments, but not different ways of doing things,” says David Robb, BMW’s American-born VP of Motorcycle Design. “We’ve entered new sectors that have the sporty dynamics and athleticism that our customers have been asking for. It seems to some people like an overnight change, but it takes a lot of work to get to this level. It’s exciting because a lot of what we’re doing we’ve wanted to do for a long time. Can you imagine us trying to make a sportbike like the S1000RR without ever having built the K1200S?”
To some, BMW’s image is stuck back in the 1980s. The bikes were considered excellent sport-touring machines but didn’t have much pizzazz. “About seven or eight years ago, we told BMW’s upper management that our motorcycles were seen as the Mercedes of the cycle world,” says Robb. “Very well engineered, but shouldn’t there be more emotion?”
It’s all about speaking the right
language to the right consumer. “If you were involved in sport-tourers, then BMW was cutting edge; if you weren’t, you wouldn’t even know we existed. It’s sort of like turning up the volume: Until you hit 100 decibels, no one is paying attention. It’s like we’ve been playing classical music the entire time but when we cranked it up, people realized there’s some hard rock in there, too!”
BMW’s conservative reputation has kept younger riders out of its showrooms. “Supersport and off-road are segments that get a lot of young riders involved,” states Robb. “We’re attracting people that until now wouldn’t even consider a BMW because we weren’t in their preferred market.” Speaking of new markets, the introduction of the Lo Rider Concept in Italy was met with much acclaim.
It was presented as a new-age techno-bobber, but the idea is to offer bodywork and exhaust options so that buyers can build the bike to suit their tastes. The customer would be able to choose between high pipes and low pipes. headlight, seat and pain \ options in any number of configurations. "People want somethin pure and pared down," says Robb. "About 85 ` percent of the people we surveyed love the Lo Rider: then you get 1 5 percent , asking. What are vou guys di inking S~ o~eitheie~
We make statements. and people love them or they don't. In the case of the Lo Rider, the more options you have, the more people you're going to be able to reach."
When asked about the viability of actually bringing the concept to mar ket. Robb said. The one thing that we have to be careful of is that at motor cycle shows. you present something and people love it. Then a year later when you've built it. are those people waiting around wanting to give you their money?"
BMW is counting the ballots and seeing if there is truly a demand for the Lo Rider. But in the meantime. Munich has fully committed to going after new customers in unknown ter ritories. bringing to them its own very German brand of engineering and design. So. although to outsiders it appears that BMW has changed its philosophy overnight, in reality all of this has been building up for years. with each new model taking another step forward.
To \vhlch Robb adds. You can t make a big leap without gaining expe rience and getting people to believe in you. We've been dreaming about this for a long time."
