Marketing of the R 12xx RS by BMW Motorrad

[Grumpy Goat]

The RS is the best BMW no one buys.

Ain't that the truth. Such a shame. It's a vicious circle - no sales push, means no one knows, and hence no one buys and so forth ... I have seen me stand on the showroom floor in a BMW dealership selling the RS to another customer who wanted to know more! Another time outside that same dealership as I was getting ready to go, same thing with a different person.

I get it that the RS is a little bit of an oddity in that it is lumped in with the other "Sport" bikes in the BMW lineup alongside the likes of the much-vaunted M1000RR and the "lesser" S1000R ... a lineup where an R bike cannot match the sport performance of the RR bikes, while at the same time there is no "Sport Touring" category for the RS to slot into.

But if they have a need to make this model in the first place, they should stop giving it short shrift and actually make a decent attempt at promoting it. They like to spout about "heritage this" and "heritage that", but at the same time they overlook the importance and significance of the RS in BMW motorcycling history, and neglect paying homage by showing some pride in the model, FFS. Why bother making it? At this rate it may be better to save all the engines wasted on the RS for the GS/GSAs and focus on the RRs for carrying the Sport torch.

Disappointing indeed.