BMW Motorcycles

[PL]

Slow to the market, lesser market share to grab?

 

Ultimately, they're driven by profits.

How many companies are helmed by people who are excited or passionate about their own products or services?

 

Imagine if SDR is the CEO of BMW, I'm sure we will have great bikes coming out of their factory. Unfortunately, companies these days worry more about return of investment, shareholders, sales target, profit margin, revenues.... rather than whether how long can the new Brake Pump on our new GS lasts. Or how can we make our our fuel tank large enough so that our customers can go touring with minimal disruption. Or how can we make our electronics so simple and flexible, our customers can fix any gadgets they can find on the market.

[Cyclop aka Sideways]

Originally posted by SDR+Jan 27 2005, 07:47 AM-->

QUOTE (SDR @ Jan 27 2005, 07:47 AM)

Is there any K series riders here? Seem like R series esp GS is very popular here.   Not much news of K fm BMW beside e K1200S,not seen in Spore. Is K out of Sin?   Or K just priced too high? Or pple r more health conscious,prefer to hv upright riding position?[/b] K series........ seen a K1200GT before, 2 K1200LT (or were those the older ones...??) ........I think thats it for me....   Originally posted by R1szuan@Jan 27 2005, 10:17 AM) u refering to the K1200S the new inline4 from bmw? I heard it is recalled back due to some of the FI problem. Yep, thats right, the EFI problem was very prominently documented by magazines after the press launch. Seemed that the bike was snatchy at low revs. Another problem that effected the delay was that the camshaft surface hardening was not up to specs, a definite performance and durability issue. They are working with their supplier to address this. I always thought BMW does everything in house.....guess thats not true either.....

[GSGabes]

Coffee at Changi V tonight???? 9:30pm.

 

Coffee shop opp the old Shell station.

[Cyclop aka Sideways]

Originally posted by pinglong@Jan 27 2005, 12:12 PM

How many companies are helmed by people who are excited or passionate about their own products or services?

Probably Ducati and Ferrari would fit that bill. Their sales are used to fund their racing effort. Even though their pricing is so exclusive, people are still willing to fork out the dough

[Guest R1szuan]

Originally posted by SDR@Jan 27 2005, 11:22 AM

Alamak. AGAIN?

 

Seem like the German are very similiar to Japanese now. Used to respect German products like Zeiss, Benz, Porsche, VW, BMW, Siemen and etc... Remembered I read somewhere that the Germans are very proud of themselve and they ensure that every single product rolled out from their factory is in perfect condition.

 

probably the germans have noticed the other makes are producing more faster,leaner and better design machinces that is capturing the market.

 

Stiff competetion from the rest makes BMW respond quick.

 

So under pressure and under stress by consumer for BMW to reply. The produce things hastly. When produce thing kancheongly.. u get screw up items.

 

The problem was already by one of the forummers is the FI problem. It is snatchy at low speed. But i got a gut feeling it is more than dat.

[GSGabes]

Originally posted by SDR@Jan 27 2005, 12:46 PM

Will sms you by 2000hrs if I can make it, need go Bike Shop, m thinkg of Bike Connection to order tyres and brake pump and get a registration number plate from another shop for wife.

Dude. at 2000hrs i will be with customer. So maybe might not be able to reply u.

 

Just sms me if u can make it or not then we see how k?

 

how bout the rest????

[PL]

Originally posted by SDR@Jan 27 2005, 01:49 PM

Unlikely, if I m the CEO, why do I bother? My contract will be 2yrs or more, I just make sure the company is making BIG profit and capture 90% share in the market, after that, bye bye, laughing away with millions of dollars. Further, with a few million dollars in hand, like I said before, buy new, ride a while, sell it cheap.

Ok, bad example. haha.

 

But then, also a good example.

[Cyclop aka Sideways]

Originally posted by GSGabes@Jan 27 2005, 01:54 PM

how bout the rest????

So sorry guys, not tonight. Family night tonight. Been away from home for the last 2 days and me 2 year old is asking for her old man.........hek hek......catch up with you guys on the next round

[Cyclop aka Sideways]

Originally posted by pinglong@Jan 27 2005, 02:17 PM

Ok, bad example. haha.

 

But then, also a good example.

The really smart ones, especially those with a golden parachute written into their contract will take over, screw up the company big time, get paid big bucks to leave, and laugh all the way to a rich and fufilling early retirement........ Remember ye ol local bank case .......

[Guest koma]

eh if u guys goin gibe me a call k, i be at sentosa attending my frens rom. will be finishing round 8pm, will go dwn if u guys r goin. my contact is 98478042. u guys can pm me ur contacts , thanks

[GSGabes]

Dudes. cancelled. I have other plans already.

 

some other time lah.....

[PL]

Originally posted by SDR@Jan 27 2005, 04:06 PM

Dear Pinglong, did you post this on Monday? Part should arrive tomorrow (Tue) afternoon. So, when r u getting your bike? Today is Thurs. Empty promises? and is it possible to place an order and rcvd next day? Where is the part coming from? Ah Boy? or ... if fom Germany, they are at least 7hrs earlier than us or GMT +1 and Singapore is GMT +8.

 

Hope you "chase" them abit. Make your dearest Kriss think you are irritating.

I just came back from PML, got my back.

 

Well, Kriss called me up, told me my bike would be ready this afternoon. So, told him I'm go after work. When I reached there, Kris wasn't around, he had to take urgent leave. So, some other guys attended to me. First of all, I think there was a misunderstanding. They did not dismantle my brake host at all. I get the impression they needed to dismantle my brake host last week when Kris explained to me where those hoses go. And the mechs spent time to explain to me that they really can't tell whether there's something wrong with it during servicing. Anyway, if they let 2 mechanics attend to me, Bryan & Mustafa, I think they're really sincere abt explaining things to me. Rather than just do a fire-and-forget kind of job. We talked about my bike, how I can actually use those with 15W/50 type engine oil. He recommended Mobil 1. We talked about how I should 'work' my ABS once in a while even if there's no need to. They asked me abt my riding experience, I told them. They're surprised, but they say it's a good bike to learn. They explained to me what they do at every service intervals (10K, 30K, 50K... vs 20K, 40K, 60K...). This came from Brian himself: BM bikes are fantastic machine, it's just the price of their parts and labour, really sucks, kill ppl. LOL.

 

And a guy by the name of Simon Soh was there coincidently, seems like a well-known fella (anybody knows him?). They introduced him to me. He asked me abt my riding experience as well, how I got the bike, from dealer or owner. Then he gave me some riding tips. He went on my bike, sat on it, and briefly explain to me how we should use our brake. Frankly, I don't remember much abt what he said, coz all 3 of them seems to have ideas to contribute at the same time. LOL.

 

Then Mustafa was trying to make some sales, I think. He tried to sell me those outrageously expensive BMW riding jackets. My god, none of them is sub-$1K. But honestly, I love their design. Unfortunately, seeing how I've busted my pocket for the past 2 weeks, I'll have to save up for a few months b4 considering. Speaking of pockets, the whole bill came to abt 500+. Changed the three front brake hoses. I asked him to change the rear brake hose as well. Brake fluid. 12 gaskets. Changed my front tyre's valve to original straight one (mine was curved, and they advised me to change). And also balancing to the front tyre coz I said it wobbles a bit at high-speed. Yeap....

 

Took the bike back to the office. Writing this now. Going off soon. Going to be riding a lot later, just to make sure bike is ok.

 

About Kris...well, I don't know, he doesn't sound very happy, but he doesn't sound like he's got something against me either. He told me it was a public hol in MY (now we know where all the spare parts come from) on Tues (Thaipusam), so my parts only arrived yest afternoon. That's why my bike can only be ready today.

I think his Mgr spoke to him abt my email. He mentioned my email. The gist of my email was that I felt that he was being defensive when I asked him to re-check my bike. It worries me that instead of telling me how he can help me (additional charges, give him more time, or make another appt some other day), he spent more time telling me how he cannot help me (they did the test rides, the risk of getting a used bike, etc.). He said he wasn't being defensive, he was just trying to protect the interest of his guys as well. He said in the workshop, there's something call RJ (Return-Job). It means a bike they worked on is sent back for re-work, or re-check, or basically they have to re-do something. When that happens, they will take away the incentive from the mechanics who works on your bike originally. He said he's just an employee there only. He was just trying to be fair to both his customers as well as his own guys. He said unless something is genuinely wrong, it's very hard to go and tell his guys that he has to take away their 'incentives' beacause of RJ. And in my case, it wasn't a case of negligence, it was really unforeseen. They did not even take out my brake hose. So, I didn't pursue the matter any further lah.

 

Just now, although he wasn't around, his two mechs who attended to me was very friendly, very helpful. They asked me what kind of job I do, and since it's computer-related, can they ask me stuffs in future. I said, of course. Kris has my number. And we all laughed. Nobody sounded upset. I'm sure they've been told what happened.

 

So...if you ask me how I feel. Well, my pockets hurt a lot. Took a big chunk out of my pay this month, and CNY is coming. But I'm satisfied so far. As long as things like last week don't happen again, and the next time I see them is my next service appt, I can say I'm happy with their service. In fact, a bit embarrassed about brake hose part. They didn't even dismantle it, but it seems the whole issue arise becoz of it. But they didn't make me feel like a fool, or keep on harping on it. Kris just mention it once, made it clear to me, that's it.

 

Won't be joining u guys on the cheese crab thingy. As for tomorrow's meet up, well if enuf ppl wanna go for bah kut teh on Sat, then I'll stay back for tomorrow, then ride to JB together on sat morning. Otherwise, I'll be going back to JB tomorrow evening itself.

[Guest koma]

Originally posted by pinglong@Jan 27 2005, 07:35 PM

I just came back from PML, got my back.

 

Well, Kriss called me up, told me my bike would be ready this afternoon. So, told him I'm go after work. When I reached there, Kris wasn't around, he had to take urgent leave. So, some other guys attended to me. First of all, I think there was a misunderstanding. They did not dismantle my brake host at all. I get the impression they needed to dismantle my brake host last week when Kris explained to me where those hoses go. And the mechs spent time to explain to me that they really can't tell whether there's something wrong with it during servicing. Anyway, if they let 2 mechanics attend to me, Bryan & Mustafa, I think they're really sincere abt explaining things to me. Rather than just do a fire-and-forget kind of job. We talked about my bike, how I can actually use those with 15W/50 type engine oil. He recommended Mobil 1. We talked about how I should 'work' my ABS once in a while even if there's no need to. They asked me abt my riding experience, I told them. They're surprised, but they say it's a good bike to learn. They explained to me what they do at every service intervals (10K, 30K, 50K... vs 20K, 40K, 60K...). This came from Brian himself: BM bikes are fantastic machine, it's just the price of their parts and labour, really sucks, kill ppl. LOL.

 

And a guy by the name of Simon Soh was there coincidently, seems like a well-known fella (anybody knows him?). They introduced him to me. He asked me abt my riding experience as well, how I got the bike, from dealer or owner. Then he gave me some riding tips. He went on my bike, sat on it, and briefly explain to me how we should use our brake. Frankly, I don't remember much abt what he said, coz all 3 of them seems to have ideas to contribute at the same time. LOL.

 

Then Mustafa was trying to make some sales, I think. He tried to sell me those outrageously expensive BMW riding jackets. My god, none of them is sub-$1K. But honestly, I love their design. Unfortunately, seeing how I've busted my pocket for the past 2 weeks, I'll have to save up for a few months b4 considering. Speaking of pockets, the whole bill came to abt 500+. Changed the three front brake hoses. I asked him to change the rear brake hose as well. Brake fluid. 12 gaskets. Changed my front tyre's valve to original straight one (mine was curved, and they advised me to change). And also balancing to the front tyre coz I said it wobbles a bit at high-speed. Yeap....

 

Took the bike back to the office. Writing this now. Going off soon. Going to be riding a lot later, just to make sure bike is ok.

 

About Kris...well, I don't know, he doesn't sound very happy, but he doesn't sound like he's got something against me either. He told me it was a public hol in MY (now we know where all the spare parts come from) on Tues (Thaipusam), so my parts only arrived yest afternoon. That's why my bike can only be ready today.

I think his Mgr spoke to him abt my email. He mentioned my email. The gist of my email was that I felt that he was being defensive when I asked him to re-check my bike. It worries me that instead of telling me how he can help me (additional charges, give him more time, or make another appt some other day), he spent more time telling me how he cannot help me (they did the test rides, the risk of getting a used bike, etc.). He said he wasn't being defensive, he was just trying to protect the interest of his guys as well. He said in the workshop, there's something call RJ (Return-Job). It means a bike they worked on is sent back for re-work, or re-check, or basically they have to re-do something. When that happens, they will take away the incentive from the mechanics who works on your bike originally. He said he's just an employee there only. He was just trying to be fair to both his customers as well as his own guys. He said unless something is genuinely wrong, it's very hard to go and tell his guys that he has to take away their 'incentives' beacause of RJ. And in my case, it wasn't a case of negligence, it was really unforeseen. They did not even take out my brake hose. So, I didn't pursue the matter any further lah.

 

Just now, although he wasn't around, his two mechs who attended to me was very friendly, very helpful. They asked me what kind of job I do, and since it's computer-related, can they ask me stuffs in future. I said, of course. Kris has my number. And we all laughed. Nobody sounded upset. I'm sure they've been told what happened.

 

So...if you ask me how I feel. Well, my pockets hurt a lot. Took a big chunk out of my pay this month, and CNY is coming. But I'm satisfied so far. As long as things like last week don't happen again, and the next time I see them is my next service appt, I can say I'm happy with their service. In fact, a bit embarrassed about brake hose part. They didn't even dismantle it, but it seems the whole issue arise becoz of it. But they didn't make me feel like a fool, or keep on harping on it. Kris just mention it once, made it clear to me, that's it.

 

Won't be joining u guys on the cheese crab thingy. As for tomorrow's meet up, well if enuf ppl wanna go for bah kut teh on Sat, then I'll stay back for tomorrow, then ride to JB together on sat morning. Otherwise, I'll be going back to JB tomorrow evening itself.

pinglong maybe next time u can try stamford n c how, maybe ur pocket wun hurt so much liao yah simon soh quite famous around here, hes a nice guy veri friendly n sincere doesnt hav any airs. hes veri gd at diy for st11 n cbr, if ur st11 is spoilt tats 1 guy u wan 2 ask advise for went with him on countless trips liao his motto is leave no man or bike behind btw will contact u tml on meetin at m-technik

[PL]

Originally posted by SDR@Jan 27 2005, 11:40 PM

While preparing this message, my eyes are filled with tear, bursting out anytime.

 

Anyway, Happy Prosperous Chinese New Year to all. Ride carefully and enjoy.

Whoa man....can see you've grown so attached to your bike. Either that, u want to cry becoz ur pocket reeeeaaally hurts. For me, 1.5K in two weeks. I don't feel really good either. But, we ride on...........

 

Ok, so will be seeing you guys this evening at M-Tech then.

[ayuluv]

hi guyz.. went to PML.. saw all the bikes no more there lehz...

izzi they shifted to upstairs or wat ne?? hee..

[PL]

Originally posted by ayuluv@Jan 28 2005, 11:45 AM

hi guyz.. went to PML.. saw all the bikes no more there lehz...

izzi they shifted to upstairs or wat ne?? hee..

U mean those in the showroom? or those at the back (workshop)?

 

I went to collect my bike yest evening, saw the RT, GS in the showroom.

At the back (workshop), plenty.

[ayuluv]

Originally posted by pinglong@Jan 28 2005, 11:49 AM

U mean those in the showroom? or those at the back (workshop)?

 

I went to collect my bike yest evening, saw the RT, GS in the showroom.

At the back (workshop), plenty.

i meann show room wor..

last time i went show room alotz man.. but still... i oni like the

R1200GS.. it melts my heart totally. wor...

[Cyclop aka Sideways]

Originally posted by SDR@Jan 28 2005, 01:04 PM

So, will they be keen on selling bikes?

 

But may be better this way, if BMW brings in the bike themselve and appoint a few authorised dealers, bike price may go down, GS may be same as FJR.

I think it all boils down to sales. Good sales, good return, put in more investment. Situation continues to decline, pull back. Dedicated enthusiest and die hard fans, how many are there in Singapore to sustain their business? Unless they can get new riders to buy their product, very soon, that kacang puteh stall (no offence dear friend, I really feel for you man!!) will close shop also. And their pricing does not help their bottom line ultimately, lets face it, they are pricing themselves out of the market

[Cyclop aka Sideways]

Originally posted by SDR@Jan 28 2005, 10:14 AM

Actually, to all potential and existing owners of Airheads. I may hv posted some negative remarks on Airheads (it's fact), I prefer to use the name Airhead, to me, it sound very powerful, imagine, your bike uses an areoplane engine, but as BMW started producing aeroplane 1st, therefore, people would like to think that they uses the engine on bike, may be same concept but dif capacity, i didn't study on it, I think should be different engine lah, aeroplane uses a more complicated engine, 8 pistons or ???, can't remember the name for the engine, for those who are keen, can check http://auto.howstuffworks.com/, 1 of my favourite webpage, but think you guys should know, the logo is actually a spinning propeller.

Spot on!! And their most famous is the 801 forteen cylinder twin-radial for the Focke Wulf FW190

 

http://www.preservedaxisaircraft.com/Luftwaffe/Engines/BMW%20801%20NEAM.jpg

[GSGabes]

Ok. Dudes. My Brake light bulb melted the Brake light plastic assembly. So off i went to PML to buy that plastic assembly.

 

Price: $67 (excluding GST)

 

I suspect there could be some problems somewhere in the wiring system. It shot one of the fuses as well.

[Cyclop aka Sideways]

Originally posted by SDR@Jan 28 2005, 04:07 PM

How nice if this is on the bike.

Ha ha ha, we'll all be walking like cowboys after the ride

[Guest koma]

yeah```~~~!! my finance approved liao~~~~ :cheer:

goin dwn hitachi on mon sign the papers

[Cyclop aka Sideways]

Originally posted by koma@Jan 28 2005, 06:18 PM

yeah```~~~!! my finance approved liao~~~~ :cheer:

goin dwn hitachi on mon sign the papers

Congrates Dude!!!! So when is the big day?!!!!

[PL]

Originally posted by GSGabes+Jan 28 2005, 04:21 PM -->

QUOTE (GSGabes @ Jan 28 2005, 04:21 PM )

Ok. Dudes. My Brake light bulb melted the Brake light plastic assembly. So off i went to PML to buy that plastic assembly. [/b] How the hell do this kind of thing happen????

[ashenZ]

hahhaha tahan abit lah... xtra 100cc will cost ya big bucks~