Too bad for Husky.
I am a long term BMW owner, from the days when they were the highest quality, finest road-going motorcycle you could buy. In the early-to-mid 1970's, you could expect a road-going Japanese motorcycle to go 20K miles before it was either totally junk (suspension, engine, seat foam shot) or ready for a complete rebuild. (The gold wing and the Z-1 were the first bikes with any real solid reliability.) On the other hand, BMWs would go about 80K miles before needing a valve job and rings, and maybe a transmission overhaul to replace bearings (the weakest design element of those bikes is the transmission).
They were designed by riders for riders. My absolute favorite dealer was a guy in Follets, Iowa, who stocked ONE bike. When he sold it, he'd get another. He ran his dealership out of a single-stall garage. It was awesome. A genuine riders' bike. Great guy. Just loved bikes.
Now, however, any BMW Motorcycle dealer needs a certain square footage of pristine white showroom, and a specific inventory of bikes, parts, and disco-bondage riding gear. The bikes are no longer the quality they were (although still somewhat unique), and are ungodly expensive. And from what i hear, bmw dealers won't service old bikes anymore. (I do all of my own work).
I won't trade/sell/part with my 1971 r60/5 or r80/7. Those were motorcycles. It just takes one ride to reaffirm that. For BMW now, it's not about quality, it's about the money.
However, to the credit of BMW, I can still get any part i need for either of their two bikes. They haven't completely lost touch with their core riders, but they're getting close.
blitz
