If you happen to fancy a BMW motorcycle with only it's standard equipment, as in base model you will never find one at any dealership in Canada. Sure you could plan ahead by months and take them up on the notion of ordering one with a vague and always subject to change (wait, wait some more) delivery schedule but that's not how my motorcycle consuming mind works. Plus, regardless of the "cache" attached to the BMW brand there are plentiful competing model options that will perform as well or better and are sometimes cheaper. Sorry BMW, you're just not that special.
I think the whole "Priced from" advertising schtick is dishonest if you cannot find a single ready-to-purchase example at that price anywhere in the entire national market.
Agree and disagree.
The wildly variable pricing gives a lot of potential buyers sticker shock when they actually price out a bike with all the Oh-I-Definitely-Need-That options.
It also throws the used bike market out of whack because making a like-for-like comparison on two bikes of the same model and same year, but specced differently becomes a lot more difficult. Also, trying to explain why your used bike is priced higher than MSRP to someone not familiar with how BMW Motorrad options can easily add up to 50% of the base bike cost becomes quite the exasperating experience.
However, part of this telephone-book-thick option menu stems from trying to make their bikes appeal to as broad an audience as possible.
The R-GS bikes are their biggest sellers. Most people just tour pavement on them, so they can option their bikes with that Wheel-Trans-Drop-The-Suspension-So-The-Infirmed-Can-Get-On, plus all the radar-controlled missile launcher gimmickery to make their highway jaunt more entertaining. But the options menu also provides things like taller suspension, shortie windscreens, rally seat, plus the ability not to include options like centre-stands, turn signals on handguards, all things that are liabilities when dirt-riding.
I was going to custom order my R1250GS when I first bought it. They had one on the floor which was close, but had a couple of options that I didn't want. Dealer said the ordering process would take close to 6-8 weeks and he really wanted to move the unit on the floor. So he heavily discounted the options I didn't want and I got to ride the bike away the next day instead of waiting.
However, my dealer was pretty upfront about the ordering process. The sales guy is always open to turning his computer screen around towards me and showing their available allocation, build and shipping status. Barring things like shipping or supply-chain delays, stop-sale orders - all issues out of the dealer control - their predictions on when custom orders will be delivered are usually spot-on.
Custom orders are usually only done with a hefty non-refundable deposit though. The way I like my bikes (no electronics, no centrestand, tall suspension, rear rack delete) pretty much makes the bike unsaleable to 95% of the general public. If I walk away from a custom order, there is virtually no way the dealer can sell that motorcycle without dropping trou.
