I was wondering when someone was going to mention Long Way Round in this thread. Surprisingly, it took a while.

I think Long Way Around turned out to be one of those marketing events that returned a million percent on what BMW invested. The R1200gs turned into the most sold big bike in its segment in North American, Europe, Asia, and South America.

Since the 1950's I think motorcyclist's have been addicted to getting the next year's edition bike with 50 cc more displacement. I think that trend continued up until 1200 cc's. In my opinion BMW sold R1200's to everyone who wanted one. That customer might have bought up to 2 R1200's but like other's have mentioned, the R1200 is a great bike on the highway, or a great 2 up bike, but isn't really suitable for off road other than riding off the highway and onto the dirt to get to your tent spot. I think a lot of R1200 guy's decided to downsize in cc's because they are getting older and the R1200 is a heavy and tall bike.

Another factor is declining economic opportunities in Western societies. I think the West kind of shot itself in the foot with allowing capitalism to run away with itself. The erosion of the middle class is changing discretionary income purchases like 1200cc motorcycles. Most people who own 1200cc motorcycles hardly ever put any miles on them anyway.

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http://www.journeyrider.net Latin America blog (07-8)