German Engineering...

[MadDogMcQ]

Last night enroute to St Annes Bike Meet, Stuart noticed a change in the handling of his BMW. The wheel fell off!!! Luckily, he'd just come off the motorway, or it wouldn't have been funny.
 
OMG, how ugly is that thing??? It's a BMW Deauville 
 

[snapper]

you sure he notice a change in the handling ? 
 
 Feck me he was lucky ! make sure he does the lotto this week !

[Lawrence]

  That could've been nasty, glad to hear he was ok.  Is the bike (other than being hideous) ok?

[MadDogMcQ]

....Is the bike (other than being hideous) ok?

Hahaha, my kind of humour    Unfortunately, it's repairable. 

[manuel32]

it looks like it has lasted 40 years, so not bad engineering,


Get him to sell it in the dark

[Lawrence]

Unfortunately, it's repairable. 

At least he can be sure it'll never get nicked.

[pitternator]

Its at least 20 yrs old for sure...so its not just down to engineering , its how the owners have looked after it , surely ??
 
eg the owner may simply have not done up the axle nut tight enuff...

[cable tie]

Did the bearings go in the FD (final drive) and snap the hub !! Or forgot to tighten the wheel nuts !!

I have bad taste because I like the K true classic and can shift.

Glad it ended in your favour, that could have been fatal at 70 mph.

[ReNcE]

it looks like it has lasted 40 years, so not bad engineering,


Get him to sell it in the dark

You could do, it looks like it'd glow bright enough!!

[Rusty]

Despite it being butt ugly and coloured to look like a kiddies bucket and spade set, I think it's a classic. I wouldn't want one, but I wouldn't want a Rudge Ulster or any of those type of machines either, but they're still classics.

[MadDogMcQ]

It was probably quite ground-breaking in its time, but my God, it was DISGUSTING to look at and for that reason alone, it would never make an appearance in any "Classic Bikes" book that I had control over. I always wonder about this "Classic" label. Who decides to which bike the label should be stuck??
 
There are some clear and obvious candidates like the Kawasaki Triples, the Z900, the GT750 Kettle, Black Bomber, XS650, Triumph Hurricane, BSA GoldStar, Suzuki RE5, etc, etc, etc. To me, they're all a thing of beauty and I readily accept anyones "Classic" label. So I am obviously influenced heavily by appearance and sound. But I also think that the first-generation FireBlade should be tagged as a Classic. And what about the radical CBX and Z1300??  And is a Yamaha FS1E really deserving of the tag?
 
What's your view on this?
 

[Rusty]

In my view although I personally would not like to own a particular bike, nor even find it attractive, it can still be considered a classic by others for a multitude of reasons. It's a question of perspective. For me the things to look for are innovative design, ground breaking or quirky technology, or if all else fails downright simple rarity make them so. For this reason I think the Yamaha GTS of the early 90's with it's front wheel steering is a classic but no one else appears to think so, nor did they find the Suzuki RE5 rotary one until recently.


Nostalgia also has a bearing on a vehicle gaining the classic tag, or perhaps it's a bike that defined an era - which is why the FS1 -E, RD350LC, or the original CB750 are included. Look at a Honda CB750 K a few years ago and they were considered as dull as ditchwater, but look at them as the ground breaking first Japanese inline four of 1969 and they're a classic. Same bike, different perspective.

[ddtwelve]

looks like my girlfriends scooter now from the rear

[Lazarus]

did the frame fall into a case of fairings?

someone actually DESIGNED that?

[richfzs]

I always had a soft spot for them

Kinda like the ugly dog nobody wanted

[His Dudeness]

from the scrape marks it looks like he managed to get it over to the side of the road with only one wheel. respect!

[VNA - BMW Wank]

Well it was featured on that cool motorcycle blog BIKEEXIF;

http://www.bikeexif.com/bmw-k1