As Harley-Davidson sets out on its journey to invade the ADV ' space ' that BMW leads ( in unit sales number terms ), the German manufacturer continues its march to steal a corner of Harley ' s traditional hinterland with additions to its burgeoning R 18 series of ' Big Boxers '.
BMW ' s efforts to take sales from Harley started some 15 years ago with the Boston bred , then BMW Head of Design , David Robb unveiling a modular cruiser concept declaring that the Bavarian behemoth was " coming after you Harley-Davidson ." While the full details of why that project never saw the inside of a production line remain as shrouded as the reasons for David Robb ' s 19-year stint as BMW Motorrad ' s President of Design coming to an end in 2012 . The 2007 / 2009 financial crisis took all such bets off the table anyway . Robb had a dramatic effect on BMW , turning it from purveyor of ' Flying Bricks " to master of the ADV , dual-sport and touring markets , and making it an emerging force in the hitherto Japanese dominated sport bike market . He was replaced at BMW by longtime protégé Edgar Heinrich . One man who was a constant in the BMW motorcycle design team throughout that transition and brand evolution period was Ola Stenegard who , in 2018 , would go on to become Director of Product Design for Indian Motorcycle after 15 years in Munich . It was Stenegard , himself a former customizer
( principally of Indians ), who is widely credited with being the driving force behind the 2014 launch of the all-conquering R nineT Roadster . Initially a 2013 special edition to celebrate the 90th anniversary of BMW ' s post-WWI entry into the
motorcycle market , the R nineT has become a ' blank canvas ' favorite among the global customizer community . It has gone on to spawn a whole family of models - no less than six design iterations are in production for MY2021 .
56 AFTERMARKET MOTO DESIGN - OCTOBER 2021 www . AMDchampionship . com