It must be love!

[phpaul]

On the way to town to pick up some munchies, I spied a BMW of some sort parked by the road with a For Sale sign on it.
 
"Ooooooooooo," sez I, "a Beemer.  Bet he wants a fortune for that!"
 
On the way back, I pulled over for a look.  R1200C of indeterminate vintage, 10,xxx miles on the clock, over all decent but not pristine.  Surface rust on some of the chrome, seat cover is pretty tired, looks well maintained but showing it's age.  No price listed (if ya gotta ask...)
 
Out of curiosity, I  looked them up when I got home.  1997-2004, 60-odd hp.  No doubt more comfortable on long trips, but strikes me as pretty boring with that size/weight and horsepower.  Definite "Meh."
 
 
And after all that, I though to myself "I like my FJ better!"

[wordsmith]

On the way to town to pick up some munchies, I spied a BMW of some sort parked by the road with a For Sale sign on it. 
"Ooooooooooo," sez I, "a Beemer.  Bet he wants a fortune for that!"
 
On the way back, I pulled over for a look.  R1200C of indeterminate vintage, 10,xxx miles on the clock, over all decent but not pristine.  Surface rust on some of the chrome, seat cover is pretty tired, looks well maintained but showing it's age.  No price listed (if ya gotta ask...)
 
Out of curiosity, I  looked them up when I got home.  1997-2004, 60-odd hp.  No doubt more comfortable on long trips, but strikes me as pretty boring with that size/weight and horsepower.  Definite "Meh."
 
 
And after all that, I though to myself "I like my FJ better!"

Those 1200Cs were - for a BMW - fairly popular here in Oz.   When new, or if well looked-after if not, they were a delight to look at, with typical BMW finish, and detailing that at the time was quite innovative for them.   Even the paint schemes were far removed from the usual Shipping Container Grey or Blood Clot Red that BMW couldn't move away from for so many years.  I recall a coffee-and-cream combination that sounds rather yucky, but that was rather delish in the flesh!    
The C - designated a 'cruiser' here - seemed to be aimed at gentlemen who wanted to be seen as a bit 'outlawish', maybe a bit 'Harleyish'.   A dyed-in-the-wool BMWer myself, I test-rode one once, many years ago (about 1998 IIRC).   The first impression was that because of the long single-sided shaft-drive swing-arm the rear wheel hopped all over the place on bends, even when taken quite moderately, and it felt quite unsettling.   But it was an interesting experience.   Happy days!

[crempel]

Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. I always thought that was one of the ugliest motorcycles ever made. To each his own and all that.

[jo1000]

Those bikes made a big splash after being in a James Bond movie when they first came out. One of my union brothers had one and he loved the thing. He did pretty good in the curves with it.