There is still a problem for those of us who are about to get into the generation of bikes that you don't (yet) support.
Buying a current GS-911 for our current bikes that we are about to trade feels like a bad idea.
$300 or $350 for low/no use in the next few months is hard to justify - - on anything but breakdown paranoia (-:
easy... if you plan to do maintenance or other work, buy it... 5 years ago I had a lube service done on a F650GS (Single) in California at my local BMW dealership... cost me $381 ...now if you bought a GS-911 and did one lube service,.. you've already won... no brainer...
remember... no one is forcing you to buy a GS-911...
I always find this ironic... people will buy an aluminium bash plate for $400, it took probably less than 100 man-hours to develop and get into production... and on most bikes it's probably only there for breakdown paranoia... Then there is GS-911, that (I'm guestimating) has over 30,000 man-hours to date ...and you don't want to pay less than that bashplate...
and what happens to the bashplate when you sell your bike?
Hang on... you could have used your GS-911 on 10 bikes... could you have used that bash plate on 10 bikes? and you can sell that GS-911 for (I'm guessing again) at least half it's purchase price.. remember the guys that have the K1x and K24 chassis bikes, are not going to go away over night... or you could sweeten the deal on your current bike... So many options...
To some extent the problem is with us (the bike owners) we are "between bike generations", but if you want to capture and keep us it would seem to be a smart biz move to smooth our transition, both technically and financially.
Generally we don't have to convince people... the product is so good, it does that for us...
so what do you have in mind?
Well,,,,, Yeah OK right now I am not trying to decide between a bash plate and a diagnostic tool.
If I was still in the dirt and believed the bash plate could save me a cracked crank case within a week vs a diagnostic tool that MIGHT confirm my diagnosis of water in fuel (having dunked in a stream bed moments earlier) the bash plate would probably win out.
Development and manufacturing costs are largely irrelevant to customers. Awwww, lets not go into all that barriers to entry stuff ?
No, I am not "doing service" for others and I can't see how the GS911 would pay for itself on "lube service", which I take to mean drain oil, refill, hit a dozen grease zerks, done. Oh, wipe with oily rag to show evidence of work having been done - the "service mark".
I agree, no force is being applied, it is a take it or leave it situation - I am just trying to evaluate the "need" to part with a few hundred bux on the CURRENT GS911 for the CURRENT bike vs wait until ??/??/yyyy and buy the WIFI one for $nnn.nn (I assume less than $1,000) which will work on my next bike.
I imagine others have same/similar dilemma.
To your suggestion that I could sell a current GS911 for half what I paid for it.
A depreciation of around 50% in a few months... lets see, I would have to check, but I don't think even Harleys depreciate THAT fast (-:
What I have in mind right now is a prayer that my current bike will make it to trade in time without a need for a scan.
My new bike will probably go back to the dealer for its first service, which will probably include a full scan and maybe ROM update.
Hopefully you will have a formal announcement and availability date for the WIFI model by then, if not.... well, buying a (now) current GS911 won't help me so I will be dealer dependent - unless another scanner company decides to launch a unit, say Actron ?
I have a car/truck one of theirs that I like a lot, it does ABS stuff too and is not vehicle manufacturer specific - works on any OBD-II compliant vehicle.
My Chrystal ball says a phone app for BMWs from someone else is VERY likely - - and very soon, probably low cost too.