My avatar says it all.
They're over-evaluated.
They're not the best, many years ago, maybe.
They're good bikes but don't believe they're any longer manufactured ENTIRELY in Germany (the main feature pushing so many people to buy them)
Many parts are imported from China if not ASSEMBLED there (at least in Taiwan)
That is the new strategy of German brands: keep a "German" price while having "Chinese" costs.
Rehearsals of this are in the latest BMW 650 scooter: the engine is built in Kymco, Taiwan, but BMW denied it, at first, then admitted it after pictures and wiitnesses.
Look at Volkswagen; they are built in Germany, but some important components are Chinese (PRC). The quality of the German components is outstanding, but, just as an example, if the plastic impeller of the water pump fails (assuming that is a small, cheap, Chinese component) the ENTIRE car is out of order, thus the OVERALL quality is spoiled by few, small, insignificant but vital components.
This is the new deal of the frightening, mighty German economy... but they try to keep it confidential.
Have a close look at the BMW 1600 GTL: plastics rules!
And this is what you can see: figure what's inside the parts you cannot see!
I prefer much more a transparent communication, stating that that particular vehicle has some kind of components, that those components are supervised while manufactures, that they do the best effort to guarantee a good quality but that the economic downturn has forced them to look for cheaper components, instead of false and subtle announcement like "spend your hardly earned $20.000 but you get pure German quality in return" ...and it's NOT TRUE!!!