So, obviously everything I'm going to write is based on *photos* and (informed) anecdotal conjecture, so take it with lots of salt.
But I'm really fixated on the F3 as BRP's choice to build a "boulevard cruiser" instead of a sporty replacement for the RS.
Impartially, this makes some sense in many areas-- and no sense at all in others.
Sense:
1. The RS appealed to a crowd that didn't really exist: aggressive sport riders who DON'T ride two wheels. BRP tried to create this market with the GS (and the RS), but once the RT came along, the natural Spyder demo (older with disposable income) immediately abandoned the RS in favor of what the vast majority of Spyder owners wanted all along: a touring bike that they could ride once they no longer wanted to/could ride two wheels.
By the end, the only people buying the RS appeared to be people who *couldn't afford* an ST or RT, or the very casual "toy owner" who put a few thousand miles a year on their Spyder riding it up and down the main drag.
Bottom line: had there had been a real market for a "sport trike," the RS would have made it, or grabbed it. It failed to do so. I don't begrudge BRP trying something new.
2. Without a sporty trike, since BRP still needs something different than the RT and ST to offer the marketplace, it's now trying to replace the RS in a different direction: the high-torque, low-RPM boulevard cruiser. Something low-slung, mean looking, feet-forward, and low-end grunt. If the RS couldn't sell, maybe the F3 will.
After all, if you're a "toy owner," you want something you can cruise on down to coffee or beer, something mean-looking that'll get attention down the main drag. The RS wasn't really that Spyder, but the F3 definitely is.
No sense:
3. All of the above aside, what's the market for *this*?
The RT has a market; the ST has a (smaller) market. What's the F3 market? I presume they're HD owners who want that cruiser feel on three wheels. But is there really a large group of HD owners-- who, as we all well know, are INSANELY loyal-- looking to jump over to three wheels unless they absolutely have to? Again, that demo is served by the RT, and served well. If you're old enough to need three wheels, you're going there. If you're young enough for two, you're not giving up a Harley for an F3, anymore than sportbikers gave up their Gixxers for the RS.
Now, it could be the crowd that hasn't ridden anything at all, i.e. car owners who want a cruiser but DON'T want to learn how to ride a Harley, may gravitate to the F3. I'm still not sure that market is all that much bigger than the market for the RS-- again, the pull of American iron is overwhelming in popular culture. I guess we'll see.
BREAK-BREAK: all of the above written, here's my REAL worry with the F3: as I wrote a few weeks back, if you wanted a sporty toy, and you're cross-shopping the F3 with a Polaris Slingshot, which one are you going to buy? The RS wasn't strong competition to the Slingshot; the F3 strikes me as even weaker. If you want to go crazy in the twisties and don't want two wheels, you're not any more likely today to give BRP your money; less so, in fact. Instead, BRP is catering to a market that may be even less likely to appear than the (small) market for the RS. Which means that with the F3, BRP could have just ceded the "sporty toy" market completely to Polaris-- and that can't help the Spyder line in the long run.
Anyway, I hope my prognostications are all wrong, and the F3 turns out to be a huge success, and BRP builds all kinds of Spyders for years to come. But I'm more skeptical today than I was yesterday.
P.S. I know I'm an evangelist for the impossible dream, but BRP missed yet another chance to build the leaning Spyder and establish a whole new market segment. If you're going to take a risk, risk big. I fear that the F3 doesn't go far enough, *especially* with Slingshot out there competing in the same price range for recreational dollars.