Designed for Commuting
Concept C - proof that it’s possible for a big scooter to look desirable and sporty without losing any of its legendary functionality.
BMW Vice President of Design David Robb with his team in Munich.
Putting the finishing touches to the only Concept C currently in existence.
Futuristic design sketches weren't far removed from the finished study.
It's a beautiful looking machine. You must be pleased at the initial reaction from the show visitors, enthusiast forums and world's media?
Yes, it's been very nice. BMW as a group has been looking at different forms of individual transportation and we've seen people moving out of larger cars and onto two wheels. Our question was how can we bring the BMW values into a segment that we haven't been in before and make them immediately visible?
It must have seemed like a real challenge to breathe new life into the scooter segment, but how confident was the team that the Concept C would be so well received?
I'll be really candid here. In the very beginning I was concerned. We looked at the product brief and I couldn't really see what it was about this product that would be a BMW. Usually we have a 'clean sheet' and we come up with things that are technically unique, that solve some kind of problem, offer some kind of functionality or make the experience unique. At the very beginning the brief that we had didn't offer that - truly, I didn't see it - it wasn't there.
So, what did you do?
The big challenge was with everybody involved - engineers, marketing and our designers. How do you take a familiar package and turn it into a product that exudes what BMW is about? For us it was always going to be a big scooter - a substantial vehicle in the class - but if you have a look at the other scooters in the segment, they have a very upright look, their front sides are very vertical, the colours go down, underneath your legs and behind the seat. We wanted to break the familiar pattern that people have become used to, so when you look at the Concept C you can really see that it has a BMW 'feel' to it.
How was the futuristic look achieved?
There was a very comic-book feeling to some of the design sketches, which was intentional, to set a mood. The word 'scooter' makes you think of something functional, like a shopping cart, and we didn't want that. We wanted a vehicle in this class that you can look at and go 'wow, that's cool, I'd buy one of those'. That's the point, this segment can be exciting. Certainly there's a rational side to it which people want, but that doesn't mean that it should be boring or unexciting or dull.
It certainly has presence - the lines scream Superbike rather than scooter?
It's definitely a Superbike kind of stance. If you would go out on the road and saw this thing coming up behind you, you'd think it was a big motorcycle. Stop at a traffic light and up comes this big scooter. You not talking cheap or flimsy - it's pretty substantial and that's not a bad thing.
Yep, it looks good enough to put the smiles back into the daily commute?
It's nice that you say that. Like I said at the beginning I couldn't see that values that we have in our marquee transferring to this segment, because we hadn't taken that trip yet. When we talk about how sporting our products should be, how much excitement they should offer, at the very beginning you can have excitement in the city - it doesn't need to be dull, so it's great when you look at the bike and it makes you smile - that's exactly what we hoped for.
How many of the design-led features could stay in the series production models?
The Concept C was built to show the idea of what BMW could imagine a commuter for the city to be - and it's not a production bike of course, just a design study. However, we've been open about that fact that there will be two production models - based on what you see - although they won't be as 'off the wall', with LED headlights, blue tyres and video cameras! We won't have that in production, but when the production vehicles do come out, you will definitely recognise where they came from.
Do you think some of these features could become commonplace in the future?
LED light technology will be coming, but not in the next couple of years, and not without a price. The interesting thing about the video cameras isn't a technical issue, it's actually a legal issue. The law says you have to have a way of looking behind you, regardless of what happens, so if a video camera fails and you can't see behind you, the law says that's not legal. At the moment, if you break a mirror, you go to the nearest dealer and have a new mirror put on. If your electrical system dies, what do you do? Do you have a flip-out mirror and then have to pay for the cost of both?
How was the paint finish achieved?
At great expense! What you see is a very difficult, very sensitive type of paint finish that has a number of coats. It takes an extraordinary painter to do it - it's almost like black magic. You have to have the right amount of moisture in the air, it can't be too wet or too dry, and what you see is a paint that has been sprayed on, but when you look at it, it looks like aluminium panels. The bottom panel is like cast aluminium, the top panels are like polished aluminium, but it's all just plastic with paint. I think we had a couple of M3 show cars done in the same finish and I'm sure the paint costs around 500 Euros per kilogramme!
What about the actual color?
The colour selection was intentional. It's low on pigment and the lack of colour points to the fact that it's clean, high-tech and all about engineering - we don't need flashes of purple and green to get your attention! It's the individual elements that are so exciting, so you can get the overall look to 'sing' with, for example, only a touch of blue. We also use neutrals in a very sophisticated way - you look at the overall finish and go "that can't be cheap!" It looks expensive, technical and, clearly, a lot of thought has gone into it. All these things are intentional, it's what we call a first, second and third read: the first read is when you go "wow that's a scooter I've never seen before"; the second read is when you say "wow, it's probably a BMW" and the third read is when you say "it's definitely a BMW because nobody else does it like this".
These Concept bikes don't come cheap then?
These things are expensive. There's only one Concept C in existence, as we can't afford to double these things up! There is only one Concept 6 too, but it's been around the world. Since it was unveiled at EICMA in 2009, it's been on display at motorcycle shows and exhibitions in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Japan and at BMW Motorrad Days in Garmish-Partenkirchen. That study got a lot of mileage!
Do you think the customer base will come from non-BMW riders though?
I'm convinced we're going to see riders from many areas taking a very close look at this unique vehicle. Current BMW riders know what to expect from the marque, and considering this segment as an extension to the GS or RT they already have, should probably come easy to them as a second or even third bike. As with the S1000RR and K1600GT/ GTL, I think the number of riders of non-BMW bikes interested in this competitive product will be very high. Interesting, will also be how many car drivers will see this as a viable and exciting new form of city and local transportation.
