Food for thought:

[KBasa]

New BMW Sportbike? (http://www.motorcycledaily.com/18march03bmwin2004.htm)

:confused:

[sfdave]

...... it will include airbags & about 600lbs, oh, sorry, they already have one of those.......

[BMWGypsy]

It's about time. Cross fingers.

[legion]

Seems I recall that they've publicly denied working on a sport bike. Said it wasn't in their focus, etc.

Sure would be nice though if they would. It'd force them to focus on engineering solutions that work the best rather than engineering solutions that simply set them apart from the way all the others do it.

[DesertRider]

Was at the Beemer dealer today and one of the techs mentioned that they'd been told to expect a supercharged 4-cylinder bike with vertical cylinders, i.e., presumably not the K-motor. He added that the supercharger is adapted from the Mini-Cooper and that Porsche had a hand in some of the engine design work.

Take that for what it's worth.

[KBasa]

Originally posted by DesertRider
Was at the Beemer dealer today and one of the techs mentioned that they'd been told to expect a supercharged 4-cylinder bike with vertical cylinders, i.e., presumably not the K-motor. He added that the supercharger is adapted from the Mini-Cooper and that Porsche had a hand in some of the engine design work.

Take that for what it's worth.

*starts smacking lips and making slurping sounds.*

[sfdave]

......Sign me up....... well, only if it looks like a GS.:D

[DesertRider]

<< ......Sign me up....... well, only if it looks like a GS. >>

Hmmm.... For grunting over off-road trails I think I'd want something other than a high-revving 4-cylinder engine and a supercharger. Rowing the gearbox to keep the engine wailing along at 14000 rpm just doesn't seem the ticket for crawling over rocks and stream bottoms. :eek

I think I'd want something torquey and normally aspirated, either a big single or a big twin. Oh, wait, that's what GS's already have. :)

[eljeffe]

Looks like fun to me...

[DesertRider]

Looks wonderful... is that a belt drive I see on it?

[MarkF]

Originally posted by DesertRider
Looks wonderful... is that a belt drive I see on it?

That's the rumor. I'll believe it when I see it. It's just a rough drawing, not even a quality digital image. I'm sure if they are working on it there's a mock-up and some hi-def digital images. Now if the moto spies in europe could just post some for us.

MarkF:D

[DesertRider]

Don't know if this article has already been posted on this forum, but it contains additional info on the new BMW bike:

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=132&art_id=iol1052427436275B521&set_id=4

Apparently it's a V4 engine -- probably the only engine layout I would like better than my K-motor. (Other than a Wankel rotary, but I'm not holding my breath for a return of the rotary to motorcycles. :cry )

[KBasa]

Originally posted by DesertRider
Don't know if this article has already been posted on this forum, but it contains additional info on the new BMW bike:

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=132&art_id=iol1052427436275B521&set_id=4

Apparently it's a V4 engine -- probably the only engine layout I would like better than my K-motor. (Other than a Wankel rotary, but I'm not holding my breath for a return of the rotary to motorcycles. :cry )

V4, eh? Well, then. Wouldn't that look nice in the garage next to my VFR? A layout like that certainly solves a lot of packaging issues for the kompressor, doesn't it?

:thumb

[DesertRider]

Originally posted by KBasa
A layout like that certainly solves a lot of packaging issues for the kompressor, doesn't it?

:thumb

It does indeed. Maybe they could do something like with the 650CS, with the fuel below the seat (or maybe in the frame, a la Buell), leaving the usual tank area for the supercharger and airbox. Lowers the CG, room for the kompressor, and room for a decent-sized airbox. Could be a real technical tour de force for BMW. Could be a huge service nightmare, too, if they don't get it right the first time. :eek

[clinto]

Looking at how BMW has marketed their two sport bikes (R1100S &K1200) it's obvious that they're going to introduce a new bike pretty darn soon. At the end of a product/bike cycle, they always seem to offer the limited edition packages to boost sales of a bike that is soon going to be obsolete. They did it with the 2001 R1100R (offering the black and white package, spoke wheels, tubeless tires, chrome heads), they're doing it with the R1100S (offering the replika model and the prep), they're also getting rid of r1100s parts by sticking them on the rockster(the ultimate bin bike), and look at the K-series (the GT is just another way to get rid of units). Maybe (hopefuly) the r1200cl is sign that their going to introduce a new cruiser (one with more power) that can compete with the v-rods, mean streaks, and road warriors!

Not suprised!

[BubbaZanetti]

did this ever happen :evil

[knary]

did this ever happen :evil

No. Now go to bed.

[woodnsteel]

Nuts!