Tag

BMW Archives — Bikernet Blog - Online Biker Magazine

Jan 13
0

London Motorcycle Show on the horizon

By | General Posts

by Fraser Addecott from https://www.mirror.co.uk/

Check out all the latest machinery, plus a whole lot more, at the capital’s big bike fest

The post-Christmas winter months are probably not most bikers’ favourite time of the year – seeming cold, wet and miserable.

One bright spot on the horizon, however, is the ever-popular London Motorcycle Show.

This annual extravaganza continues to go from strength to strength and the 2020 edition looks like being no exception.

Alongside the latest machines from the world’s leading manufacturers, visitors will be able to see explosive live-action racing, rare classic machines, biking celebrities and a UK-exclusive celebration of iconic racer Barry Sheene.

All the new models from AJS, BMW, CCM, CF Moto, Ducati, Ecooter, Honda, Husqvarna, Indian, Kawasaki, KTM, Mutt Motorcycles, MV Agusta, Royal Enfield, Suzuki, Triumph, Yamaha and Zero will be on show.

Nine of Sheene’s legendary race machines (including his two title-winning bikes) are being flown in from Australia specially for the show.

And teammate Steve Parrish and Suzuki chief technician during Sheene’s winning years will be onstage sharing insight and anecdotes.

Race fans will be kept enthralled with a completely revamped Michelin Thunderdrome live-action event once again taking over the centre of the show.

The free races will see the world’s fastest road racer Peter Hickman going head-to-head with fellow Isle of Man TT competitors John McGuinness, Michael Rutter and James Hillier.

Visitors can purchase a VIP paddock pass, which allows them access to the racing stars and an unbeatable view of the action.

Alongside that, the Classic TT will officially be launched at the show, while, in between races, John McGuinness will be found propping up the bar at his own pub.

The 23-time Isle of Man TT winner will be pulling pints and sharing tales from his incredible career with punters throughout the weekend.

Statistics show 41% of riders are wearing helmets that are more than five years old and beyond the manufacturer’s service life.

Anyone who brings their old helmet to the show will receive a free gift and the opportunity to purchase a replacement at a bargain price.

Those wanting to take part should sign up beforehand at helmetamnesty.com.

Motorcyclists looking to escape on an adventure this year will find plenty of inspiration in the Adventure Zone and Bonhams will be bringing rare and exotic machines from the legendary Italian manufacturer Giancarlo Morbidelli collection.

The show is on February 14-16, at ExCel, East London.

For information and reduced-price early-bird tickets, visit mcnmotorcycleshow.com.

Jan 02
0

BMW Could Be Building Electric Motorcycles In Five Years

By | General Posts

by Brad Anderson from https://www.carscoops.com/

It’s not just electric cars that have started to pop up with increased frequency in recent years as all-electric motorcycles are also becoming more commonplace. BMW Motorrad doesn’t appear to be in a rush to bring electric bikes of its own to the market, however.

While recently speaking with Cycle World, head of BMW Motorrad Dr. Markus Schramm said that electric motorcycles may make sense in urban environments, but that could be it.

“As the Vision DC Roadster concept shows, we see this as a power portfolio of the future,” he said. “In the urban environment, it is possible that there will be an electric BMW motorcycle in five years. In the touring, off-road, and sport segments, I am not sure that we will see them.”

The BMW Vision DC Roadster was introduced at the company’s #NEXTGen event back in June as an all-electric model featuring a battery pack with metallic cooling ribs and two fans. Sending power through the rear wheels is a cylinder-shaped electric motor. The bike has an exterior design unlike any other BMW motorcycle and is not expected to find its way into the production line.

“I am convinced that the motorcycle as a product becomes more and more important—not about commuting, but as leisure product,” Schramm added during the interview. “Electric mobility will be important for motorcycles in urban areas within five years.”

If electric power becomes more common on motorcycles focused on urban commuting, it seems inevitable that more enthusiast-oriented motorcycles will retain their high-revving internal combustion engines for years to come.

Dec 17
0

Enter To Win This Amazing Pair Of BMW R100 Cafe Racers

By | General Posts

from https://www.rideapart.com/

Built by UpCycle Garage in Anaheim, California, these bikes have been exquisitely restored by the inimitable Johnny Nguyen.

If the bike you’re riding doesn’t have that wow factor, or even worse, you only have ONE motorcycle, you should enter to win this incredible pair of BMW R100 Café racers. Click here to enter and use promo code RIDE1 to double your entry tickets just for reading RideApart. Plus, your donation will support TRI Industries, a wonderful company we’ve worked with before that hires veterans in the Chicago area.

Click here to enter and use promo code RIDE1 to double your entries for free!

This prize package consists of a 1982 BMW R100RS and 1988 BMW R100RT that have been restored and customized by Johnny Nguyen of Anaheim’s UpCycle Garage. They are engineered for form and function. While they look similar, Nguyen included some key differences so he could tell them apart, not the least of which is their complimentary green and silver paint jobs.

Both bikes are powered by BMW’s famous 980cc boxer mills which now sports matching vintage-style valve covers and velocity stacks. They also each exhale via pie-cut stainless steel exhaust systems, but the 2-into-1 exhaust exits low on the right of the silver RS while the pipes converge into an Akrapovič slip-on muffler under the seat of the green RT. Nguyen has also updated the bikes with completely modern electronics, including app-controlled lighting and keyless start with the touch of a button. Their style is vintage, but their hardware is cutting edge.

Entering this giveaway also means you’ll be donating to a worthy cause. We love partnering with companies that give away great cars for good causes, and this company is one of our favorites. RideApart has worked with TRI Industries in the past, and we vouch for their legitimacy as a charity worth supporting. You can learn more about TRI Industries here.

To enter, click here and use promo code RIDE1 at checkout to automatically double your entries

 

Dec 17
0

Motorcycles Tom Cruise rode as Captain Maverick and Ethan Hunt are now nothing short of icons

By | General Posts

from https://www.financialexpress.com/

Top Gun 2 is set to release on 26 June next year. That is still a lot of months before Captain Maverick’s glory takes over our screens. So, until then, here’s a look back at the coolest Tom Cruise motorcycle moments that have been and well be.

Top Gun is about to relive on our screens soon and we can’t wait to see Maverick being nothing but magnificent behind the joystick of a fighter jet or behind the handlebar of a pretty iconic Kawasaki. Yes, Top Gun 2 movie trailers have confirmed that Kawasaki GPZ900 will be back on the silver screen. Tom Cruise is one of the most revered motorcycle people in Hollywood. The other hotshot motorcyclist would be Keanu Reeves but let’s just focus on the Cruise missiles for now.

Kawasaki GPZ900R – Top Gun

Tom Cruise has been doing it for decades – including motorcycles in his films. Years before a lot of us were even born, Cruise rode the Kawasaki GPZ900R for the big screen as Captain Maverick in Top Gun 1986. If you like motorcycles, this one is every bit of a celebrity as Mr Cruise is and we’ll also see it in the upcoming Top Gun 2.

Kawasaki H2 – Top Gun 2

Sticking with Top Gun 2. As the GPZ900R was the fastest production motorcycle back in 1986, Maverick had to ride the fastest production motorcycle in today’s day and age. Hence, the supercharged Kawasaki H2. The other good thing about seeing these motorcycles share the screen with Tom Cruise is that he does most of the riding himself.

BMW R nine T Scrambler – Mission Impossible Fallout

The chase scenes make up a huge of reasons why we love Mission Impossible films. MI: Fallout had Cruise riding a BMW R nine T Scrambler on the streets of Paris and around the Arc de Triomphe against the flow of the traffic. Fun fact: an electric bike was used to film the tracking shots of the chase scene.

BMW S1000RR – Mission Impossible Rogue Nation

This one was perhaps the coolest chase scene of all Mission Impossible films (if you’re not still swooning over 2000 Mission Impossible 2 Tom Cruise). Rogue Nation had a load of BMW Motorrads but we love the crooked-faced S1000RR doing high-speed corners with a Tom Cruise on it.

Triumph Speed Triple – Mission Impossible 2

We’re mentioning this one twice because we haven’t stopped swooning over it. This chase scene with Cruise on a Speed Triple and the baddie on a Daytona remains on the top of the list of MI film chase scenes. The dual ‘bug-eye’ headlamp design and polished frame gave the bike a strong streetfighter look that became the trademark of the series, especially the shot where Cruise emerges from a cloud of flames astride the Speed.

Dec 11
0

BMW E-Power Roadster Electric Bike Shows Its Face

By | General Posts

by Sabrina Giacomini from https://www.rideapart.com/

BMW is one of the mainstream manufacturers that’s most involved in the electrification of transportation. It didn’t come as a big surprise when the manufacturer showed the Vision DC Roadster back in June. In fact, we were surprised it hadn’t come earlier. BMW has since been pretty quiet about what could become its first electric motorcycle. Until now.

number of European media headed to France to check out the E-Power Roadster which we guess is BMW’s working name for its electric motorcycle prototype. The bike the European journalists got to test is actually an assembly of bits and pieces of existing BMW models, including the front end of an S 1000 R and the back-end of the R 1200 RS. Obviously, at this stage of development, the priority is to put the electric powertrain through its paces rather than gives the model a finished look.

Though even just a Frankenbike, the E-Power showcases a number of really interesting features. First, contrarily to most electric motorcycles that use a belt or a chain final drive, this one sends power to the back wheel via a shaft.

While the bike itself is an amalgam of BMW bikes, the electric powertrain combines bits borrowed from hybrid cars. The 13 kW battery at the core of the bike was grafted from a hybrid 2 Series while the electric motor comes from a long-wheelbase 7 Series (a Chinese exclusivity). This allows the E-Power to produce a respectable 136 horsepower and an exciting 147 lb-ft of torque (that’s 7 lb-ft more than the Zero SR/F and trust me, that’s a lot of pull).

According to Motorcycle News, the E-Power is able to go from 0 to 60 in a minuscule 2.9 seconds, barely 0.2 seconds more than the S 1000 RR. And that’s despite the bike weighing a massive 639 lb.

The prototype is fast charger-compatible and can recharge three miles of range a minute which means that within 30 minutes, it could regain 90-percent of its total range.

According to the Head of BMW Motorrad Christoph Lischka, the company will further the development of the motorcycle and send it to production only if the team can figure out how to increase the range to reach between 125 to 185 miles. So an electric BMW bike isn’t a sure thing just yet. The bets are open.

Dec 05
0

BMW’s new S 1000 XR all-season bike unveiled

By | General Posts

by Denis Droppa from https://www.businesslive.co.za/

Improved agility, tech and midrange torque for BMW’s powerful adventure sport motorcycle.

With a superbike engine mounted in an adventure bike frame, the BMW S 1000 XR was an unusual concoction when it was first launched in 2015.

This powerful bike was never intended as a hardcore offroad machine, but had the raised ground clearance and suspension travel to be capable of mild dirt riding, meaning the journey needn’t end when tar gives way to gravel. Its upright seating position was also suited to long-distance riding comfort.

This adventure sport bike has gone on to become a popular model for the German brand, and the second-generation version has been unveiled as a lighter and more agile bike with an improved suite of safety- and convenience-enhancing electronics.

Making its world debut at the recent EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy, the new S 1000 XR has shed 10kg and features a newly developed engine and suspension.

The suspension has been slimmed down, the frame and swing arm are now 1.8kg lighter, and the new double-sided swing arm reduces unsprung masses — all contributing to improved agility.

The updated engine is 5kg lighter and is based on the mighty four-cylinder 1,000cc unit used in BMW’s S 1000 RR superbike. While the 123kW and 113Nm outputs are unchanged, it has increased midrange power for enhanced rideability while fourth, fifth and sixth gears now have longer ratios to reduce noise and fuel consumption.

In addition to a smoother slipper clutch, the new S 1000 XR also features a new electronically controlled engine drag torque control (MSR) which prevents the rear wheel from slipping as a result of abrupt throttling or downshifting.

The new S 1000 XR has four standard Ride Modes — “Rain”, “Road”, “Dynamic” and “Dynamic Pro”. In addition to throttle response, engine brake, ABS control and traction control, wheelie control can be configured separately.

ABS Pro takes braking safety a step further by working when the bike’s in a banked position.

Other standard features on the latest S 1000 XR include electronic suspension adjustment (ESA), while Dynamic ESA Pro is available as an optional extra with two damping modes (Road, Dynamic) and automatic load compensation.

The instrumentation is updated with a multifunction instrument panel on a 16.5cm TFT digital screen, which offers tailor-made displays for a range of different purposes.

A navigation system with app is included as standard. The TFT display is operated conveniently from the handlebars using the MMC (Motorcycle Multi Controller).

The front and rear lights are LEDs, and an optional Headlight Pro offers a cornering function for the headlight. Shift assist for clutchless up-/downshifts, and cruise control are other factory options.

A new frame layout provides provide improved support and knee grip, and BMW has revised the bodywork and ergonomics for more wind protection and comfort.

The new BMW S 1000 XR will go on local sale in the second quarter of next year.

Dec 03
0

Yamaha Ténéré 700 Dethrones BMW GS In Germany

By | General Posts

by Dustin Wheelen from https://www.rideapart.com

Since Yamaha released the T7 concept in late 2016, the motorcycling world has been pining for the Ténéré 700. From unveiling the prototype at EICMA 2017 to the announcement of the production model at last year’s EICMA show, Team Blue continued to generate hype for the model at each turn. All the groundwork Yamaha laid seems to be paying off as the newcomer is already supplanting the long-established king of adventure—the BMW GS 1250—in its homeland of Germany.

Though the Ténéré 700 isn’t for sale in the States until summer 2020, the mid-displacement adventure bike has been available in the European market since mid-2019. With European pre-orders opening in March of this year and initial deliveries following close behind in July, Ténéré fans backed the model right out of the gate. By fall, the bike was outpunching the competition in Germany with 310 units sold in the month of October alone.

Outselling BMW’s battleship (242 units) and Honda’s Africa Twin (181 units) is a great start for the smaller Ténéré. In a country dominated by ADV and naked bikes, securing a foothold will be important for the shelf life of the mid-sized motorcycle. Rounding out Germany’s top five in October, Kawasaki’s Z900 comes in fourth with 125 bikes sold while the ever-popular Yamaha MT-07 brings up the rear at 116 units.

While this is a small victory for Yamaha, only time will tell if the mighty middleweight can go round for round with BMW’s heavyweight champ. From January to October 2019, BMW has sold 9,100 GS 1250s in Deutschland. That staggering number is only followed the second-best seller in the country: Yamaha’s MT-07 at 3,569 units. Touting the same universally-loved CP2 parallel twin from the MT-07, the Ténéré 700 is uniquely positioned between the two best-selling models in Germany.

Along with the encouraging initial sales figures in Europe, Yamaha recently announced new color schemes for the US market and an MSRP sub-$10,000. Competitively priced between the segment stalwart V-Strom 650 and newcomers like KTM’s Adventure 790 and Moto Guzzi’s V85, it will be interesting to see how American consumers respond to the new Ténéré and the industry’s race to the middle. If one thing’s for sure, it’s that Yamaha’s hype machine isn’t done pushing its new prizefighter just yet.

Dec 02
0

BMW Unveils The Secrets Of Its New 1,800cc Boxer

By | General Posts

by Sabrina Giacomini from https://www.rideapart.com

BMW is working on the development of its biggest Boxer engine yet. The details surrounding the new engine, however, have been scarce, despite the manufacturer showcasing not one but two concepts built around the engine. The House of Munich has managed to keep the mill’s specs secret. Until now. The company has finally opened up and shared the details of the new engine. Here are the big lines.

We got our first look at the Big Boxer in December 2018, when the 1,800cc mill showed up in the R18 Departed custom design presented at the Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show. It then popped again in Revival Cycles’ birdcage bobber custom. BMW finally came out with its own design in May, dubbed the R18 Concept.

We now know that the model is heading for production and that it will launch sometime in 2020. Until now, however, the engine that underlines the new big German cruiser has remained a bit of a mystery. The displacement and the number of cylinders were the only available specs. Not anymore! We now get a full portrait of what’s going on inside the massive block.

First off, to be specific, the engine’s displacement is 1,802cc rather than the round number it’s been referred to for the past few months. The two cylinders have a 107mm bore and the aluminum pistons, a 100mm stroke. The engine weighs a staggering 244.3 lb—including the transmission and the intake system.

The engine’s over-head valve with dual camshaft set up is inspired by BMW’s early Boxers like the one found in the 1936 R5. To avoid excessive vibration of the crankshaft caused by the cylinders’ massive volume, an additional bearing has been added at the center of the shaft.

What about power figures? We have those too! The new ginormous Boxer is expected to produce 91 horsepower and 116.5 lb-ft of torque at 3,000 rpm. BMW adds that the engine will max out at 5,750 rpm.

Availability of the BMW R18 (provided that will remain the name once it hits production) has yet to be announced.

For those of you familiar with all the technical lingo, I have joined the full BMW press release if you want to learn more about the finer details of the new engine.

BMW Motorrad says ‘Big Boxer’ is its most powerful boxer engine ever
by Sven Gustafson from https://news.yahoo.com/

BMW is dishing new details on the newly developed but throwback-style 2-cylinder boxer engine that features in four Motorrad concept bikes unveiled over the past year that look increasingly likely to presage production motorcycles.

Dubbed the “Big Boxer” by BMW, the 1,802 cc (1.8-liter) flat-twin features in the Concept R18/2, shown earlier this month at EICMA, the Concept R18, and the Motorrad-suppported concepts the Departed by ZON and Revival Cycles’ Birdcage. It’s said to be the most powerful BMW boxer engine, making 91 horsepower and 116 pound-feet of torque and is said to balance high pulling power and running smoothness.

BMW says the engine harkens to the first air-cooled Motorrad boxer engines that debuted in 1923 and stayed in production for about 70 years, with the same overhead valve drive and separate engine and transmission housings and built to be reliable and easy to maintain. but the new Big Boxer is air- and oil-cooled, of course, and the quenched- and tempered-steel crankshaft has an additional main bearing at the center to prevent against unwanted bending vibrations in the large-volume cylinders. It also has a vertically split aluminum engine housing. A wet sump lubrication system supplies the lubricating and cooling oil via a two-stage oil pump and a sleeve-type chain driven by the crankshaft.

It was also inspired by the 2-cylinder engines of the R5 and R51, from 1936 to 1941, and the R51/2, from 1950-51, that featured two camshaft driven by the crankshaft via a sleeve-type chain and similarly positioned to the left and right above the crankshaft. That makes for shorter pushrods and reduced moving masses, among other advantages, plus improved precision and higher speed stability. Rather than employ modern hydraulic elements for valve clearance, the new engine also borrows the legacy Motorrad boxer method of employing adjusting one screw and a lock nut for each steel valve.

The transmission is a constant mesh six-speed, with a reverse gear available as an option, and torque transmitted to the rear wheel via a propeller-shaft or universal-shaft drive. Both the propeller shaft and the universal joint are nickel-plated and open in another wink to Motorrad history on models through 1955.

Nov 23
0

BMW’s naked all-electric bike inching towards reality: Here’s how the LiveWire rival might look!

By | General Posts

by Pradeep Shah from https://www.financialexpress.com

BMW must be eyeing the Harley-Davidson LiveWire and the Zero SR/F territory with its upcoming all-electric offering. Considering the fact that these two generate power output in the 100hp region, BMW must also be eyeing a similar output on its electric bike.

The buzz around high-performance electric motorcycles is just refusing to die. Harley-Davidson revealed the LiveWire a few days back followed by which Kawasaki dropped a major hint on how its upcoming electric bike would be like. Now, very recently, patent images of a BMW naked bike have been leaked on the web and this one points towards a pure electric motorcycle. However, this is not the first time that the company has attempted at making an electric motorcycle.

Back in the year 2015, the company created an eco-friendly version of the S1000RR, naming it the eRR. However, the e-bike in the patent images that have been revealed recently seems to be based on the F800. The patent images suggest that the battery pack and the electric motor will be a structural member of the frame and this approach was earlier seen on the company’s C Evolution electric scooter.

The patent images also show that the wheels, monoshock, brakes and the inverted forks up front seem to have been borrowed from the F800R. The swingarm and the rear wheel on the electric bike have been taken from the BMW F800GT. The engine on the aforementioned two bikes churn out 90hp and BMW would not want to compromise on this aspect on its electric offering. Looking at these elements, it can be safely assumed that the German automaker is working on a naked electric motorcycle that will be based on the company’s F800 range.

All said and done, BMW must be eyeing the Harley-Davidson LiveWire and the Zero SR/F territory with its upcoming all-electric offering. Keeping in mind the fact that these two generate power output in the 100hp region, BMW must also be eyeing a similar output on its electric bike. We expect the company to reveal the electric bike sometime towards the end of 2020.

Nov 05
0

BMW Unwraps New, Lighter S 1000 XR Motorcycle

By | General Posts

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

It’s an important week for motorcycle fans across the world as one of the year’s largest specialized events, EICMA, kicked off in Milan, Italy. Several high-profile premieres are on the floor of the Rho Fairgrounds, including BMW’s newest version of the S 1000 XR, taking the floor alongside other BMW-Motorrad machines on display there.

The adventure sport bike got significantly upgraded for the new generation with the inclusion of a new engine, the shaving of some kilos from its waist and the addition of several never-before used technologies for this range.

The heart of the new bike is the inline 4-cylinder engine, a new version of the powerplant usually deployed on the S 1000 RR. In the XR however the unit is 5 kg lighter than on the model it replaces, accounting for exactly half of the total 10 kg weight reduction of the bike when compared to the previous model (2020 XR tips the scale at 226 kg unladen).

The engine uses for the first time in the range engine drag torque control (MSR) and develops a total of 165 hp. It can be configured to run in four driving modes, namely Rain, Road, Dynamic, and Dynamic Pro.

The suspension of the bike has been reworked as well, shaving off 2.1 kg from the total weight. The direct linkage hardware has also been tweaked into reducing the unsprung masses by 1.6 kg.

As standard, the XR will be offered with LED lights all around, except for the U.S. market where the bike will have no LED turn indicators. Regardless of where it will sell, the bike will however provide the same, larger, 6.5 inch TFT screen, complete with connectivity, for better visibility.

BMW did not say when the new S 1000 XR will go on sale. The full spectrum of modifications made can be found in the press release.