BMW

After 175 cold, soggy miles on BMW’s (relatively) affordable demi-sport, I’ve come to a couple of conclusions. It’s a bit small you aren’t. And if you’re over six feet tall, the optional tall seat really isn’t an option. To be fair, shorter gearing in the top three cogs and a ...    Read more

If the prospective adventure tourist’s first question is which bike do I buy, question number two usually comes down to which BMW GS. If you’re asking me, the next question is standard 1200GS or Adventure? Judged strictly by the numbers or a quick visual once over, the more heavily armored ...    Read more

BMW’s brochure copy is 99% right. Neither rain nor sleet nor snow, rocks, ruts, mud or a deranged hillbilly/rancher could stop the 2010 R1200GS at its North American press debut this week. Only the California Highway Patrol brought us to a standstill. When the CHP says the road is closed, ...    Read more

After surviving four days and 1000-odd kilometers in Morocco on a BMW R1200GS, I learned a few things. Some I expected. Don’t drink the water for instance. Others, like never leave your native land while an Icelandic volcano with a name nobody can spell is pumping 750 tons of ash ...    Read more

I’m flying to Marrakesh this morning. The Red City: former imperial capital of Morocco and home to about 1,070,838 storytellers, water sellers, dancers, musicians and just plain folks there at the foot of the Atlas Mountains. I could tell you why, but that would assume I knew myself. The truth ...    Read more

It’s a small thing, really: a thin, stubby blade cast into the tip of the BMW S1000RR key, and every new BMW motorcycle key I’ve seen lately. But if you’re ever tried adding two clicks of rebound damping with a dime – not quite thin enough – because the tool ...    Read more

It’s the sort of tool you never think about until till you need it, then nothing else will do. I had to pull muffler off my BMW GS to finish one of those 15-minute projects that burns up an entire Saturday morning. The only thing holding me up are two ...    Read more

The obligatory buildup that started shortly after Halloween is winding down. Fewer ads pushing the Scooby Doo Chia Pet. Less mass hysteria in every mall parking lot. We’ve seen all the Christmas Specials, from Charlie Brown to Rudolph, Frosty and the Grinch. Aim your dish just right and some say ...    Read more

Except for the 2009 motorcycle in the foreground, it could be 1909 out here. The landscape carries a few more scars now, but modern amenities are still few and far between. I left the pavement maybe 20 miles back and aside from that ancient Coors can a few dozen corners ...    Read more

After 6000 miles on BMW’s 800GS, I’ve come to at least one immutable conclusion. It can be either an astonishingly capable broadband street bike, or a reasonable capable mid-side adventurer, but not both. As delivered, it’s a street bike with dirty aspirations. The potential for more is there, but everything ...    Read more

Actual off-road rubber solved one problem on my long-term F800GS and dumped another one squarely in my lap. Retiring the stock Bridgestone Battle Wings in favor of Continental’s more trustworthy TKC80 nearly knobbies. No more loosing the front end in every other corner. No more getting stuck in the loose ...    Read more

Every once in awhile we do what you think we’re doing every day; take off at 9:00 a.m. on a motorcycle for no particular reason. No specific destination, either. Just ride. There’s a semi-plausible explanation involved— just in case—for those in the corporate flow chart who ingest and secrete pure ...    Read more

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - January 24, 2008... Motorcycle enthusiasts eagerly awaiting the arrival of BMW's new F 800 GS will need to be a bit more patient, as production of the middleweight dual-purpose enduro will be delayed due to worldwide demand for the popular F 650 GS.The F 800 GS ...    Read more

So what about the numerous model codes that we have also become acquainted with over the years, such as R, RS, S, CS, C, CL, GS, RT, RS, GT and LT? The first time that ‘R’ was communicated was with the R 100 R of 1991. It means ‘Roadster’ ...    Read more

The decision of BMW to produce motorcycles with in-line engines saw the bikes in these model series receive a totally separate designation.The development designation ‘K’ was adopted as a series badge. As with the boxer models, the ‘K’ was followed by a number derived from the displacement of the in-line ...    Read more

BMW took the new instructions as the signal to introduce a new internal naming system.As the numbers 100 to 199 had already been assigned to aero engines, motorcycles were given the range from 200 to 299 and cars the 300-to-399 band. The existing motorcycle models were integrated into the new ...    Read more

BMW acted to simplify the system in the mid-1920s. The references to the number of cylinders and model series were abandoned. Now the only entry in front of the project number was to denote an engine (‘M’ = Motor), transmission (‘G’ = Getriebe), a frame for motorcycles (‘R’ = Rahmen) ...    Read more

Ever wondered how BMW motorcycles get their names? The history of the nomenclature for aero engines, motorcycles and cars is marked on the one hand by enduring lines, and on the other by surprising twists and turns. As the company started out building aero engines, it was ancient history that ...    Read more

Woodcliff Lake, NJ -- September, 2007 -- Ever since the introduction of BMW's original Motorrad Navigator several years ago, sales of maps to BMW riders have fallen dramatically.Subsequent generations of Navigator II, Navigator II Plus and Navigator III GPS systems further revolutionized long distance route finding for riders with their ...    Read more