BMW

When you think of BMW, odds are you think of adventure––riding around the world, eating strange food, and getting bitten by exotic fauna. But lately, along with the graying of American motorcyclists, the term “adventure” is broadening to encompass spa weekends and wine tours, often two-up. Recognizing that in this scenario ...    Read more

For a couple of weeks now I’ve seen one of BMW’s new HP4 superbikes parked in the Motorcyclist parking lot. It’s striking, it’s beautiful, and it looks like it means business. The HP4 is currently the responsibility of Sport Rider’s Kent Kunitsugu, who informed me that the bike is actually privately owned. Only a ...    Read more

At long last, pricing has been announced for the new R1200GS from BMW. Unlike the new water-cooled boxer engine, however, the pricing didn’t come with a diagram to explain it. And it probably should have. Here’s what you’ll want to know. The base model shipped to U.S. BMW dealers this spring ...    Read more

BMW Motorrad, which says it wants to concentrate on urban mobility and electric vehicles, has sold Husqvarna Motorcycles to KTM CEO Stefan Pierer’s holding company. Both parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. BMW’s decision to focus its future efforts only on road-going vehicles resulted from what Manfred Grunert, ...    Read more

If you think it’s hard to talk a salesman down on the price of a motorcycle you want, try competing with a room full of people who are willing to pay more than you are for the same bike. That’s what you’d have been up against on January 10 at ...    Read more

Even though the term “economic growth” was an oxymoron for most people last year, the folks at BMW are feeling pretty good about 2012. That’s because the Motorrad set new sales records, delivering 106,358 motorcycles and maxi-scooters worldwide, a 2 percent increase over 2011. Additionally, in December 2012 BMW delivered ...    Read more

The new 2013 BMW R1200GS is coming. Nothing can stop that now, not even the thousands of bleeding hearts of current GS owners who think it’s fine the way it is. All we can do now is try to prepare. Here at MC, we decided the best way to prepare ...    Read more

PHOTOS: Andrea Wilson, Ari Henning Just as nature slowly restores itself after a cataclysmic event, our little corner of the motorsports landscape has green shoots inching up through the dark forest floor. Haven’t seen them? I have, most recently at the International Motorcycle Show that just rolled through Long Beach, CA. ...    Read more

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KTM's booth from the EICMA show last month in Milan. Photo by Michael Lichter. Wherever you live, odds are that some time between early November and late February you’ll hear about or see advertising for the International Motorcycle Show. IMS shows are held across the U.S., offering ...    Read more

Perhaps slightly jealous of Harley-Davidson’s habit of cranking out “anniversary” models at the drop of a beanie helmet, BMW has declared its intention to produce a new anniversary model of its own. Speaking at the EICMA international motorcycle show in Milan, BMW Motorrad President Stephan Schaller said his company will ...    Read more

WORDS: Ben Purvis PHOTO: BMW Despite a tremendous, 90-year-history to crib from, the present-day BMW doesn’t typically do retro. Spy shots of the German manufacturer’s forthcoming naked bike, however, suggest a pleasing old-school look with a large, round headlight and a bulbous fuel tank reminiscent of a 1970s superbike. This appears to ...    Read more

PHOTOS: BMW Motorrad BMW’s awesome S1000RR, the overall winner of our “Class of 2012” superbike comparison and our choice for Sportbike of the Year, wasn’t exactly lacking performance. That didn’t stop the German manufacturer from developing this limited-production, HP4 edition that delivers even more high-speed potency. The HP4 uses the same ...    Read more

The dual-sport category has changed quite a bit since Yamaha made the go-anywhere genre popular in the late 60s. BMW’s latest dual-sport offerings, the F700GS and the F800GS, are relatively capable in the dirt but still much more street-oriented than the Yamaha ATs, CTs, and DTs of yesteryear. (Or the ...    Read more

Donington Park (UK), Sunday 13 May 2012 – A 48,500 strong crowd saw some astounding race action at Donington in two sun-blessed 23-lap races, which culminated in a moment of history for one of the world’s most important motorcycle manufacturers, some of the best SBK racing ever seen and ...    Read more

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