lycheed said:
Similarly, if anyone here has ridden the K1200LT, you will know that even ridden solo it is extremely underpowered and no-doubt outperformed by the AN650. I suspect that they know that with electronic CVT they can make a heavy (250kg) 850cc tourer perform as well as their 1150/1200cc conventional tourers.
Underpowered and outperformed in what way? Certainly not in the standard raw performance numbers, where the K12LT crushes the Burgman 650. And even from a handling standpoint, I sincerely doubt it. The K12LT is an amazingly stable, planted platform even when pushed through sporting roads. And I've personally chased one at speeds well into triple digits through some gorgeous, sweeping mountain roads. A Burgman 650 couldn't do it because we were exceeding its top speed.
If BMW is planning for an 850cc mill, they will probably be planning to use the R engine – tips of the engine cases exposed would be great if possible. 650cc would have indicated the F650 single. This tells us that unlike the Italians, they will try to take the Big Three head on, not play one level below i.e., 2cyl engine in the frame as opposed to single cylinder engine on the swing-arm. It will have the corporate face, and will sell at a considerable margin above the ANxxx to those that believe that German products are inherently better than Japanese items.
Except that BMW has no such engine, and by most all accounts, has no intention of building a smaller displacement "hexhead". It's important to remember that the Rotax-derived 650 in the F650 series came out of co-development with Aprilia, and most speculation has been that BMW has again been working with Aprilia to develop the replacement. The Aprilia Pegaso and the F650's are closely related. This engine has been rumored to be a v-twin for some time, and most recently, some potential test mules have been spotted in the wild. It's tough to be entirely sure; those test mules in obviously fake tupperware are mostly thought to be Beemers because the sidecases they're sporting are straight off the new K1200S.
It seems pretty unlikely to me, too. The image shown in this thread looks like so many concept photos commissioned by the magazines to describe what they think might someday arrive. I can't read the date next to the signature, so I can't get an idea of how old this is. But it appears they've taken the R1200CL front-end, including the windscreen, both of which are all but defunct now. None of the new bikes (R1200GS, R1200RT, K1200S, or R1200ST, or even the recently cosmetically enhances K1200LT) have a front-end that looks anything like that image.
BMW's don't artificially sell above the competition. Compare the European prices to the competition (which doesn't include the Burgman 650), and the RT is nearly universally lower than either the FJR or the ST1300. The new R1200RT offers more touring amenities, and fully decked out, it will probably cost more. Of course, the others come nowhere near it in terms of features. It's only in countries where the Euro is strong relative to the local currency where BMW's are universally more expensive.
That said, BMW is a small motorcycle maker launching 3 to 5 new models this year. For BMW, that's incredible. The notion of another attempt to break into the scooter market, which is already pretty small and crowded, seems pretty unlikely. The C1 was clearly an attempt to try to do something different, and it failed. They don't have a lot to add to the scooter market, just as they don't have anything to add to the sportbike market. You'll note they don't even try to compete in the sportbike arena.
Time will tell, of course. However, I would expect the maxi-scooter market would have to be sufficiently larger before a BMW entry would be seen. (I'll concede that our most reliable source in the US of BMW Motorrad intel, OTL, does not flat-out reject the possibility, however.)
Greg
)
