2017 BMW R NineT Pure Review

Pure, as in unadulterated, undiluted, genuine, real. Pure, as in elemental, untainted, and distilled down to its most basic form. With the Pure version of the R nineT, BMW has stripped the platform of everything its designers deemed interfered with the integrity of the ride. If the Pure were made with a less care, it might have ended up feeling stripped down, incomplete. Instead, the Pure is surprisingly successful and may be my favorite R nineT variant yet.

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So, what makes the R nineT Pure pure? Well, it’s essentially an engine connected to two wheels and sporting a gas tank, seat, and handlebar – plus little else. The look is iconic motorcycle. All real nods to modernity, like the fuel injection and ABS are largely hidden from view.

We’ll start with the 1170cc, air-cooled Boxer Twin, a platform so old and refined as to be if not the ur-engine, then at least a stout branch near the trunk on the engine tree. Tuned for torque and given an understressed task, the Boxer feels like it’ll run from here to eternity. Happily. Blip the throttle at a stop, and the bike comes alive as the torque effect tilts it to the right. Snick the short-throw shifter into gear and let the torque carry you into motion. The Pure feels happiest when trolling around around at moderate speeds, say along a beachside road on the way to a coffee house. Don’t let that laid-backness fool you. Give the throttle a twist, and the bike powers forward with a lunge ahead at every shift in the lower gears. Soon, you’ll find yourself charging into a series of corners, the bit in your teeth.

The Boxer owes some of its alacrity to the shortness and closeness of its gearing. Running through the cogs brings a pleasant bruuup from the 2-into–1 exhaust, and vibration doesn’t rear its head until…well, we won’t ever know. There isn’t a tachometer on the Pure. Let’s just say that the short gearing that makes the Pure so fun to twist the throttle on also makes the engine feel busy at freeway speeds. Vibration that isn’t terribly noticeable on a canyon road becomes apparent on the straight and flat of the superslab.

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The R nineT Pure’s riding position is standard fare, meaning the rider is upright with pegs directly below the seat. The handlebar is wide, giving plenty of leverage for working your way through a series of corners. In fact, the riding position and the handlebar work together to make the Pure an easier backroads companion than the more sportingly named R nineT Racer. The Pure just loves being pitched into a corner. Where the Racer feels more sluggish at low speeds, the Pure feels nimble, making it an ideal urban mount.

The workmanlike brakes only add to the bike’s fun factor by offering excellent bite and feel. The suspension, which in the rear could feel a bit harsh on around town bumps, works quite well. The non-adjustable 43mm fork is a tad soft, but it mates nicely with the preload- and rebound-adjustable shock. It’s not until a corner gets bumpy that the suspension begins to feel overtaxed when sporting around on the Pure. The rear harshness does reappear over freeway expansion joints, though (a symptom at least partly due to a shaft-drive layout with a shortish wheelbase –Ed.).

This brings us to the Pure’s comfort features. In the base model, there aren’t any! The thin seat which is so visually pleasing is a bit hard for longer rides (and it only highlights the rear suspension’s harshness in certain conditions). Wind protection is, as you might expect, nonexistent. Since BMW is loath to give us base-model test bikes, our Pure was outfitted with heated grips, a $250 option that is sure to please Mr. Burns. (We also received the $2,496 spoked wheels, which look pretty but don’t speak of minimalist motorcycling – unless your definition of minimalism requires tubed tires.)

Overall, the BMW R nineT Pure serves as a reminder of just how segmented motorcycling has become by giving us a platform for elemental motorcycling that delivers a huge fun factor. No, it won’t carve laps in record time or take you and your luggage through the open desert or leap tall buildings in a single bound – those are the provinces of more specialized, less pure motorcycles.

What your do get from BMW for your $11,995 is a motorcycle, pure and simple, and one that will handle all of your everyday motorcycling needs – plus those that arise on the weekends. My time aboard the Pure made me think back to all the fun that I have had on a simple and capable motorcycle… and can be had again.