#BMWMotorrad

A “long-distance sportbike”... with wings!

It might be old enough to drink, but this fully-kitted 2001 BMW K 1200 LT Custom still looks brand new. And as you can tell by the pictures, it's been outfitted with a ton of goodies to make it an absolute delight for burning away miles on the road – for a little extra, the owner is even throwing in 15 cu. ft. trailer. With nearly 42,000 miles on the clock, if you do the math, that comes out to a little under 1,900 miles a year – it's barely been ridden!

You can see the full list of mods and maintenance in the reprint of the ad below, or visit the bmwlt.com forum. For $6,100, it seems like a great buy for the right person.

BMW’s big-engined foray into a streamlined cruiser

BMW has released an exclusive anniversary edition of its road-going superbike, the M 1000 RR, to celebrate nearly a century of motorcycle production, but more specifically, to celebrate 50 years of BMW M vehicles. 

With the World Superbike championship set to resume again this weekend in Jerez, after a long Coronavirus-induced break since the season opener at Philip Island in February, BMW felt it necessary to tell everyone how it was spending its time in lockdown – and it’s pretty fascinating.

While lockdown meant racing has stopped, development of the S1000RR World Superbike challenger has not. Specifically in the area of aerodynamics. Cutting through the air as efficiently as possible is a big deal when racing at the highest levels, and while it’s easy enough to place an S1000RR in the wind tunnel, doing so without a rider aboard is pointless. But what do you do when your riders are in different countries, unable to travel to Munich because of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic?

You know what they say, “Bad news travels fast,” and a few months ago, it seemed like the motorcycle industry was full of it. Every day felt like there was a new report painting a gloomy portrait and claiming the motorcycle industry was doomed if we didn’t do something about it. How could something so awesome as motorcycling be destined for failure?

¡No way, José! Not happening, not if we can help it. Sure, there are some motorcycle manufacturers that have seen better days in years past, and while some of this gloomy news certainly felt like a kick in the plums to many, other manufacturers reported much rosier fiscal results for 2017, with optimism and promising outlooks moving forward.

Off-road worthy motorcycles from MO’s past seem to be pretty popular Church items lately, so we’ll continue the theme again this week with a dirtbike from BMW. No, not the R1200GS, but a real dirtbike, the 2009 BMW G450X. In a time when BMW was trying to reinvent itself to attract new riders, the G450X presented something radically different than the comfy touring bikes many younger riders pictured their parents – or even grandparents – riding. Ultimately, the G450X had a short shelf life, but the guts to continually reinvent itself and enter new motorcycling categories has resulted in products like the RnineT and the S1000 lineup. For that we partially have the G450X to thank. Here’s contributor Jeff Buchanan with his take on BMW’s dirtbike.  

Watch as BMW Motorrad engineers subject the company’s riding gear to a variety of tests including abrasion resistance, water resistance, tear resistance, and shock absorption. There’s no commentary or explanation, but it’s interesting to see the different devices used to conduct the tests.