#Bmw

This is a cool find, especially for vintage BMW heads. Here we have not one, but two BMWs – and the newer one is 50 years old! The first is a 1970 R50/5 and the second is a 1973 R75/6. Both are located in Vermont, and surprisingly, the owner says these were daily riders. In fact, they'll continue to be until someone buys them from him.

BMW is making it easier to rent a motorcycle during your vacation with a new online platform. BMW's Rent A Ride program is now available online on its Fuel For Life website. The program works with 315 BMW Motorrad partners in 26 countries (not including the U.S., which has its own online Rent A Ride portal at BMWRentARideUSA.com).

Marking the brand's 100th anniversary, 2023 was already shaping up to be a momentous year for BMW Motorrad, but today, the company reached another big milestone: the production of the 1 millionth Boxer-engined GS. The landmark model, an R 1250 GS in Triple Black, continues a tradition that began in 1980 with the R 80 G/S, and for the first time, BMW officially confirmed that tradition will continue with the R 1300 GS.

His loss is your gain

A few weeks ago, we uncovered some specifications for the yet-to-be-announced 2024 BMW R 1300 GS from Swiss homologation documents. The certification data confirmed details such as the 1,300 cc engine displacement and cited peak performance figures of 143.5 hp at 7,750 rpm and 109.9 lb-ft. at 6,500 rpm. What was less clear was how much the new GS would weigh.

While we're all awaiting official word of a new R 1300 GS, BMW surprised us with a teaser for an entirely different model: a new M 1000 XR.

Details about the new 2024 BMW R 1300 GS have popped up in vehicle homologation data in Switzerland, confirming the next-generation GS including some initial specifications. Full information remains to be confirmed, but based on the data, and the spy photos that have popped up over the last few years, here's what we know.

Hot on the heels of a new R 18 Roctane, BMW offered a preview of its R NineT successor, the new R 12 NineT. As we previously reported, the R 12 NineT comes as BMW celebrates its centennial, just like how its predecessor was timed for BMW’s 90th anniversary. Beyond a new name, the 2024 BMW R 12 NineT comes with a number of updates. Full technical details will be revealed later, but here’s what we know so far.

I’ll be honest; the reason you’re seeing this 1995 road test of the BMW R1100RS is largely because I’m surprised our servers haven’t lost this story from MO’s very early days. Motorcycle.com was only a year old when this test debuted. It’s fun reading through these irreverent days of the site combined with the motorcycles of the era. It’s interesting to note how the OG’s of MO were dealing with some of the same issues we deal with today: accepting emissions compromises while equally bemoaning how much they sap performance. Then there are the usual BMW quirks which seemingly haven’t changed. Speaking of not changing, check out that Aerostich suit!

With no US publications invited to the press launch of the BMW CE 04 more than a year ago, we had to enlist the help of our friend Bertrand Gahel to send us his thoughts in the form of his First Ride Review. Thirteen months later, we finally got our hands on the BMW scoot.

Who doesn’t love a good BMW GS story? This one is especially good. Today’s example is a 2005 R1200GS – ironically, listed at the V-Strom forum  StromTrooper.com – with over 100,000 miles. If the ad (reposted below) is any indication, the bike has 133,600 miles to be exact. The GS has been known to be virtually bulletproof, and this bike is driving home that point.

Chrissy Rogers and I were toying with the idea of a pre-Christmas blast up the Pacific coast to Hearst Castle for a few days while business was slow, since the weather was an impeccable partly cloudy and 60-ish degrees. That or maybe the Ruta de Vino down Mexico way? Maybe hop in the new-to-me 23-year old Jaguar? Take the train? At the same time, we’re both aware that the two of us in a sealed container works best if the container is at least 1500 square feet, compartmentalized into rooms, and stationary. I tend to get a little worked up driving a car in and out of SoCal when there’s traffic (there’s always traffic), followed by Christine getting worked up at my getting worked up, followed by, why don’t we just hang out here at home and eat and drink and save the money? Because we’re chiselers.

It’s a little strange to hear Nate Kern call me, and everyone else in the rider’s meeting, one of his kids. “It’s true,” says the childless Kern as he can see the weird looks on our faces this chilly December morning at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. “I’m man enough to say I care about you guys and when you’re here, at one of my trackdays, all I want is the best experience possible for you.” This might sound like lip service since every trackday provider wants you to have a good time, but Nate Kern and his eponymous DoubleRFest trackdays have the weight of BMW behind it to come as close as possible to ensuring this sentiment rings true. 

Welcome to 2023! The MO offices are full again after our annual weight-gaining extravaganza, and we are ready to hit the ground running into the new model year. That means we’re all about looking ahead, which means we are (mostly) thinking about the 2023 models and what new goodies the manufacturers have in store for motorcyclists. As is our tradition, we put fingers to keyboards and opined on what we, as professional moto-journalists, were most excited about after spending days on the EICMA and other new model announcements. So, what follows is our personal opinions about the bikes we expect to ride for the first time in the upcoming year. 

Nothing succeeds like excess – and by concocting the 2023 M 1000 R (or “MR” as they’d like us to call it), BMW is doing its best to confirm the truth of that axiom in a two-wheeled context.