Six Cylinder Ks

I remembering hearing about when the Japanese wanted start making motorcycle, they wanted to make what everybody else was making, two cylinder bikes. It is a long story but they decided to make and develope fours. As you can see it worked and they took over the market, at the time it was a risk. Instead of doing what everybody else is doing BMW is starting with a new slate and in this area, every body else will be doing catch up. This is a smart move and it is up to BMW to make it work right. If you want a new old bike, buy a restored bike, nothing wrong with wanting that, but if you want a new bike that is what people are looking for even if they do not want to admit it, they want something new. You know like in the movie troy, we want more. To expand the market share BMW is thinking outside the box, there is a risk with that, as there is a risk with doing the same old thing. two cents

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the sound of a inline six at full boil. Normally, I like a quiet bike, but in this case, you want some noise, not a lot, but enough. Problem is all the potential for tickets from winding it out. Wonder if we could have switch adjustable noise. Like the one Harley setup with a quiet valve. This has the chance to actually pry my fingers open. Well, not much of a chance, since probably will be north of 20K, but used??? With my luck everyone will love theirs too much to sell.

I wait to see the finished bike.

Rod

landshark said:

It is a long story but they decided to make and develope fours.

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It's not a long story at all: They copied Friedel Munch.

Gilly

PAULBACH said:

I recall being part of a focus group giving input to building a "new" k bike. The BMW engineer stated that Honda sells more Goldwings in the USA than BMW did all models combined.

Perhaps this is the big component for eating some of Goldwing's lunch.

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How do I get that job?

Six cylinder is a design ++

The straight six is a better design from a vibration/ balance standpoint than any 4 cyl.
BMW auto's have used this design for years.



The straight-six engine or inline-six engine (often abbreviated I6, L6 or R6) is a six cylinder internal combustion engine with all six cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft. Where it is inclined, it is sometimes called a slant-six engine. The straight-six layout is the simplest engine layout that possesses both primary and secondary mechanical engine balance, resulting in relatively low manufacturing cost combined with much less vibration than engines with fewer cylinders.[1]

From wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inline_6


Honda tried this in 1978-1980 with the CBX to much maintenance (valves) to be usable. Good bike did not sell.

From another post:

"Back when I rode a LTD 454 I thought an 800 would be too much bike, now I can't imagine going back down to just 800cc's. "



Yes anything under 1 liter seems like not enough power today. But my 750 airhead is quite enough for me at this time.

Thanks

With this bike one would have to be light on the throttle.

matthewfelton said:

With this bike one would have to be light on the throttle.

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Ever see a Hayabusa. Or a GSXR100. Or the Triumph Rocket III. Or even the S1000RR. We don't even know the displacement of this 6. We only know the number 6.

It will really only be "powerful" by BMW standards, not necessarily industry standards.