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I believe you can see this already starting to happen -- the current bikes are become lighter than their predecessors (the different between the R12RT and the R11x0RT is frankly, amazing), the CG's are getting lower (witness the K-wedge bikes' 55 degree forward cylinder bank cant), and the seat heights are starting to get lower (the K16GTL's 29.5" seat is nice for the inseam challenged).I hope they also make their bike toward a more average human scale...ie the average male/female rider of 5'5' to 5' 10" can sit on the bike with their feet flat on the ground. This would help their sales IMO...and make the bikes more of a pleasure to own.
I also think they should work hard to get their center of gravity lower like the had in the days of the R100s etc. This would make the bike more agile at speed and less top heavy
I hope they will take advantage of a new engine to rething how they design and package the R bikes. I hope they get bact to their roots where bikes we under 500lbs...some where well under that.
I hope they also make their bike toward a more average human scale...ie the average male/female rider of 5'5' to 5' 10" can sit on the bike with their feet flat on the ground. This would help their sales IMO...and make the bikes more of a pleasure to own.
I also think they should work hard to get their center of gravity lower like the had in the days of the R100s etc. This would make the bike more agile at speed and less top heavy.
But the inline 6 provides a much smoother engine. The inline 6 is intrinsically balanced. The V6 on the other hand, is a shaky jake, and needs stuff like balance shafts to get it reasonably smooth enough for a luxury car.
So there is a technical reason for the straight 6.
The engines have to be higher up in order to get more lean angle. It's the nature of a longitudinal boxer motor. I don't think there's any way that BMW is going to give up what precious lean angle they have.
You mean a transverse boxer motor, don't you?
No, I don't think so. The adjective usually describes the alignment of the crankshaft. So a transverse four describes the usual UJM (and new K bike) arrangement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transverse_engine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitudinal_engine
A transverse boxer would be like the old Douglas motorcycles, or more well known here, the Victoria KR I of 1920, which employed a BMW motor in a transverse arrangement.
Close. I thought the Porsche crowd wouldn't buy an engine that wasn't hung out the rear, not an engine that was water-cooled. Turns out they *will* buy a car with a water-cooled engine, but only if the engine is hung out the back (like the 911), but not if the engine is out front (like the 924, 944, and 928).
...I don't see a technical justification for it...larrysb
BMW can't sit back like Harley and simply produce the same dated design forever if it expects to stay competitive beyond the market of the BMW loyals.
That's because they keep breaking down...sold over twice as many motorcycles worldwide than BMW Motorad and did this during a bad year for them.
That's because they keep breaking down...
BMW's just keep going on.
Don't give porchephiles so much credit for loyalty to mechanical traditions. The Cayenne is a hulking SUV with a guzzling V8 ( out front! ) and the faithful snatched it up to the tune of 50% of US sales for a while. Maybe they all just bought one for their significant others.
As for a water boxer, it probably is more marketing than practicality. That sounds like HD's philosophy. But the harley faithful are firmly established throughout the age spectrum, and the boxer loyalist seem to getting older, and older, and older......
I'm fairly new to motorcycles and I've owned my 2010 GSA for only about 6 months.
My Suzuki Burgman 650 has an inline two cylinder engine, water cooled. The engine is canted forward, so the heads point at the top of the front tire. There is no torque reaction from the engine, since it is transversely mounted. It has a balance shaft and it runs smoothly and quietly. Even though the Burgman weighs a whopping 60lbs more than my R1200GS-Adv, the CG is so low that the bike is very easy to maneuver. It's also far easier to pick up than the GSA.
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Just for grins, where is the radiator on your bergman, and do you feel any heat from it.
Rod
The cylinder heads are hanging out there where they can hit obstacles on the road or trail, or hit the ground if the bike gets dropped.