BMW Motorrad Archives - Page 26 of 32

News

Trouble Broods for Husqvarna as Austrians Come to Varese

By Michael Uhlarik 04/29/2013 8 Comments

Only a couple of months after Husqvarna?s sale by BMW to Austria?s Pierer Industries, the storied motocross brand is once again making headlines, unfortunately of the wrong sort.

Reports from the La Provincia di Varese website, Varese News, as well as motorcycling’s GPOne are saying that the acquisition of Husqvarna has revealed significant problems with massive unsold inventory, labor, and the existing business plan.

As of Monday the 22nd of April, Pierer Industries announced that the factory will be closed until further notice, and let go all of the 211 factory workers employed by Husqvarna. The only staff remaining are in the sales and marketing departments, about 30 people.

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Racing

BMW Partners with TVS on Sub-500cc Motorcycles

By Jensen Beeler 04/08/2013 4 Comments

Finally after nine months of dancing with each other around the negotiations table, Germany’s BMW Motorrad and India’s TVS (one of the country’s largest motorcycle manufacturers) have inked an agreement that will see the companies develop sub-500cc motorcycles together.

The announcement is another move that sees Western brands collaborating with Indian companies to develop models suited for India and other developing nations that have high riding populations.

Decisively light in the loafers when it comes to small-displacement motorcycles, the move is a boon for BMW Motorrad, which just recently saw rival KTM surpass it in total volume of sales — a move that was spurred largely by the Austrian company’s partnership with Bajaj and their joint work on the small-displacement Duke series.

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Bikes

Water-Cooled 2014 BMW R1200RT Spotted

By Jensen Beeler 03/27/2013 9 Comments

With the water-cooled BMW R1200GS official debuted and soon to be released for the 2013 model year, it was only a matter of time before we saw the same “precision liquid-cooled” version of the BMW R1200RT make its spy shot debut.

Coming to us in a very blurry form, a blogger at the french publication MotoMag caught the 2014 BMW R1200RT out for a spring time jaunt in the South of France.

Heavily disguised in camouflage, it is hard to understand how far zie Germans have strayed from the old model’s lines, though we hope that the touring machine gets as much of an overhaul as the Gelände Straße.

To our eyes, the fairings look physically much larger, and it looks like the headlights could be borrowed from the KT1600GT platform. More photos after the jump, call out any other changes you might see.

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News

Video: 90 Years of BMW Motorcycles in 90 Seconds

By Jensen Beeler 03/07/2013 9 Comments

Producing motorcycles since 1923, BMW Motorrad is celebrating 90 years of Bavarian-made two-wheeled machines, and wants everyone to know about it. The capstone for the 90th anniversary will be a special air-cooled four-valve boxer-twin BMW motorcycle that is expected to be a modern-take on the iconic BMW R32.

So far, zie Germans have been tight-lipped on the new model, though details are expected to roll out later this year. Until then, we have other media teasers and highlights to enjoy, like this 90 second video, which compresses down 90 years of BMW motorcycle manufacturing into a web-acceptable form.

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News

2013 BMW R1200GS Priced at $15,800* for the USA

By Jensen Beeler 02/20/2013 1 Comment

Adopting a liquid-cooled 1170cc boxer engine for its next generation adventure-touring bike, BMW Motorrad is hoping to continue the magic with the 2013 BMW R1200GS, and has finally release North American pricing on the newest GS: $15,800 base.

Of course, BMW Motorrad’s package pricing game is well at hand here, and several trim levels and feature packages are available on the new R1200GS. We break them down for you after the jump, but as you can expect, you have to pay a princely sum to get a machine from zie Germans with all the bells and whistles.

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Racing

BMW Motorrad is Ready for the WSBK Season

By Jensen Beeler 02/06/2013 3 Comments

If I had to forecast the results of the 2013 World Superbike Championship this very day, without seeing the teams grid up for their first race at Phillip Island, my money would be on the BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team. The consolidation of the factory BMW Motorrad team and BMW Motorrad Italia team into one unit, the German brand has compiled all its racing resources into one stout package.

Retaining the formidable services of Marco Melandri, who was in the hunt for the 2012 WSBK title to the very end of the season despite injuries, BMW Motorrad’s number-two rider, Chaz Davies, is no slouch either. With both BMW-men showing the prowess of the WSBK-spec S1000RR earlier this year at Jerez, it was Melandri who topped the time sheets on the test’s dry second day. Sending a clear message of things to come this season.

While I still expect to see strong competition from Tom Sykes and the factory Kawasaki team, and I also don’t think you can count out the Aprilia riders or even Ducati’s Carlos Checa, there is however a tremendous amount of expectation, preparation, and money behind BMW’s World Superbike entry. This year I think we will finally see the team’s hard work payoff in the championship points.

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Racing

XXX: BMW Motorrad GoldBet WSBK-Spec S1000RR

By Jensen Beeler 02/05/2013 4 Comments

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the upcoming changes that will “dumb down” World Superbike racing. With Dorna pushing an agenda that brings the premier production-bike class into something that races bikes that are actually similar to the bikes on the showroom floor, there is a vocal portion of fans and enthusiasts that will hate to see the current spec of machinery go away.

While we may think that making World Superbike more affordable and closer in specification to the current Superstock rules is a positive step for the series, we will certainly miss the bike porn that comes from all the fine WSBK machines.

A motorcycle dripping in sex, one can spend hours drooling over photos like these of the factory BMW S1000RR in WSBK-spec. So a hat-tip to the BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK team, for providing this week’s bathroom reading. There are a couple photos of Marco and Chaz in there as well, for the ladies.

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News

BMW Motorrad Sells Husqvarna to Pierer Industrie AG

By Jensen Beeler 01/31/2013 10 Comments

Calling it a “strategic realignment” for BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group has confirmed the rumors and sold Husqvarna Motorcycles to Pierer Industrie AG, the holding company of KTM CEO Stefan Pierer. Saying the parties would not disclose the terms or purchase price of the transaction, the press release from BMW Motorrad was surprisingly light on any actual information.

Touting BMW’s commitment to urban mobility and electric vehicles, the German company will now focus solely on the BMW Motorrad brand. With reports saying that BMW Motorrad will not venture back into the dirt bike market, the company will maintain its on-road focus for the foreseeable future.

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Rumors

Husqvarna Sold, But to Whom?

By Jensen Beeler 01/30/2013 12 Comments

The Brits over at MCN broke the news last night that Husqvarna was about to be acquired by KTM. Since M&A’s are a rarity in this industry, the news was certainly interesting, but given that the beleaguered Husqvarna brand has been such a pox on BMW Motorrad with its dwindling dirt bike sales, and that the German company has been embroiled in trying to transition the Italian-based Swedish brand into the on-road segment, now seems a peculiar time for the BMW Group to unload Husqvarna…or that anyone would even be interested in purchasing the company.

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News

Brain Teaser: The BMW i3 Electric Car Will Have an Optional Gas-Powered Motorcycle Engine in It

By Jensen Beeler 01/23/2013 8 Comments

Electric vehicles are finding a bit more traction in the four-wheeled world than in the two-wheeled market (see what I did there?), and as such we are starting to see more plug-in electric cars from established OEMs hitting the streets already or within a model year or two of being ready for public consumption.

One of the largest global OEMs, BMW is not keen to miss out on the next movement in people-moving, and thus has been teasing its BMW i3 project for some time now. A plug-in electric with roughly a 100 mile range, BMW’s tests with the Mini E project show that most automobile drivers travel less than 100 miles in a day, but still a significant number of would-be buyers are put off by the low-range figures and daunting uncertainty about charging.

Following in the footpaths of cars like the Chevy Volt, the BMW has announced that the i3 will have an optional gas engine in it as well, serving as an electric generator to recharge the BMW i3’s battery pack. With BMW tipping that the engine will “come from the BMW family” and be in the 600cc range, we don’t have to rack our brains long to realize that BMW will be cross-polinating its electric car program with a motorcycle engine from BMW Motorrad.

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News

Moto-Journalist Kevin Ash Has Died at a Press Launch

By Jensen Beeler 01/23/2013 12 Comments

It is with a very heavy heart that we report the passing of famed moto-journalist Kevin Ash, who died of injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash today. Riding north of Cape Town, South Africa, Kevin was taking part in the press launch of the 2013 BMW R1200GS adventure-touring motorcycle, with the launch now being cancelled after this tragic news.

A legend in the industry, Kevin’s work could be found in a countless number of publications, including MCN and the Daily Telegraph, not to mention his own blog Ash on Bikes. Known for his technical knowledge, clear writing, and honest reviews, Kevin’s work was seen by many in the industry as the gold standard of motorcycle reviews.

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