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XXX: BMW Motorrad GoldBet WSBK-Spec S1000RR

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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

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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?

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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

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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

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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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News

Husqvarna Showing Life? 2012 Up 15% with an Asterisk

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Normally when we talk about Husqvarna’s sales, it is about how the German-owned, Italian-run, Swedish-in-name-only brand is slowly collapsing in on itself like a dying star. Not so in 2012 though, as Husqvarna sales to dealers were up a solid 15.7% (10,751 units) over the 2011 figures (9,286 units).

Holy shnikeys Batman, but with numbers that sounds almost too good to be true, a closer examination of Husqvarna’s sales figures sheds some interesting facts. Fans of the brand, may not like what they have to hear after the jump.

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News

BMW Motorrad Sets All-Time Sales Record in 2012 – Motorcycle Sales Up 2% Worldwide

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Selling 106,358 motorcycles and maxi-scooters worldwide in 2012, BMW Motorrad had its best 365 days of sales ever last year. A 2% gain over 2011 (104,286 units), the record was punctuated by December’s sales figures, which were up 42.4% over last year, with 6,069 units sold.

Breaking things down, BMW Motorrad’s home market of Germany continues to be the #1 region for the motorcycle brand, with roughly 1 in 5 bikes produced being sold to zie Germans (20,516 units). The United States was the second-largest market with 12,100 units, followed by France (10,950), Italy (10,200), and Brazil (7,7442). Of note, Italy used to be BMW’s second-largest market, but the economic troubles of the Mediterranean states continues to send motorcycle sales in a tailspin.

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News

BMW Motorrad USA Says Sales Were Up 14% in 2012

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2012 was a good year for BMW Motorrad USA, as the German motorcycle brand saw its sales rise 14% over last year’s figures, despite the industry trend of marginal growth. Selling 12,057 units in 2012, BMW’s leading bikes in the USA were the BMW S1000RR and BMW K1600GT/GTL.

BMW Motorrad sold 1,934 S1000RR superbikes last year, a figure that is surprisingly 21% higher from the RR’s 2011 numbers. Zie Germans also had their first full-year of K1600 sales, where the six-cylinder touring bike had 1,601 delivers of the GTL model, and 697 deliveries of the GT variant (note: these are dealership deliveries, not customer sales), seemingly making it the best-selling motorcycle in the BMW fleet for the USA.

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Bikes

Wunderlich BMW R1200S Concept by Nicolas Petit

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If you don’t follow the work of Nicolas Petit, you should. The French designer has been inking some of the most striking motorcycle concepts in the industry, and the best part is many of them are coming to life thanks to BMW accessories provider Wunderlich.

Refusing to let go of the thesis provided BMW HP2 Sport, Petit envisions BMW’s new semi water-cooled boxer engine (first seen on the 2013 BMW R1200GS) as providing the basis for a new sport bike in the HP2’s vein, complete with a single-sided swingarm, dual undertail exhaust, and Öhlins suspension.

It might be a tough sell now that the BMW S1000RR and BMW HP4 have hit dealership floors, but there is something really quite elegant in Petit’s design, and we imagine there are more than few weekend riders who wouldn’t mind such a unique machine with a boxer’s punch.

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Racing

Rumor: Race-Only 450cc BMW/Husqvarna Bike Coming?

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Italy’s motorcycle publication of record, Motociclismo, is reporting that BMW Motorrad is developing a 450cc race bike for youth racers. Said to be a ground-up design that centers around a single-cylinder motor that will likely be prepared by Husqvarna, the BMW race bike would feature a frame built in Bologna, Italy with “racing” suspension, forged wheels, and carbon fiber bodywork.

With pricing to be in the €20,000 range, BMW hopes that its 450cc cup bike will appeal to 15 to 18-year-old riders, and is formulating a racing series that will piggyback off six select World Superbike and British Superbike rounds. As such, BMW’s proposal appears to be in direct competition with the European Junior Cup (EJC), which will use the Honda CBR500R as its spec-machine for the 2013 season.

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