BMW News

    Four years ago at the International Motorcycle Show in Milan, BMW presented drawings of a brawny  "Bobber" concept bike, rather like an update of the pared-down Indian and Harley-Davidson customs of the late 1930s. But the Bobber was eclipsed by BMW’s 193-horsepower S1000 RR superbike, which was introduced in 2009, then the K1600 6-cylinder touring bikes in 2011.

    For the 90th anniversary of BMW the concept bike is on track for completion, as a tribute to the original BMW, the R32. The new bike, which is so-far unnamed (what is German for Bobber anyway?) is likely to be the last new model that will have an air-cooled engine. BMW is converting its boxer powered bikes to a water-cooled version this year, starting with the R1200GS.

    The R32 was born following World War I, when BMW was forced to diversify from making aircraft engines. Many BMWs today still have the shaft drive of the original 1923 R32 and horizontal cylinder heads that stick out for improved cooling. That feature of the design led devotees to dub the design the airhead.

    The current boxer engines are called the oilhead, for the addition of an oil cooling system seen on the 1994 R1100 RS. But this year the boxer will become water-cooled.

    Details are still scarce, but BMW expects the concept bike to arrive in the United States by the fall of 2013. ––Paul Duchene