BMW BLOG

Moving away for a bit from the BMW automobiles, today, we have something interesting for the BMW Motorrad fans.  The BMW Motorrad collection for the new season highlights two particular characteristics reflecting the true style and philosophy of the company: First, a clear sporting orientation culminating for the time being in BMW Motorrad’s successful participation in the World Superbike Championship. Second, ongoing development in the areas of safety, comfort, function, quality, and design.

The range of new products extends from the new, sporting DoubleR C o l l e c t i o n (suit, helmet, boots and gloves) for the BMW S 1000 RR and the Pant Cross together with the matching Jersey Cross for hard offroad riding through new materials such as SuperFabric® and BeCool™ all the way to the trendy and functional enhancement of products already lauded for their quality.

While the new Suit Rallye 3 comes with a new membrane structure featuring comfort mapping, the Gloves Rallye 3 stand out through their new high abrasion-resistant SuperFabric® material. The Boots Rallye GS Pro now feature a removable inner shoe for extra comfort and a pleasant climate within the boots.

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BMW has released new videos of their latest super duper bike: S 1000 RR. The super beemer has the most horsepower and best power-to-weight ratio of all 1000 cc bikes available for the consumers. Some of you might have read our previous articles on the S 1000 RR Superbike, but in case you haven’t, here is a short recap.

BMW S 1000 RR Superbike is powered by a brand new water-cooled four-cylinder inline power unit which outputs 193 horsepower at 13,000 rpm and revving up to a maximum speed of 14,200 rpm. Maximum torque of 82.5 lb-ft of torque comes at 9,750 rpm, while only weighing 455.3 pounds with a full tank of gas. All engine components are compact and light, limiting weight of the overall engine without ancillaries to 59.8 kg (131.8 lb).

BMW S 1000 RR can be equipped with ABS and Dynamic Traction Control systems. As a curiosity, the ABS system weighs only 5.51 lbs. The new S 1000 RR is the lightest machine of its caliber displacing 999 cc and featuring ABS brakes.

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One of our resolution for this year was to start writing more articles on BMW’s Motorrad Division, a subject that has been requested by many of you. While we’re still looking for the best and highly passionate BMW Motorrad contributor, we are going to keep you updates as they come to us.

Every year, at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, takes place a three-day event that reunites over 30,000 people in this mecca of BMW motorcycle fans. BMW Motorrad Division just issued a press release and photos that explain even better what goes on at this yearly special event.

Munich/Garmisch-Partenkirchen. “Once a year Garmisch-Partenkirchen is transformed into the mecca of BMW motorcycle fans – and so it is again this year,” announced the Head of BMW Motorrad Hendrik von Kuenheim at the official handing over of the keys of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen for the three-day event BMW Motorrad Days 2009 by 1st Mayor Thomas Schmid on Friday evening in the main tent.

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We haven’t covered many BMW Motorrad news on here, but we’re looking to change this and what’s the best way to reconnect with the BMW bikes fans other than posting the official unveiling of the S 1000 RR. Last week, BMW has finally revealed their latest superbike and it is quite impressive.

So, what got us so excited? Well, for one, the 193 horsepower at 13,000 RPM and 82.5 lb-ft of torque at 9,750 RPM, while only weighing 455.3 pounds with a full tank of gas. The super Beemer has the most horsepower and best power-to-weight ratio of all 1000 cc bikes available for the consumers. BMW S 1000 RR can be equipped with ABS and Dynamic Traction Control systems. As a curiosity, the ABS system weighs only 5.51 lbs.

Facing various riding conditions such as wet roads (”Rain”), regular road conditions (”Sport”), a race track with supersport tyres (”Race”), or a race track with slicks (”Slick”), the rider also has the choice of various engine characteristics and set-ups available at the touch of a button. There’s also an HP Gearshift Assistant that will allow for full-power clutchless upshifts.

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In a recent press release, BMW North America announced the opening of a new Off-Road Training Center on the West Coast. The training center will be similar to the one at the Spartanburg Plant in South Carolina.

BMW Motorrad chose RawHyde Adventures, of Castaic, CA to serve as a factory-authorized off-road training. BMW Motorrad and RawHyde, BMW will initially provide 12 GS-model motorcycles (F 650 GS, F 800 GS and R 1200 GS models) for the training center. RawHyde will supply instructors for the two-and-a-half day courses.

Pricing? Not on the low side, but I’m assuming well worth it for motorcycles fans: the cost for the two-and-a-half day course is $1,295 and the one including the Base Camp Alpha Adventure, will cost $1,890.

Full Press Release

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – December 9, 2008… BMW Motorrad has selected RawHyde Adventures, of Castaic, CA to serve as one of nine factory-authorized off-road training centers worldwide. In the United States, RawHyde Adventures, located on 500 acres in the mountains above Los Angeles, will serve as the West Coast BMW off-road training facility. An East Coast off-road training facility is at the BMW Performance Center in Spartanburg, SC.
“We are delighted to welcome RawHyde Adventures into our international family of off-road training centers,” said Pieter de Waal, Vice President, BMW Motorrad USA. “They are joining an elite group of factory-authorized training schools worldwide that have the quality and commitment to meet BMW’s high standards.”
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It’s Saturday and I thought we should take a bit slower today and diversify our content. Our blog pretty much covers anything and everything BMW auto related, but from time to time, we like to diversify and offer you, our readers, different articles.

Now, before we get into the BMW bikes subject, let me tell you upfront that I am not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to beemers, but I will do my best to share with you some of the best looking and per formant BMW Motorcycles that I know of.

If any of you has more experience when it comes to them, please feel free to contact me and we can put together an article and post it here for everyone.

BMW K 1300S

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We’re continuing our Formula One series that we started yesterday, with Nick Heidfel and Robert Kubica talking about their equipment worn during the races. Yesterday, they talked about the amazing technological advanced steering wheel found in their F1 monoposts.

Those videos are quite interesting and I enjoy finding out more behind the scenes things. I know that talking about clothing might not be exciting for all of us, but the F1 driver’s equipment is really different and you will hear Nick and Robert talking about it.

P.S I’m a big Puma fan and I love seeing them as BMW’s sponsor.

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Don’t remember the old-school legendary Brabham Racing? Here is a short history of them. The British racing car manufacturer was founded by two Australians in 1960, Jack Brabham, driver, and Ron Tauranac as a designer. In 1960s, Brabham was the world’s largest manufacturer of open wheel racing cars and it won several championships in Formula One, Two and Three. 

In 1992, the company went through a tough financial crisis and were unable to pay their lenders. But now, Brabham is back and their focus seem to be on becoming a BMW tuner. In a press release, the company announced three models:

1. Brabham BT 92 – based on an M3 Coupe
2. Brabham BT 60 - a tuned up M5
3. Brabham BT 70 - a sporty interpretation of the X6

Since it seems like we have a lot of Formula One fans as our readers, I decided to cover the subject more often. For the past few days, Stew and I gave you more details on the last F1 championship, what went down and what to expect in the next season.

Today, with the help from our friends at BMW-web.tv, we have a couple of short videos, first one, starting with the amazing steering wheel found in the F1 monoposts.

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With the Formula One season being over, all the teams are already preparing their monoposts for next year. Every year in January, BMW reveals their new F1 models an event that draws a lot of attention. 2008 was a great season for the BMW Sauber team who achieved all of their goals and more, but I always had a feeling they could have done better. The winning of the first two places in the Montreal Grand Prix was the highlight of their season, a season that ended with them in the 3rd place in constructors championship.

The F1.09 will make its first public appearance in testing at Valencia in Spain. With the new monopost, BMW has high hopes for this upcoming season. The team believes that major changes to the Formula One regulations for 2009, including the return of slick tyres, aerodynamic restrictions and the introduction of KERS to recover waste energy from braking, could play into their advantage.

Here is what BMW’s Team boss Mario Theissen said:

“In 2009, Formula One will have to face arguably the most dramatic rule changes in the history of the sport,” he said.

“Due to the aerodynamic restrictions, the appearance of the single-seaters will differ massively from this year’s Formula One cars. To cut a long story short: the front will be bulkier, there won’t be any winglets and superstructures in front of and on the side pods respectively – and the rear wing will be smaller and positioned higher.

“Furthermore, slicks will make their comeback. In addition, the introduction of the KERS technology for the recovery of brake energy is in the offing. As a result, drivers will have to adapt to new situations in three vital areas of their working environment. And the engineers will have to carry out a lot of work.”

BMW have already announced that they will retain both Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld for next season.