Born-Again Beemer Bows

BORN-AGAIN BEEMER BOWS

WITH THE PRESS INTROduction of the all-new R259-powered BMW R1100RS set for late January, advertisements showing only the engine of the new bike began showing up in the January editions of the European motorcycle press.

But In Moto, an Italian publication in which one of those ads ran, went BMW one better. It published spy photos of the new bike, apparently shot during a factory test ride. The photos, two of which are reproduced here, show a very contemporary motorcycle. It is nearly identical, at least in outward appearance, to the test mule caught by a spy photographer while it was undergoing tests at the Nurburgring (see Cycle World, February, 1992).

What the photos very clearly show is that the bike uses, as thought, a non-traditional fork design. This incorporates a lever arrangement and a traditional shock/spring unit. For a full report on this new BMW, check these pages next month.

-Jon F. Thompson