Spied! 2005 Bmw K1200rs!
SPIED! 2005 BMW K1200RS!
Rumors of a successor to BMW’s now 20-year-old K-series have been rife of late, and here’s proof that they’re true. This grainy spy photo of a black bike, reputedly taken during public-roads testing in Germany, doesn’t show much in the way of details, which is probably fine by BMW. The German company was recently embarrassed by much more detailed photos of the new bike-some sans fairing, snapped inside the factory-published in various European magazines and on the Internet. A former security guard at the company’s French proving grounds, recently apprehended with “stolen data,” is suspected.
Be that as it may, what has come to light is that this latest K-bike is a radical departure from its forebears. It’s powered by an across-the-frame four-cylinder engine, the cylinder block of which is tilted forward radically (think Yamaha Genesis FZ750) to make room for the new, dual A-arm “Duolever” front suspension. Whispers of 170 horsepower and 285 per hour (177 mph) suggest that the bike takes aim at the Suzuki Hayabusas of this world, making it by far the raciest two-wheeler yet seen from the Bavarian Motor Works.
-Brian Catterson
