CW RIDING IMPRESSION
HP2
BMW builds a $20,000 dirtbike?!
RYAN DUDEK
IT MUST BE SOMETHING IN THE schnitzel. Maybe somebody's spiked the weiss bier. How else to explain the mad tear the Bavarians are on? A Hayabusahunting steamroller in the new K1200S? A ballsy muscle-flexer in the naked R version? A sharpened sport-Boxer about to break cover? Cool new inline-Twins on the way? A rumored MotoGP project? Now this. . .a BMW enduro bike? Mein Gott! Surely, this is "enduro" in the weird Euro sense, as in "dual-purpose bike?" Apparently not; the factory has entered the new HP2 in the German Cross Country Championship and plans to tackle the B~ja 500 and 1000.
CW got to throw a leg over this new dirt-worthy Boxer at the world press launch in a wooded area outside Valencia, Spain, one of the few places in Europe that the eco-weenies haven’t (yet) roped off. Not that we were roughing it. Nothing but the best for BMW, as in a fancy-schmancy five-star hotel, superb food and wine, factory mechanics attending to every need-the bike’s, not mine...
Home base was Enduropark Aras Rural, a 1000-plus-mile trail system filled with dirt roads, two-track and the occasional single-track. Starting off at the park’s training center was a plus, tackling man-made obstacles to get used to the feel of such a jumbo dirtbike. At a claimed 386 pounds dry, the HP2 is light for a BMW but still 110 pounds heavier than a Honda XR650, besides packing an extra cylinder and at 1170cc, almost twice the displacement!
Lineage is as you’d expect, derived from the R1200GS with concepts
from the R900R, a.k.a. BMW’s works Dakar Rally bike. This makes sense, taking an award-winning adventuretouring bike and mixing it with racewinning insight.
After the obstacle course, we hit the trails to get some genuine saddle time. Despite its relative heft, the HP’s powerto-weight ratio quickly makes things right. We’re talking huge horsies here for something that’s supposed to thread its way through trees and over rock piles, a claimed 105 crankshaft hp. Torque is massive, 85 foot-pounds at 5500 rpm, giving the motor the feel of a heavy-duty diesel. This is smooth, controllable, useable power, and a boatload of it. Chug along a gear (or two) too high, or downshift and rev the wee out of it, the Beemer simply doesn’t care. Just be prepared for the velocities attained. BMW claims a top speed of 125 mph.
Despite those two big cylinders sticking out past the point of comfort, the HP2 will go just about anywhere. This is an adventure-bike, emphasis on off-road adventure, though judging by our blast down a 15-mile stretch of mountain asphalt, it will make a great backroad bike, too. Anchoring the handling is a surprisingly competent chassis that comprises a complex steel-tube spaceframe fitted with specialized suspen sion. Developed in conjunction with Germany's Continental Automotive Systems, the all-new air shock uses no spring or oil, just air, delivering 9.8 inches of travel. It works by forcing the air compressed by suspension action through "plate valves" (slots), giving a natural compression feel. Setup is a breeze thanks to the on-board ride height checker (a simple level attached to the frame). If the setup is low, just grab the onboard hand-pump and add some air to the rear shock. Too high, let a little air out. An easy-turn knob facilitates quick damping changes. Just a half a turn and the shock goes from a stiff high-speed setting (on-road) to a soft low-speed setting (mostly dirt). It’s just that simple and it works! Nice thing about the air shock is that it’s not sensitive to heat like normal oil shocks, so it should resist fade better.
Front suspension is not the usual GS fare. Gone is the A-arm Telelever, replaced by a conventional WP upsidedown telescopic fork with more travel (10.6 inches) than Telelever could provide. The new fork features 45mm tubes and travel-dependent damping with adjustable compression and rebound damping.
Three-quarters through our day of riding, the Metzeler Karoo dual-sport knobbies (90/90-21 front, 140/80-17 rear) weren’t looking so good, which is what 105 horsepower (okay, figure 90 at the rear wheel) and shale rock will
do to soft tires. For serious off-roading, something like full-knob Metzeler Unicross rubber would be desirable.
Likewise, a change to a conventional rim/inner tube up front. As delivered, the HP2 will run BMW’s familiar outside-spoked rims, which permit tubeless tires and allow quick plugs in case of a puncture. But that design places the spokes on the outermost part of the rim, which means the front 21-incher is wider than normal. This forces the tire farther inside the rim and reduces cushioning, giving a harsh feel when hitting rocks and square edge-bumps. A simple fix for dedicated rock-runners is to purchase a regular inner-tube-type spoked wheel, available from BMW.
Of course that begs the question, impressive as this dirty Boxer is, can a 400-plus-pound (fully gassed), $20,000 motorcycle be taken seriously as an off-roader? In the HP2’s case, amazingly, yes, but that’s not really what’s
going on here. This bike signifies a return to roots and a refocusing. Back in 1981, BMW introduced the R80G/S, developed as a “skunkworks” project by a small, dedicated group of company dirtbike nuts who cobbled together a Boxer-motored Six Day Trials racer. The G/S begat the GS-series, defining the adventure-touring market and becoming a best-seller for BMW. But a quarter-century later, undeniably good as the 1200GS is-it was co-winner in CWs “World’s Best Streetbike” shootout-it’s now a big, 500-pound machine. Hence the HP2, developed as a “skunkworks” project by a small, dedicated group of company dirtbike nuts...
We’re told it’s a concept we’ll see again, maybe on a streetbike. Just like the company’s M-series automobiles, HPs will be high-performance, lowproduction and geared for a smaller niche of consumers. BMW has more surprises in store.
