BMW boss: cruisers back on the agenda
And Harley-Davidson is in BMW's sights, says the company’s global head honchoBMW Motarrad is returning to the cruiser market, and company boss Markus Shramm has set his sights on snapping Harley-Davidson’s domination of the heavyweight ranks with a new family powered by its venerable air- and oil-cooled Boxer engine.
In a wide-ranging interview at the opening round of the 2019 Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island, where BMW Motorrad was officially returning to the production series with its updated S 1000 RR, Shramm said the Bavarian company wasn’t “waiting any longer to see how big this (cruiser) segment is”.
“We want to attack,” said Shramm. “The R nine Ts are very successful and have big standing in the heritage segment, but the big pie is certainly left with Harley-Davidson. We will keep the R nine Ts, but the cruiser segment is very big.
“Our scope will be touring heritage and take it from there, but ‘heritage’ does not necessarily mean retro.”
RELATED: BMW R nine T Pure/Racer review
The capacity of the Boxer engine that powers the R nine T range is 1170cc, but expect to see that figure go through the roof in the cruiser configuration to match Harley-Davidson – and even Indian – in the brawny, big-torque stakes.
In 2018, BMW commissioned Japanese company Custom Works Zon to produce a custom cruiser using a prototype 1800cc engine. Your engine answer could be right there…
Shramm didn’t announce a timetable for the introduction of the new cruiser family, but based on his ‘ready to attack’ declaration a major announcement(s) is imminent – the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, which starts on November 5, a likely proposition.
The R 1200 C cruiser was BMW’s last big cruiser effort, but the model and its numerous offshoots failed to capture a large slice of the market. The model was discontinued in 2004 after a seven-year run. There are a few still for sale on Bikesales...
BMW M range
Shramm also revealed in the interview that, as well as development of its new cruiser range and expanding its offerings in the sub-500cc class (in conjunction with Indian strategic partner, TVS), BMW Motorrad will also be focussing on electro-mobility and introducing an ‘M’ sports-orientated sub-brand.
“The new S 1000 RR debuts the new M package, which is our first step. But you can be sure that we will have M models, which will be much more sports-oriented than our regular products,” Shramm said.
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