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NEWS
BMW's stunning Concept Lac Rose
German maker's latest R nine T concept pays homage to the Paris-Dakar Rally and the dominant GS desert racers of the mid-1980sFollowing hot on the wheels of the R 5 Hommage unveiled at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este comes yet another retro stunner from BMW, with the Concept Lac Rose recently turning heads at the annual Wind and Waves festival in Biarritz, France (June 8-12).
Named after a lake near the finish point of the Dakar Rally in Africa, the Concept Lac Rose is based heavily on BMW's boxer-engined R Nine T, but is styled to emulate the works GS desert racers of the mid-1980s.
Despite the aggressive look, complete with knobby tyres and the livery of a certain tobacco company, the concept bike is designed to serve more as an accessible fun machine than a hard-nosed racer, as BMW Motorrad's Head of Design, Edgar Heinrich, explains.
"While the modern liquid-cooled boxer does everything in a top-performing way, this bike is more about style," he said.
"It has been interesting to take a different kind of custom menu to a nineT which explores the possibility of going beyond the tarmac, but not in a hard-core way.
"Off-road customisation is an interesting concept to explore and with this recipe we wanted to bring together the GS and nineT people. And because the Dakar has always been such big news in France we wanted to celebrate its heritage with this definitive French theme for Wheels and Waves."
The concept bike is styled upon the #101 GS raced by Belgian legend Gaston Rahier before he took his second Dakar victory in 1985 – race bikes that inspired BMW's limited-edition R 80 G/S Paris Dakar model.
Unlike the R 5 Hommage, the Concept Lac Rose has been customised almost entirely with standard BMW parts. The suspension was modified, however, as was the seat and tank, while the nose fairing, road book and trip counter are strongly reminiscent of the works racer. The bike is shod with Michelin TKC80 tyres while the fork gaitors come from the R nineT Scrambler.
Will the Concept Lac Rose ever make it to production reality? Who can say? BMW will undoubtedly be monitoring the show bike's feedback closely, while once again demonstrating the versatility of the R nineT as a customisation platform.
Check out BMW's promo clip below to see the Concept Lac Rose in full flight...
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Written byBikesales Staff
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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