BMW Motorcycle Road Tests
& Reviews
BMW Motorcycle Guide
BMW, an acronym for Bayerische Motoren Werke, is a German motorcycle, automobile and engine manufacturing company founded in 1917. BMW motorcycles were first manufactured in 1923, powered by an air-cooled, horizontally opposed 'boxer' twin engine, a much modernized version of which still powers several models in BMW's current lineup.
Five Fast Fellows: 2013 Sport-Touring Shootout
Greg Drevenstedt
May 6, 2013
Sport touring, a hybrid category that blends the performance of sportbikes with the comfort of touring bikes, takes many forms. Some add a taller windscreen, bar risers and soft luggage to their GSX-R, while others bevel the pegs and scrape the belly pan on their Gold Wing. Between these two extremes... Read more »
2013 BMW R 1200 RT Review
Greg Drevenstedt
May 6, 2013
Now in its 34th year of production, the BMW R 1200 RT has long been sport touring’s standard-bearer. Designed, built and refined in the shadow of the Alps, the RT name is synonymous with tractable power, intuitive handling and first-rate comfort and wind protection. Its trademark air/oil-cooled boxer... Read more »
2013 BMW K 1600 GT Review
Greg Drevenstedt
May 6, 2013
Tremors and aftershocks are still being felt two years after the Big One, when BMW’s dynamic duo—the K 1600 GT and GTL—reconfigured touring’s tectonic plates (Rider, May 2011, and on ridermagazine.com). After impressing us in their respective solo and comparison tests, both models shared Rider’s... Read more »
BMW F 800 GS Adventure – First Look
Greg Drevenstedt
May 2, 2013
Adventure touring’s rapidly expanding universe can be traced back to a Big Bang moment: BMW’s introduction of the R80G/S in 1980. Gelände/Strasse—Off-road/Road in German, or GS for short—has become much more than just a model designation. Among the BMW faithful, it has become an expansive identity,... Read more »
Comparison Test: 2013 BMW C 650 GT vs. 2013 Honda NC700X
Mark Tuttle
April 3, 2013
We aren’t normally a shiftless bunch except for an hour or two after lunch, but we recently spent the last two weeks swapping between two new “automatics”—BMW’s C 650 GT maxi-scooter, and Honda’s NC700X with dual-clutch transmission—in an effort to see which type of shiftless two-wheeler... Read more »
One World, One R 1200 GS Tour USA
Greg Drevenstedt
March 7, 2013
Since returning from South Africa in January, where I was among the first wave of journalists at the world launch of BMW’s all-new, air/liquid-cooled R 1200 GS, I’ve had a jones to ride the bike again. As I wrote in my first-ride report, “The new, more highly evolved R 1200 GS is better in nearly... Read more »
2013 BMW F 700 GS: Ridden & Rated
Greg Drevenstedt
March 7, 2013
Height-adjustable or optional low seats can drop seat height by an inch or so, but for many riders that isn’t enough, especially on dual-sport/enduro motorcycles with large-diameter front wheels and long suspension travel. Given the popularity of BMW’s GS line, the Germans have gone one step further.... Read more »
BMW Motorrad USA Announces Pricing for 2013 R 1200 GS
Rider Magazine Staff
February 20, 2013
BMW Motorrad USA has announced pricing for the all-new liquid-cooled 2013 R 1200 GS. The next generation flat twin enduro will have a base Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $15,800 and will be available for purchase through authorized BMW Motorrad dealers in March 2013. The base model... Read more »
2013 BMW R 1200 GS – First Ride
Greg Drevenstedt
January 28, 2013
Redesigning a motorcycle that established and continues to define a robust market segment, one that has been a perennial bestseller, inspires fanatical devotion and is the culmination of a design philosophy that has endured for nearly a century, is a major undertaking. After setting new standards among... Read more »
Retrospective: BMW R25/3 250: 1953-1955
Clement Salvadori
January 2, 2013
Some people think that until the last turn of the century, BMW built pretty stodgy motorcycles that were good for the touring rider, but rather weak on performance. To a degree that is true, but back in the ’30s, Bavarian Motor Works was as much a pioneer of innovation as it is today. In 1935, BMW... Read more »
