BMW began as an aircraft engine manufacturer in the early 20th century, with World War I as its initial commercial context. The company produced its first motorcycle in 1923 — the R32 — which established the flat-twin boxer engine and shaft drive layout that would define the brand for a century. In May 2011, the two-millionth motorcycle produced by BMW Motorrad was an R1200GS, marking a milestone in the division's output.
Most BMW Motorrad production takes place at the company's plant in Berlin, Germany. The G 310 and F 450 series are produced at TVS Motor Company's plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, India. The C 400 series is produced at Loncin's plant in Chongqing, China, while plants in Manaus, Brazil, and Rayong, Thailand, produce models for their respective local markets. Engines are manufactured in Austria, China, and Taiwan. The majority of the current motorcycle range was designed by David Robb, who served as chief designer from 1993 to 2012, when he was replaced by Edgar Heinrich.
BMW uses a three-segment naming system for its motorcycles. The first segment denotes engine type (R for boxer, K for inline multi-cylinder, F for parallel twin, G for single cylinder, S for performance inline-four, C for scooter). The second segment approximates engine displacement in cubic centimetres. The third segment indicates the use class.
The current product families are:
C series: maxi-scooters (CE04, CE02, C400GT, C400X, C650)
F series: parallel-twin bikes from 420 to 895 cc
G series: 313 cc single-cylinder bikes built by TVS in India
R series: boxer twins of 1,254 cc and 1,300 cc with shaft drive; also includes the R18 with a 1,802 cc air- and oil-cooled boxer engine
K series: inline-six tourer bikes with a 1,649 cc engine
S series: 999 cc inline-four performance bikes including the S1000RR, S1000R, and S1000XR
The most popular model is the R1300GS and its sibling the R1300GS Adventure.
R-series machines from 1923 through 1995 used air-cooled boxer engines known as Airheads. Most from 1969 to 1995 used the BMW 247 engine family. From 1994, partial oil-cooling of the cylinder heads was introduced on boxer engines — these are termed Oilheads. Unlike the earlier air-cooled designs, Oilheads feature a camshaft in each cylinder head, operating via short pushrods to valve rockers. In 2013, full water-cooling of the cylinder heads (while retaining air-cooled cylinders) was introduced to the R series, beginning with the R1200GS. The 2020 BMW R18 introduced the largest boxer engine yet at 1,802 cc, producing 90 hp (67 kW) and 158 N·m (117 lb·ft).
The original K-series engines, produced from 1983, use a distinctive layout in which the engine lies on its side with the crankshaft on the right and the cylinder heads on the left — a configuration known informally as the flying brick. This arrangement allows a single 90-degree translation in the drivetrain. A K75 three-cylinder (740 cc) was produced from 1985 to 1996. The K100 four-cylinder debuted in 1983, followed by the K1100 (1,097 cc) in 1991 and the K1200 (1,170 cc) in 1998.
From 2005, the K1200S introduced a radically different transverse 55-degree slant-mounted inline-four engine with a wet clutch, departing from the flying brick layout. The K-series culminated in the 2011-introduced K1600, a 1,649 cc transverse inline-six that BMW claimed to be the narrowest six-cylinder engine ever produced at 560 mm wide.
The F series began in 1994 with the F650, an Aprilia-built single-cylinder 650 cc machine. From 2006, twin-cylinder engines entered the F series with the F800S and F800ST, both using a 798 cc parallel twin built by Rotax. The G series, launched in late 2006, uses a 652 cc single-cylinder engine for off-road biased machines. In 2007, BMW launched the G450X sport enduro, featuring a single pivot point for the drive sprocket and swingarm — a design that eliminates chain slack and acceleration squat.
BMW Motorrad has developed proprietary suspension systems that distinguish its machines from most competitors.
The Paralever single-sided rear suspension was introduced in 1988 on the R 80 GS and R 100 GS. It decouples torque reaction from suspension movement, preventing the tendency to squat under acceleration or rise under braking. In 2005, the Paralever's torque arm was relocated from the bottom to the top of the drive shaft housing, reducing underhang and increasing ground clearance during cornering.
For front suspension, BMW introduced the hydraulically damped telescopic fork to mass production in 1935, fitting it to the R12 and R17. The Telelever, which separates braking forces from steering inputs by routing braking loads through a wishbone rather than the fork tubes, was adopted across the R series and largely eliminates brake dive. The Duolever, announced in 2004 for the K1200S, uses a design based on work by Norman Hossack and provides high torsional rigidity through two trailing links. As of 2018, the Duolever is used on all K1300 and K1600 models.
The Earles fork — a triangulated design created by Englishman Ernest Earles — was fitted to all BMW models from 1955 for fourteen years. Unlike telescopic forks, it causes the front end to rise rather than dive under braking, and was particularly suited to sidecar use.
BMW Motorrad produces protective clothing for motorcyclists. In testing by MotoCAP, the BMW PaceGuard pants became the first textile trousers to achieve a four-star safety rating — the highest rating achieved by non-leather trousers at the time.
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