Future BMW Boxers

I think it's a shame that BMW no longer offer a sports tourer with the boxer engine. I find the RT too bulky, and picking up on a previous thread, I don't find the bolt upright riding position at all comfortable - too much weight on my buttocks. For me a riding position with weight spread evenly between bottom, wrists, and feet is a more comfortable stance. I found my three old VFR750s more comfortable over long distances than the R1200RT.
Likewise, & for similar reasons I didn't find the GS comfortable although I kept one for 15,000 miles.
With all their new found dynamism couldn't BMW offer us something along the lines of the VFR1200 but with the boxer engine & its attendant lack of weight, much superior economy etc.
And while they're about it, perhaps they could go back to offering the wonderful slim lid option on their panniers which meant that they were no wider than the cylinder heads. They were great for getting in and out of London if you had stuff to carry. If you wanted to tour, you just put the wide lids back on to gain maximum capacity. In comparison all their current pannier options are far too wide not to hold you up in traffic.

"There have been a number of rumours recently that BMW are collaborating with Porsche on a new, water-cooled Boxer"
... wow, didn't work too well for Harley with their V-Rod variants compared with the 'real' air/oil cooled bikes - according to the Hogisti. More likely, IMPO, to get Ricardo to do the business, it certainly paid dividends with the K13's.

Liquid cooling brings benefits of better controlled heat and therefore increased power and perceived reliability. But there's also drawbacks in the weight, aesthetics, and maintenance. I owned a GS 1150 and 1200. The most impressive thing about that shift was a vast reduction in weight. The slightly negative aspect was that quality wasn't as good, sometimes through the use of lighter components and others through an almost beta release mentality.

For the forthcoming liquid cooled 1400(?) boxer I'd like to see non surging on a steady throttle (unlike the MTS), more power (like the MTS) and lighter weight, whilst not detracting from the characterful nature of the opposed twin. Above all it has to be bullet proof in it's ownership and fun in it's delivery. With new contenders like the Tiger 1200 (see MCN webbo shiete today) providing more poke for less dough, and fancy pants Ducati's offering passionate indulgence and trick traction, power modes and more; ultimately it 'must' deliver.

Harleys, Victories, Boxers, they all seem to emissions compliant don't they, so life in the air/oil cooled's yet I guess.

With a (Harley funded) MV 675 in the wings, a probable mild revision to the Triumph 675 for the new year, and a reputed BMW owned '675' web site, whose to say that the half 600 & half 750 isn't the new class to kill off the existing race class? The only difference being, you'd expect the Beemer to be a four. An S675RR or therabouts four? Still they've done triples in the K series before?

We all want the NEC displayed 6 cylinder roadster to go into production in verbatim show state within pragmatic reason. But I think that's even too bold for BMW right now. Again the first 'Lo-boy' R series mock up was slamming, totally boss. Subsequent colouring in guys funked it up and made it look boring. We know what the mouse can do versus pragmatic production techniques vs balance sheet ROI statements are often contradicting worlds apart. But sometimes. Just sometimes. You just kind of wish someone with great big hairy balls in the company would just say 'funk it, build it just like it is - it's too cool for skool, just the way it is'. Maybe ask the guy at BMW who gave the green light to a Japanese humbling race rep project eh Kev?

Essentially though, the other option (as you site) is a cruiser - with that much torque and shaft, it'd make a brilliant option. Even Willie G Davidson (grandson of the great man) said, of the R Series custom attempts, that it was the only non Harley custom he liked because it was doing it's own thing and not trying to simply copy Harley. Half a dozen pots would certainly be unique and special. Only reservation is, that it might be too smooth, lacking the 'typical' twin engaging character that usually works best for customs?

If MCN says watercooled boxers they'll have had a good source, but even good sources aren't always right... My own info is that there won't be liquid cooled boxers in the foreseeable future. It could be my sources that aren't right of course, but it doesn't make sense to me either why they'd go for a liquid-cooled boxer when they can still pass current and future emissions laws with the air-cooled ones. They don't want a high performance boxer as the layout doesn't lend itself to sports bikes anyway, so there simply isn't the motivation to spend all that development money.

Re VAT, I asked the same question about a potential new car and was told it was based on delivery date.

That's not two things you often hear together in the same sentence.

Yes I was rather selective in my editing of your quote. It was just too good an opportunity to pass up!

I like the R90S colours...

At EICMA they showed a 'V Triple' as a concept under the Husqvarna banner !!!!