+ Click to Enlarge BAD BOY: There have been naked BMWs before, but none this outrageous. Pictures: DAVE ABRAHAMS

October 13, 2005
By Dave Abrahams

BMW's K1200 R street bike was launched in South Africa this week on the seriously twisty roads of Mpumalanga, together with the BMW Z4 Individual.

At first glance the naked K is just a K1200 S sports tourer without its fairing – but nothing from the Blue Propeller guys is ever that simple.

It's 18kg lighter than the K1200 S, mostly due to the missing plastic panels, but there are also some significant under-the-skin changes.

The engine loses three kiloWatts on max power (down to 120kW) because the R has only one intake duct compared to the two of the S. The front suspension offset has been reduced by 11mm, shortening the wheelbase and moving the weight distribution further forward.

The final gearing gearing has been shortened from 2.82:1 to 2.91:12 for more vivid acceleration - BMW quotes 1-100km/h in 2.8sec.

But the biggest changes are around the steering head; The R's handlebars are wider and higher (and considerably less angled to the rear) for more rider input while the instrument cluster is based on that of the R1200GS but with new faces.

As on the S, the LCD tells you the fuel level, coolant temperature, the time and what gear you're in (no, not your clothes, Cyril!). On a bike with the optional electronic suspension adjustment system it also gives you information on its current set-up.

There have been naked BMWs before but none this outrageous; it's as if the stylists were encouraged to emphasise the "bad boy" image of streetfighters.

From the steel bracketry supporting the headlights amd instruments to the heatshield protecting the rear suspension linkage from the exhaust's, this bike wears its engineering on the outside.

The little plastic covers are there to protect whatever's underneath them, not to make it look good. The rear half of the bike is pretty well a clone of the S but the front has been pared down to the bare essentials, attention focused on primary acceleration and quick low-speed manouevres.

Out on the road, its handling lives up to the hype; the seating position, thanks to the straighter bars and narrowed saddle nose, is well forward and the wide 'bars give plenty of leverage for quick changes of direction – you can throw this thing around like a big scrambler.

Turn it in, turn it on

There's some twitching through the bars on full-throttle upshifts, a nervousness on bumpy roads at high speeds despite the R's 1571mm wheelbase - still long by sports bike standards. It works best if you set it up early for a corner, turn it in, turn it on and drive it through.

Hard braking while heeled over induces a tendency to push the front end wide that is exacerbated by the anti-lock brakes.

The bike can be made to hustle through corners but it takes some determination and not a little body English. More than once I had to push hard on the inside bar and and literally muscle the bike into hard downhill corners - but that's part of the bike's street-savvy persona.

BMW claims this is the most powerful naked bike on the market - but if it succeeds it will be because of its wild styling, so unexpected from sober Bavaria.

This could just become a cult bike.

BMW K1200 R specifications