BMW’s boxer Roadster is set to enter its next generation later this year, and BMW Motorrad has given us our first look at the upcoming bike.
While BMW Motorrad is not giving away too many details on the next generation of the nineT, the essence of the R nineT carries over to the new model.
"The R nineT and its customising concept established the new Heritage experience for BMW Motorrad's 90th birthday and has become an indispensable cornerstone of our model range,” explains the Head of BMW Motorrad, Dr. Markus Schramm.
“The new R 12 nineT consistently continues the successful heritage story surrounding the legendary BMW boxer engines with an even more classic, reduced design language, even greater degrees of freedom when it comes to customizing and, last but not least, new and innovative technology.”
In a break from the R nineT, for the R 12 nineT BMW has added the bike’s capacity into the model’s name to fall in line with the remainder of the BMW range which all do the same.
Design-wise, the R 12 nineT keeps to the neo-classic look of the original nineT while BMW the attention to detail were at the top of the agenda when it came to designing the bike.
Head of Design BMW Motorrad, Edgar Heinrich, explains the styling as reminiscent of BMW’s past roadsters, particularly those of the 1970s.
"The purist design language is dominated by the clear tank/seat/rear line, in the style of the traditional /5 or the legendary R 90 S of the 70s. At first glance, the tank itself is a classic BMW boxer tank, with a typical bend in the lower edge and classic knee contact. The new R 12 NineT also features side covers in the area of the frame triangle in the authentic Roadster look - another reminiscence of BMW motorcycles of the 1970s."
Particular attention to detail is also evident in the redesigned front mudguard, the LED main headlamp which sports a black-surround light guide element and a pair of circular instruments in another nod to the past.
As with its predecessor, BMW plans for the R 12 nineT to be attractive as a base for customisation, with options set to be offered as part of the original BMW Motorrad accessory range. As part of that thinking towards customisation, the new R 12 nineT also features an LED rear light unit integrated into the seat, which now makes it easy to create a "short tail" look for the bike.
Further details on the R 12 nineT are set to be released later this year, which indicates the model will likely arrive here in 2024. Stay tuned for more!