BMW sheds conservative past, embraces future
German brand working on host of new technologies, including self-riding and 3D-printed bikes
BMW’s motorcycle division, BMW Motorrad, once the very archetype of engineering conservatism — it soldiered on with a pushrod engine, the Boxer Twin, long after the rest of the motorcycling world had moved on to overhead cams — has now embraced change more assiduously than other motorcycle manufacturers. To demonstrate its heightened focus on future technology, Motorrad invited your humble Motor Mouth to its Miramas, France, testing facility to see all of its latest engineering tech.
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, is big news these days, the hype seeming to promise that 3D-printed cars, homes and, even hand guns are right around the corner. The reality, at least according to BMW, one of the early adopters among car and motorcycle manufacturers, would seem a little less of a headlong rush.
BMW Motorrad, for instance, recently made headlines for creating an entire frame for its class-leading S1000RR superbike via additive manufacturing. An incredibly elaborate affair — think Maserati “birdcage” for two wheels — it is an intricate latticework of organically shaped tubes that could not be replicated using any other production technique. More importantly, though it has yet to be tested, Torsten Burkert, BMW’s project manager for additive manufacturing of metal, is confident it has all the strength and rigidity of the RR’s traditional aluminum-beam chassis.
The process, for those unfamiliar with 3D printing, sees a thin film — 50 thousandth of an inch — of aluminum powder laid down on a pristinely flat surface. Then a computer controlled “printer” laser fuses specific patterns, eventually, layer-by-fused-layer, metallic shapes rising phoenix-like from the aluminum “ashes” 50 mils at a time. Watching the process is to feel that we’re on the cusp of something really big.
Right up until Burkert explains that it took five whole days for the frame’s three components to “print.” As it turns out, it’s a lot easier to “additive manufacture” some small little doodad out of plastic than it is to conjure an entire frame out of metal. So, while BMW can say it has used the process in its mainstream manufacturing, it has been limited to small components on limited-production vehicles such as the new i8 Roadster.
More practical uses currently exist, however. BMW recently restored Elvis Presley’s classic 507, and certain parts — door handles, for instance — no longer available, had to be reverse-engineered via 3D additive manufacturing. Perhaps more importantly, 3D printing allows such rapid prototyping that engineers can conjure up solutions/additions/modifications one day and then test them the next.
Simply because this process doesn’t yet live up to the current hype doesn’t mean 3D printing isn’t one of the most exciting developments in modern motorcycling. Think of the revolution in customization that will occur when large-scale 3D printers capable of metal manipulation become affordable. If Burkert’s intricate S1000RR frame is any indication, it could well mark a new era in motorcycle customization.
AUTONOMOUS BIKE
BMW surprised us all with not only its advances in autonomous driving, er, riding, but also with the intent behind its research. On the first point, an incredibly re-engineered R1200 GS was able to ride completely without direct human input. It’s eerie to watch a powered twowheeler doing figure eights around a parking lot, its rider just a ghost of frailties past, technology taking up what we humans can’t seem to do reliably.
However, Stefan Hans, an engineer in BMW’s driver assistance division, made it crystal clear that said human frailties are exactly what they’re trying to make up for.
According to German accident statistics, car-related fatalities decreased some 73 per cent (from almost 6,000 to 1,642) — between 1996 and 2016. Motorcycle-related deaths, meanwhile, decreased only 38 per cent (1,000 to 632) in the same period. According to BMW, that’s the result of automobiles gaining more advanced automatic driver assistance systems (ADAS) — Traffic Jam Assistant, Cross Traffic Alert and Adaptive Cruise Control systems to name but a few — compared with the rather sparse and comparatively crude technologies — mostly relegated to traction control and ABS systems — that motorcycles enjoy.
Despite now having the ability to ride itself, however, BMW does not see the future of two-wheelers as riderless (unlike an automobile, a self-driving motorcycle would seem nonsensical), but, instead, sees these new technologies as useful tools in developing future technologies that can alert riders of impending doom. For instance, by simulating situations using a computer-controlled bike, BMW can design systems to alert the rider to the best trajectory to circumvent a dangerous situation.
One cautionary note is that, again, like the additive manufacturing technology, these safety technologies will not be production ready for quite some time. The gear required to automate the R1200 GS, for instance, filled up both of its saddlebags to the brim and the 5G network BMW envisages necessary for effective vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications will not be ready for some time.
ONE LAST INTRIGUE
Though not part of the official presentation, we were surprised by an electrically powered prototype being hustled around the Miramas test circuit. Absolutely no details were proffered — one poor fellow almost had his iPhone confiscated trying to grab a surreptitious photo — but this much we could glean from our limited exposure:
First, this two-wheel BMW EV, at least in prototype form, looks like a combination of Victory Empulse battery pack mated to BMW running gear. Second, it is even more silent than most electric vehicles, one observer noting that it sounded like an airplane, the only sound seemingly air rushing past bodywork. And last, but most important, it was mondo rapid. Don’t expect this one to be in dealer showrooms any time soon.