Design Trends
‘BMW have been steadily increasing market dominance across the board in recent years, including in areas outside their comfort zone.’ Design guru Glynn Kerr discusses the phenomenon
The R18, BMW’s design study unveiled at the Concorso d’eleganza villa d’este in May this year, is something of a curiosity. designed to look like a bob-job based on an old boxer twin (as design Chief edgar heinrich had already built for himself in private), it follows the R5 hommage of 2016 in resembling the product of a back-street custom shop more than a creation of BMW’s advanced design department. Which, to an extent, they both were. the swedish custom builder, unique Custom Cycles, was responsible for building both, albeit to BMW’s own in-house design. BMW have been steadily increasing market dominance across the board in recent years, including in areas outside their comfort zone. the fact that they have soundly beaten the competition in these new, hard-fought categories, such as the s 1000 RR in the hypersport group, shows determination. it also reflects a commitment to investment and the guts to push the envelope without fearing the occasional inevitable mistake (C1 scooter, R 1200 st...). two retro-cruiser concepts in three years shows BMW are now seriously exploring this segment.
the 1997 R 1200 C was a brave stab at it, albeit incorporating many carry-over parts, in particular the engine. But the desire to differentiate a BMW from all the competition missed the mark in a strongly traditionalist segment that didn’t want to have its values rearranged by this newcomer to its scene. even getting James Bond to jump buildings on this most unlikely of stunt bikes failed to make it a success and subsequent attempts at makeovers, such as the Montauk and R 1200 Cl, just made things worse. since BMW pulled the plug in 2004, the company hasn’t had a horse in this particular race. With the
R18, they now think they have figured out the dna needed to win the derby.
While the svelte R5 hommage used a genuine vintage 500-cc boxer engine coupled to a supercharger, the centrepiece of the R18 is an in-your-face 1.8-litre twin. there are many other similarities, notably the extensive exploitation of the company’s heritage — so, lots of black paint with white pinstripes. But the R18 designers have finally understood that size and sheer brutality are what this market demands. it may have plenty of nostalgia, but bulk, cubes, and power are prerequisites for these customers. let’s see how much of the neat simplicity and clean lines are lost once the inconvenient requirements of air-boxes, complex electronics, and legalities such as full mudguards are added for production.
the R18 certainly looks the business. the huge cylinders, while giving a very different visual impression than the conventional v-twin, create a whole new dimension in width. the bulk of the crankcase still fills the under-tank space nicely and the extreme length balances a throwback style with modern proportions, the engine being well towards the front of the bike, ducati diavel style. But while the cylinders do a terrific job of creating width and telling us it’s a BMW, it comes at a price. they create a compromise in the riding position.
the spirit of any motorcycle is dictated by the riding position and the cruiser/low-rider is very much a feet-forward stance. Only with a transverse boxer, there are two very large, hot lumps of metal right where your feet would naturally be located. it’s not apparent in the stand-alone press photos, but in the few action shots that have been released, the rider’s posture is clearly neither laid-back nor comfortable. the production model is supposed to be quite close to the concept, so it will be interesting to see how this issue, along with the legislative realities, will be addressed in the final version. Or not.
the familiar boxer image has since appeared on yet another BMW design study, although one diametrically opposed to the nostalgic and über-mechanical R18. the recently announced vision dC Roadster concept looks entirely to the future, with electric power replacing the huge, thrashing pistons. the family identity has been maintained, though, by placing heat sinks outboard of the bodywork, in exactly the same place a boxer’s cylinders would be. each head supplies the mount for a cooling fan, which looks suspiciously like a scaled-up replica of the one that just expired on my laptop. so long as they aren’t produced by hewlett Packard, we should be all right.
BMW are not new to this form of propulsion, having produced the C evolution electric scooter from 2014. But whereas that platform was about expanding into new markets, both scooter and electric, the vision dC Roadster is the company’s take on a
possible replacement for its core business, should the world continue to move towards a greener future (not that electric power is as clean and efficient as the folk who promote it would have us believe). if that happens, those cooling fins offer a brand link to BMW’s iCe-powered past.
it’s unlikely the vision dC Roadster is meant as anything but a design exercise at this point. the riding position is way too impractical for that. in fact, the one factor it shares with the R18 is that it looks best at rest, sans rider. this time, it’s not an ergonomic complaint, though; just that the rider spoils the lines and looks at best uncomfortable, if not downright precarious. With his seat higher than his wrists and nothing but a ski jump ahead, he looks set to be tasting pavement if he pulls that brake lever even a tad too hard. in fact, the radical look seems like an attempt to out-do KtM, a competitor the Bavarians must be keeping a close eye on of late.
Practicality apart, the design is without doubt dramatic, imaginative, and, unlike the first two studies, futuristic. Overlooking the fuel-tank, the proportions are not dissimilar to the ducati streetfighter v4 prototype that broke cover at Pikes Peak this June, although much, much cleaner. the complexity comes in the detail, which mostly sits inside the fairly simple and geometric outer skin — the ribs that start at the headlight and run the whole length of the main section and the frame bracing tubes, visible through the two seat mounts that replace the traditional tank. We are invited to peek through to these details between the various floating sections, rather like a real-life cutaway view.
the model’s build quality has to be appreciated, too, although, for me, the most impressive part of the press package were the concept sketches. these show the designer’s vision perhaps better than the bike itself. i refer in particular to the line that flows over the side-panels and is repeated in the forks, extending the feature and helping push the visual weight even further forwards. those are some terrific visuals.
What these wildly diverse studies show is that BMW are striving for dominance in their core business and a strong market presence in all forms of motorized twowheelers, be that ducati with the s 1000 RR or harley-davidson with the R18. they may not outsell the leaders in these new territories, but BMW figure that, with the right products, they can get a pretty big bite of a pretty big apple. With the vision dC Roadster, BMW are leaving the orchard.
existing markets can be studied, rival’s products dissembled and analysed, proposals compared and assessed. But alternative power goes beyond all this. it’s still a developing market, with few statistics or constants, and there is very little certainty where it will lead at this point. harley-davidson have already taken the plunge to put the liveWire into production, which will be the first full-size electric motorcycle from a major OeM. its success is uncertain, but BMW know they have to go with the flow right now if they don’t want to be left behind. the R18 shows us it’s covering all the options and that we petrolheads will still have something to get excited about for a few years to come.