autoevolution
 

BMW Might Surface under-500cc Bikes Soon

When it comes to the new bikes BMW and their partner TVS are working on, the only thing we have from India is dead silence. Fact is, neither BMW nor TVS are idling, as it’s hard to believe that nothing came out after more than one year after the tie-up came to fruition. Still, despite the lackluster newsfeed in this sector, we managed to find out some details from BMW themselves during an exclusive interview with Joseph Machler, the S-series product manager.
Small-displacement bikes are expected from the BMW-TVS joint efforts 1 photo
Machler did not actually make remarks on the upcoming lower-cc bikes directly, but we summed other things he mentioned and then some interesting ideas appeared. For example, he confirmed the decline of the middleweight sport bike segment. We heard the same thing from Erik Buell Racing and from KTM, even though the latter only marginally mentioned this.

The BMW official even provided some figures to help us understand the differences between the 2006 market and how things work these days. Then he said that BMW is not interested in building an intermediate platform for its sport bikes, and correspondently, no all-rounder middleweight machines are even considered.

These worlds could have been easily overlooked if small-displacement bikes didn’t come into the discussion. The BMW official specifically said that while the company plans to maintain and develop the liter-class family and the models which are even bigger, the alternative for the new riders will consist of small bikes in the entry-point zone.

Where is the entry point?

Obviously, nobody is willing to become too talkative when it comes to the new platform and the future plans. Still, we have some clues and we’re ready to play a little logic game. We have few things to begin with, but they can be quite significant.

The most important are the following:
- BMW confirmed that small-displacement bikes are on their way, sooner or later
- BMW has been rather open in showing the lack of interest in the middleweight zone
- BMW will work with TVS for a new line-up of low-cc bikes
- A 500cc bike in India is already a big-bore one, by local standards.

It is hard to believe that BMW and TVS will produce too many new platforms, as this would lessen the lucrative efficiency, at least on the German side. Even though BMW and TVS bikes will reach different markets, the displacement, dimensions and type of bikes would most likely be more or less similar.

After some discussions with Indian fellow-journalists, we sort of agreed that the new bikes BMW plans to build in collaboration with TVS are most likely to be under the 500cc mark. A quarter-liter line-up also seems a bit less probable, because the competition (Japanese makers) have already stepped up from the 250cc machines.

KTM, which is one the biggest rival in Europe, has already dished out a lot of small-displacement bikes, but it looks like the new machines are also in the 400cc ballpark. The RC200 is a great sport bike for beginners but it’s rather hard to believe that BMW will have such a diminutive version of the RR.

However, a 300-400cc bike in the confinements of the A2 license doesn’t sound like too long a shot. With some optimization, this bike could even go well north the 47 hp limit, and be delivered to new riders with a cheap restrictor kit offered for free as Kawasaki used to. Such a bike could also be a lot of fun for fully-licensed riders who are not into the 200+ hp figure of the S1000RR, but are fond of riding a BMW.

The same goes for the other bikes BMW will surface. Only feeble rumors about an adventure-ish small bike for the moment, but we kind of feel it in the air that 2015 will bring quite a lot of stir in this segment. What’s your bet?
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories