Stable Telelever with a steep steering head angle.

Steering precision is a particularly important requirement on a sports motorcycle. But apart from an absolutely precise response to steering commands, the rider also expects clear feedback from the front wheel.

This is precisely why the Telelever front wheel suspension on the R 1200 S comes with fixed tubes measuring 41 millimetres in diameter and wheel travel of 110 millimetres. Featuring longitudinal arms supported on a specially matched spring strut, the Telelever does not require any maintenance and reduces brake dive to a minimum.

The geometry of the suspension is new and has been specifically tailored to the R 1200 S, even the basic data and configuration figures clearly highlighting the agility and superior handling offered by this Sports Boxer on winding roads, naturally in conjunction with low weight in road trim - with a full tank - of just 213 kg: Measuring 66°, the steering head angle is 1° steeper than on the former model, while front wheel castor is now just 87 mm, instead of the former 100 mm. As a result, the rider will hardly even notice that wheelbase is up from 1,478 to 1,487mm. What the sports rider will notice - and appreciate immediately - is that the R 1200 S allows a lean angle 2 per cent lower in bends than on the former model, enabling the rider to reach an extreme position of up to 52°.

Spring strut with travel-dependent damping in support of the EVO Paralever.

The big advantages of the BMW Motorrad Paralever are well known and widely acknowledged. Benefiting from its lifetime oil filling in the axle drive, the lightweight driveshaft with single-arm wheel guidance requires absolutely no maintenance and is hardly any heavier than a conventional swinging arm with chain drive.

Made of cast aluminium, the entire structure rests on the frame of the motorcycle via a modern gas-pressure spring strut with travel-dependent damping (TDD) and offers 120 mm of spring travel.

Travel-dependent damping operates as a progressive system. The further the spring strut moves in, the stronger the counteracting damper forces become. Thus the system ensures a smooth and sensitive response to minor bumps on the road, as well as superior stability on bad or strongly undulating surfaces.

Light-alloy wheels in dynamic design with radial sports tyres.

The sweeping, dynamic design of the aluminium wheels has already attracted attention on BMW Motorrad’s sporting and dynamic K-models and is now to be admired for the first time on the Boxer series. The stylish rear wheel is a genuine eye-catcher, the high-rising silencer allowing a free, unobstructed view of the wheel.

The R 1200 S is also a genuine sports machine when it comes to wheel dimensions: The 3.50x17-inch wheel at the front runs a 120/70 ZR17 radial sports tyre, while the 5.50x17-inch wheel at the rear features a high-grip radial sports tyre measuring 180/55 ZR17. And as an option, the R 1200 S is available straight from the factory with a six-inch rear wheel running on a 190-profile tyre.

Sports brake system with ABS as an option.

The new BMW R 1200 S is an uncompromising performer also in its brake technology: The front wheel comes with two brake discs measuring 320 mm in diameter and 4.5 mm in thickness, and held in position when required by two four-piston swing callipers. This brake system outperforms the brakes on the R 1100S, with its brake 305mm discs.

The rear wheel, in turn, comes with a double-piston floating calliper acting on a 265 mm brake disc.

Benefiting from brakes of this standard, even the sports rider out on a racetrack can rely on smooth and consistent, precise brake response with operating forces reduced to a minimum. Hydraulic control and superior operation of the brake pistons is ensured by high-quality, steel-reinforced brake hoses.

Choosing an appropriate ABS anti-lock brake system, the engineers at BMW Motorrad focused from the start on the sports-minded rider. The system used on the R 1200 S is an upgraded two-channel ABS configuration without an integral function or brake servo, excelling through low weight and compact dimensions and thus adding just 1.5 kilos to the overall weight of the machine.

This low weight is made possible by a newly designed, extremely compact pressure modulator featuring linear-control intake valves for optimum brake pressure at all times in the usual ABS control range, that is when applying the brakes with the risk of the wheels locking. This superiority is ensured by very fast and precise control intervals, the new control valves with their infinitely variable cross-section also enhancing the feeling of smoothness for the rider, who will feel only a minor pulse effect in the brake levers.

A further advantage for the rider is the option to deactivate the ABS when riding on a racetrack.

BMW Motorrad’s new ABS anti-lock brakes again come with an even wider range of diagnostic functions, the wheel speed sensors, for example, automatically supervising their distance from the sensor wheel and thus contributing to the supreme standard of all-round safety offered by the system.

CAN-bus on-board network, cockpit with a wide range of rider information, and electronic immobiliser featured as standard.

BMW’s new sports Boxer comes with the single-wire system (SWS) on-board electronics already featured on the R 1200GS. Having already proven its merits in the car industry, this superior technology offers a wide range of benefits: it reduces the number and length of cables required, uses CAN-bus technology to connect all control units, and in this way facilitates the process of diagnosing all kinds of running conditions. A further advantage is that the system eliminates the need for conventional melt-down fuses by automatically switching off the component involved, in the case of malfunction.

Using data provided by the single-wire system, the rider is able to retrieve and call up lots of information via the Info-Flatscreen. As an example, the digital display presents the gear currently in mesh, the amount of fuel left in the tank, current oil temperature, the time of day, and the riding distance available on the remaining fuel. And in presenting all this information with optimum clarity, a photo-cell control unit even takes ambient light conditions into account, automatically adjusting instrument light intensity to current requirements.

Even the aficionado of analogue instruments will be thrilled at first sight by the cockpit – two circular dials with white faces providing clear information on the current speed of the machine and engine revolutions.

An electronic immobiliser is standard, so to start the engine the rider requires more than a key with just the right contours, since the chip integrated in the original BMW key must in all cases first transmit the right code to the annular aerial on the combined steering and ignition lock, thus enabling engine management to clear the engine for the starting process. This technology is currently the safest and most reliable system protecting a vehicle from theft.

For further information contact:
Alexander Corne
PR & Corporate Communications Manager
BMW Group Australia
Phone: 03 9264 4238
Fax: 03 9562 2799
Mobile: 0439 568 819
Email: alexander.corne@bmw.com.au