2016 BMW R 1200 RS
FIRST RIDE
P48
BMW'S NEW
R 1200 RS
BRINGS THE
SOPHISTICATION
TO THE SPORTS
SIDE OF
TOURING.
T
here are very few
sounds akin to a
BMW boxer. Unique
like the dry-clutch rattle
of an old Ducati or the
bark of a Triumph triple, a
BMW boxer produces a
steady, understated drawl,
somehow more matched
to its chassis than anything
else on the road in a very
Teutonic kind of way.
To ride a boxer is to
succumb to a mindset. Its
acoustics do not induce
visions of TT lap records,
nor do they translate to a
middle finger to the law. It's
a sophisticated soundtrack,
capable of surprising and
sedating. But to people
who don't know, to the
uneducated, you're just on
another plain old BMW,
the kind your dad rode and
the kind that gave BMW
the very unwanted "boring"
tag they've so successfully
shed.
But then they see you
coming.
Because in far off view
and depending on the
spectacles, some could be
forgiven for thinking you're
on a superbike. The blue
and white color scheme—
called Lupid Metallic Blue
to you and me—of BMW's
all-new R 1200 RS makes
this Bavarian boxer look
far more racy than it has
any right to, like a machine
looking for a high-curved
habitat yet somehow
always on the wrong road.
It's sporty and sleek yet
civilized and classy, and
that ties in nicely with a term
BMW are using more and
more when describing the
RS: versatile.
STATE LY
SPORTS
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN WING/BMW MOTORRAD
