Hedroads
i.the
high Alps
Just follow the roads marked in red on a map of Europe, and you'll be
guaranteed scenic riding.
Part 1
011 the tourist route
on B~1V~s, new KJ. OOHS
By Bill Stermer
BMW's ultra'-modern office facilities overlook the glass-roofed stadium that was a
focal point of the 1972 Munich Summer
Olympics. The building, composed of four
- -cy lindrical towers of glass
joined at their common inner
surfaces, soon became known
as "the four-cylinder." People
,
3,6,
,
faster/flashier whirlwind the Japanese are in. Competing at that level
requires constant change, constant
investment, constant obsolence that
would infuriate the BeeEm faithful,
many of whom feel that Japanese
machines represent-3 go-fast, disposable, everyone-has-one mentality that
is not their own. On Europe's highways and back roads through the
alps, I wanted to learn how the new
Kloo performed in its native environment.
wondered - was it a foreshadowing?
It was. Now the-question has become, is this new machine the right
one for BMW in the I980s? The silver
Kloo RS I picked up that day in early
June seemed to have no direct connection with the red 1981 Rloo RS
twin I had left home in the garage.
Four cylinders, liquid cooling, fuel
Bahnstorming
injection and overall appearance diWith our friend Rudolph, known
vorce the K-models from all previous
for his ready wi t and a nose the size of
BMWs. Only the blue-and-white ema beer-stein handle, we throttled up
blems on the fuel tank and tail secon Germany's no-limit autobahns
tion hinted at a family relationship,
heading north for Berlin. RudolphBut then again, there was nothing
like the Rloo flat twins on the market,
rode solo on his red KIOO while hode
with my wife on the silver RS.
and there sure wasn't anything like
The autobahns are explosive, a
the flat-four Ks either. In BMW's
grand, opulent rush of Mercedes and
diversity itself lives a simple unity.
BMW 528s and Opel Senators crackBMW has worked hard to stay on
ltte..peri01£ll:r.lo.aYDid lbe .quicker!__ _ Jil)g .bS_
