Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128389
This is the only color the HP2 comes in, but it looks really sharp if you ask us. Note the silver air pump behind the frame's downtube just in front of the exhaust canister. 8MW gets serious With the release of the 80xerpowered HP2 the Class 30 division at the Baja 500 in the bike's North American debut. On the heels of the completely new R I200 G5 that was introduced last year as a 2005 model, BMW has released the HP2 version of the bike. Think of the HP designation as BMW Motorrad's version of the famous "M" automotive division that pumps out high-performance products like the M3, M5 and the upcoming M6. The HP designation will focus exclusively on boxerpowered models. The launch of the HP2 took place outside of Valencia, Spain, at the Aras Rural Enduro Park. The park itself is an off-road rider's dream with almost 1000 miles of Single-track, fire-road, water crossings, sand and steep, rocky climbs. You name it, and it's there. I've personally spent a lot of time on the new GS, but I also ride motocross and offroad on much lighter four-stroke machines, so I've often wondered what a Significantly lighter GS would feel like off road. What I've been yearning for is an F 650 GS with 100 horsepower! The HP2 is as close as it gets. The claimed dry weight is a full 53 pounds lighter than the standard GS and a whopping 161 pounds lighter than the R I I50 GS Adventure. If these were the only differences between the standard GS and the HP2, it would be more than enough to make the HP2 a far better off-road bike. But there is so much more to the bike than just the reduced weight. Every aspect of the HP2 is designed for the serious enduro/rally rider, from the offroad suspension to the lighter chassis to the powerful twin-cylinder boxer motor. It's all designed to get the rider from point A to point B as quickly as possible - offroad, of course. The HP2 is an exclusive limited-production model and will be available in limited supply. Comparisons to the R I200 GS go as far as the motor and on-board CAN (control area network); everything beyond that is either heavily modified or designed specifically for the HP2. Starting with the powerplant and drivetrain, the nat-twin boxer motor is very similar to the unit in the GS, but additional power has been extracted by modifying the engine control unit (ECU), and BMW claims 105 horsepower and B5 ft.-Ibs. of torque. One modification that has been made due to the bike's emphasis on offroad terrain is the removal of the balance shaft - an effort to reduce weight and add power by redUcing frictional losses. The air intake has been modified with an added denector to keep water from getting into the intake in off-road conditions. On the other end of the bike the exhaust is a much lighter and shorter, weighing a full 4.4 pounds less than the unit on the GS. The transmission has been beefed up by reinforcing the bearings on the interim shaft to deal with the higher loads and forces associated with off-road riding. The bike's internal transmission and final drive ratios are exactly the same as on the GS. The first thing that I noticed was how much more responsive the bike's motor felt than the GS one. Knowing that the bike's gearing is identical to that of the GS, it really conveys how much lighter the bike is. The weight-tq-power ratio is the biggest factor, obViously, but the throttle response is excellent as well. The fact that the balance shaft was removed isn't apparent at all, not that you would notice on rough terrain anyway, but Idid ride the bike for around 40 kilometers on asphalt and never noticed any unwanted Vibrations. Riding the HP2 in tight single-track was a piece of cake. The combination of endless low-down torque and the light hydraulic clutch made negotiating rocks, roots and square-edge steps easy. The HP2 is so easy to crawl along on due to all that power, it almost feels like you're in 41. (four low) in a 4x4; you can literally creep along and take your time getting over obstacles. Of course, when the going gets fast (rally speeds), it's hard to imagine a faster stock off-road motorcycle. The HP2 is truly fast. On the asphalt, I saw IBO kph (I I 1.6 mph) on the speedometer on the only long open stretch I came to, and the bike was hardly breaking a sweat. The bike, like most offroad/motocross bikes, doesn't have a tachometer, so I really don't know how fast it could have gone. One of the features on the on-board display is an hour meter so the owner can set maintenance intervals for items such as the air filter based on hours ridden, not miles ridden. Sure the motor is great, but what really separate this bike from the standard GS or CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 3,2005 55