BIG BORE BEEMER IN THE WORKS
While many manufacturers are shying away
from large capacity creations, BMW Motorrad
is bucking the trend with an all-new large
capacity boxer engine in the works.
While details on the ground are few and far
between, BMW has actually released two of
these new big boxers into the wild to be used
by custom motorcycle builders with the latest
breaking cover in the past month.
The unique bike named “The Revival
Birdcage” was unveiled at the exclusive
Revival Party on the eve of the annually held
Handbuilt Show in Austin/Texas.
“The ‘Revival Birdcage’ turned out great and
really showcases our Big Boxer perfectly”,
says Timo Resch, Vice President Sales and
Marketing BMW Motorrad. “Following the
‘Departed’ from CUSTOM WORKS ZON, this
is the second fascinating custom bike built
around the prototype of the BMW Motorrad
Big Boxer. We will also be showing a BMW
Motorrad developed concept bike featuring
this engine in the first half-year of 2019. BMW
Motorrad will present a series production
motorcycle with the Big Boxer for the Cruiser
segment in the course of 2020.”
The frame of the ‘Revival Birdcage’ is made
of titanium and was developed by Revival
Cycles itself. “This was our first time to build
a frame with titanium, that alone was already
a significant challenge”, says Alan Stulberg,
head of Revival Cycles. “Regardless, the
frame came together very well in the end
and we are very pleased with the result as
it accomplished the goal of being nearly
transparent. We wanted to focus attention
on the engine and that is precisely what we
achieved with this completely unique frame
we designed. You can easily view the engine
and the drivetrain from all angles.”
With both the exterior geometry as well as
the visible elements such as the push rods
running in chrome-plated protection ducts
are reminiscent of the BMW Motorrad boxer
engines that were built in the 1960s there is
plenty of speculation around the specification
of the new boxer. All BMW Motorrad is letting
on, however, is just that the cubic capacity
is now much larger than any of their other
boxer engines to date, and utilises modern
air-oil cooling.
We’ll have to wait and see what BMW debuts
the engine with, but we wouldn’t bet against
a big-bore roadster to compete against
Triumph’s upcoming Rocket III replacement or
a big cruiser to compete with Harley-Davidson
and Indian Motorcycle. Time will tell.
KIWI RIDER 25