BMW MIDDLEWEIGHTS
B
MW is about to strengthen its
middleweight offerings with two new
bikes set to join the lineup for 2020.
Not only has BMW updated its middleweight
naked offering to the F900R, for the first
time the Bavarian company will be offering a
sports-touring offering to split the difference
between the sporty new roadster and the
established tourers that are the well-loved
F850GS range in the form of the F900XR.
Both bikes are powered by a revised version
of BMW’s parallel twin, which, as the naming
of the new models indicates has been boosted
in capacity up to 895cc over the 855cc found in
the GS series. Power of the new F900 engine is
claimed to be 105hp backed by 92Nm of torque,
with “an even fuller torque curve” according
to BMW.
14 KIWI RIDER
In the most basic form the new F900R and
F900XR offer two rider modes (“Rain” and
“Road”) as standard with the electronics
suite also backed by switchable ABS and
ASC (Automatic Stability Control).
With BMW Motorrad’s standard practice to spec
their bikes out to the nines, we could see the
NZ spec bikes arrive with the full “Riding Modes
Pro” option ticked which adds “Dynamic” and
“Dynamic Pro” rider modes along with Dynamic
Traction Control DTC and banking capable ABS
Pro, Dynamic Brake Control (DBC) and the new
engine drag torque control (MSR).
While structurally the new BMWs follow the
same steel bridge frame design as the rest
of the GS series, BMW has saved weight by
designing both the R and XR to utilise a plastic-
welded fuel tank – a first for motorcycling