That was interesting to really understand why cruise control , big suitcases , sound systems as well as a long range were important in the US . I even tried smoking behind the big fairing on the RT on the ride through the Mojave Desert to see how it worked . “ Then came the K1200S and R , the concept bikes were really cool , with a semi-transparent green fairing . The package with the forward leaning cylinder bank was not easy to resolve .
A CHANGING DESIGN PROCESS “ I shaped the bike of my diploma thesis with PU foam , on which putty was then applied so the model could be painted . Then came the clay models and after the turn of the millennium the optical scanners and finally the development directly in the computer with Alias and CAD . “ In the past , motorbikes were quite simple to design so that the four main development groups body , electrics , chassis and drivetrain only had to coordinate at the interfaces during development . If we had continued in this way , the bikes would have become bigger and bigger at some point . Today , this complexity can only be managed through an integrative and virtual approach , which is what we have been doing since the first S1000 . “ Pure clay models are the exception today , the R18 was the last project of this kind , because we simply wanted to show real and valuable hardware , the visual appearance and the value were more important for the model than the pure technical performance .
NEXT INDIA “ There was a lot of speculation about this and all I can say is that I didn ’ t leave because there were conflicts . With Dave Robb ( chief designer BMW Motorrad 1993-2012 ) it was a super symbiosis , he did a lot of publicity work in addition to his design duties , while I concentrated on the design of the bikes . “ I just felt the urge for change after being in the design department at BMW for 22 years . I was doing 2-3 bikes at a time and had no staff responsibility . Actually it was ok , the perfect setup for a designer ... until this headhunter
52 KIWI RIDER