BMW R Nine T – Classy, Pricey, But No Colours

BMW R Nine T Bike

BMW R Nine T

For those who aren’t familiar with the term “Motorrad”, it is BMW’s 2-wheeler manufacturing arm, and is what has come with the select range of high performance motorcycles that the company showcases in its portfolio. BMW Motorrad was founded in the early 1920s and they came up with their first motorcycle in the year 1923 with the much popular flat twin boxer engine layout and configuration.

The company has a range of motorcycles on offer in India a few of which are the most popular BMW FS, GS, and the S1000RR. All of these bikes are imported by BMW Motorrad in India, which unfortunately adds to its price, a number of import taxes and duties that are levied on Complete Body units. BMW Motorrad recently did a strategic tie-up with Indian motorcycle manufacturer TVS motors to develop and manufacture motorcycles below the 500 cc category for the Indian market.

The most recent and latest offering by the company in the Indian market is the BMW R nine T café racer, which is now available on sale.

Café racer build

Launched to commemorate 90 years of the German giant’s presence in the world of motorcycles, the BMW R nine T is inspired from the BMW 90S from the ‘70s and shows off typical café racer build and styling combined with a naked street bike stance and form in order to reminisce the glorious era of café racers and BMW’s great part in it, along with the some of the best modern naked street bikes that they are known for today.

The bike is otherwise minimal on the grounds of design and styling considering what BMW Motorrad is generally capable of and radiates a very old school feel. The front is quite simplistic with a round headlamp and a two dial-display combination of an instrument cluster on the top. The side profile, however, has a lot more to express in terms of form and the surfaces on the tank, panels and the framework. The tank can be seen flowing into the seat which is supported by a silver subframe on the rear.

The German bike builder claims that the R nine T was designed to be customized in a number of ways and each one of them very simple and visually productive. Customers are offered a range of accessories like carbon fibre mudguards, mountable travel bags and an exhaust system from the leader in the end can technology – Akrapovic exhaust systems.

Removable pillion subframe

The bike has a removable pillion subframe which allows the rider to run it as a dual seater, mount the aluminum rear seat cowl to make it a classic single seater café, or completely remove the rear end to ride it like a solo.

Powered by a four-stroke 1170 cc air/oil cooed boxer twin cylinder engine that churns out 108 bhp of power at 7500 rpm and a maximum torque of 12.1kgm at 6000 rpm, the bike is slightly heavy when it comes to weight due to the bulky boxer engine which brings it to 222 kgs, though it isn’t much of an issue since it is not a track bike.

The motorcycle is built around a four-section frame with one front and three rear parts, a load bearing engine and transmission unit and a removable subframe unit. The front of the bike sports upside down telescopic forks for the suspension and the rear has a monoshock mounted on a single sided swingarm. Spoked rims further accentuate the fact that the bike is primarily styled as a classic café.

No colour variety

Braking effort is generated and rather brilliantly carried out by dual 320 mm front discs and a single 265mm rear. The bike also comes equipped with ABS linked with both the front and the rear ensuring vehicle and rider safety even in extreme braking conditions.

Colour option isn’t a luxury presently offered with the R nine T and it can be yours in a standard black and silver combination, which isn’t quite bad but then again, just one colour scheme? Seriously?

Currently, the bike is only on sale in Maharashtra and can be booked at Navnit Motors – an official BMW Sales outlet in Mumbai. The BMW R nine T comes with quite a big price tag of Rs 23.5 lakh which is the ex-showroom price, and frankly quite worth what the company has to offer with this brilliant motorcycle except maybe they could’ve considered more colours.