BMW Motorrad is reportedly developing a cruiser named R 12, which will sit below the R 18 in the manufacturer’s lineup.
Said to be designed like a retro cruiser, like the R 18, this new (comparatively) smaller motorcycle will be powered by the 1170cc 2-cylinder boxer engine that does duty in the R nineT range of bikes.
In Euro 5-compliant form, the engine, which has proven to be a reliable powerhouse over the years, puts out 109 HP at 7250 RPM and 116 Nm of torque at 6000 RPM.
The R 18 also comes powered by a 2-cylinder boxer engine, but one that displaces 1802cc and makes a maximum of 91 HP and 158 Nm peak torque.
This means the upcoming BMW R 12 will be more powerful, while having 42 fewer torques. Since it will be a smaller bike than the R 18, it will also weigh considerably less than the R 18 which comes in at a rather portly 345 kg (wet).
Another advantage of having a smaller engine would, obviously, be better fuel economy. While there might not be a great difference in this respect, the R 12 should do better than its big brother.
However, the R 18 is not to be sniffed at, for it is one of the most beautiful motorcycles on sale at present that has a very approachable layout with expensive, but simple hardware.
It is a bike that can be easily customised, BMW offers plentiful accessories itself, and has already spawned the Classic, a more touring-friendly variant, which was launched 2 days ago in India.
What’s more, the German firm is also working on a bagger variant of the vehicle which is likely to be called the Transcontinental.
Thus, the upcoming BMW R 12 is also expected to have a simple layout that can be easily customised and worked on to spawn multiple variants to lure in a varied set of buyers.
Source – Visordown.com