1800cc from *two* cylinders?!

[Seadog]

Went looking for this last night - it's now a poncey italian restaurant

 

[GRW]

While iam sure that BMW's opposed twin is a great engine, it never looks right in a motorcycle. Moto guzzi' engine's look far better. I've never owned either of them or even ridden them. It's just looks alone.

It might not look right v a Guzzi vee say - but (racing lean angles aside, where neither is suited anyway) the BMW Boxer engine is IMO better suited.
1. The cylinder don't get in the way of your knees.
2. The cylinders are more in the airstream for cooling
3. The heat off the cylinders is less problematic for the rider, and for the surrounding equipment & materials.

 

[8ob]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, someone with north of 20k spare will be nursing a stiffy over it. BMW have been making bikes long enough to know what their customers want, its certainly no uglier than some of the Harley's.

Bob

 

[BrokenBiker]

The foot rest/pad looks to be on a pivot. Why might that be? Is it likely to touch down when cornering? Folding it up is not going to make the bike narrower. Just curious.

Pretty sure it's a design requirement...I've never had a bike that hasn't got spring loaded folding pegs/boards

 

[Rannsachair]

Pretty sure it's a design requirement...I've never had a bike that hasn't got spring loaded folding pegs/boards

I think they came in around the early 70's as tyre technology and lean angles increased for road bikes, off my 7 bikes all bar one have fixed footrests: the 1954 to 1972 ones, only my modern R1200R has folding footrests.

 

[Robotstar5]

I think they came in around the early 70's as tyre technology and lean angles increased for road bikes, off my 7 bikes all bar one have fixed footrests: the 1954 to 1972 ones, only my modern R1200R has folding footrests.

My 70's Jap bikes had fixed footpegs, one incident sticks in mind, entering a dual carriageway from an island at speed, there was a brick wall next to the outside lane and I touched down with the peg which forced me from lane one to two, I prayed the bend would open out before I hit the wall

 

[BrokenBiker]

I think they came in around the early 70's as tyre technology and lean angles increased for road bikes, off my 7 bikes all bar one have fixed footrests: the 1954 to 1972 ones, only my modern R1200R has folding footrests.

thats interesting. i will ask my father later as he passed his bike test in 82 i think, so would have had early 70's bikes, although i think he was primarilly a jap owner.

thinking about it, his chopper is late 70's but i cant remember what we took off it, i know i moved the foot peg mount forwards on the frame, but cant remember if it was a fixed peg before that.

the oldest bike ive owned was my 92 cbr400rr when i passed my test at 17, and then subsequently gave me my username

 

[GRW]

thats interesting. i will ask my father later as he passed his bike test in 82 i think, so would have had early 70's bikes, although i think he was primarilly a jap owner.

thinking about it, his chopper is late 70's but i cant remember what we took off it, i know i moved the foot peg mount forwards on the frame, but cant remember if it was a fixed peg before that.

the oldest bike ive owned was my 92 cbr400rr when i passed my test at 17, and then subsequently gave me my username

I "hit the road" aged 16 in 1980.
Iirc some older Triumph designs still had solid pegs - but just about everything I came across and rode that was 250cc upwards - had folding rider footrests, including Jap bikes pre-1980.

So much depended on riding style (& talent) and tyres anyway then.... while ground clearance wasn't spectacular (I recall the Suzuki X7 Sales Blurb making a big thing about the X7 being capable of a 45-degree lean angle) - grounding out footpegs wasn't a big issue on the roads.

(I did wear away a chunk of the sidestand & it's mounting lug on the left side and wore through the exhaust on the right side on a 1982 Kawasaki GT750 with folding pegs.... but that was on Pembrey Race Circuit playing silly beggars on a madly-weaving tourer with double the recommended max air pressure in the rear air shocks - I.e. doing things the bike was never designed for)

 

[selectedgrub]

I'd have a John Harman engine anyday.