A new inline 6
 

these guys certainly know a lot about making great straight 6 engines - gotta admire their willingness to change vs. the Japanese big 4 lately.

http://motorcycledaily.com/10november09_bmw_tourer.htm

its not for me. Why not a straight 8 or 10? You could use the bike as a snow plow. I am not sure that the problem lies in the fact that they need more cylinders. And if we want to talk about well balanced:

New R1- stepping outside the box in design of I-4's
Honda's v4's, always smoooooooth
the flat six- GL. An extremely well balanced engine.

I just dont think that there is any real purpose behind this, and it will likely be over and done in a year or two.

I like it for what it is. There is nothing like the feel of an inline six for smooth, effortless power.

where we live, we can use a snowplow soon!
I just like new toys and seeing companies bring new things - and if its anything like their M 6 engine - that is an amazing powerplant.

interesting looking BMW.... better than the usual "ugly" they seem to strive for.

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....cept-60033.jpghttp://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....cept-60024.jpg

I don't know. I think it's pretty ugly. I still think the engine is (could be) neat.
http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/bmw-concept-6/full/#7

I have mixed feelings about the looks of it. To me it looks like some kind of post-apocalyptic killing machine - it would look great in a movie, but I would feel weird riding it around town.

From a design aspect, I think it's pretty cool though.

I'd be interested to see what comes of this. The straight 6 seems like it would be incredible to drive: smooth, torquey, and powerful. The concept is cool looking but we all know that if it does happen if will be much more reserved. Remember the goal is to sell these things, and as jbaxx said a lot of people will feel weird about it. Plus, most proclaimed tourers at least have a passenger seat.

I think Jay Leno should get one!

Interesting that the article says it'll be in a touring model, but the picture they include is a sport bike prototype. As a sport bike, seems that the weight and size would be a drawback. As a tourer, it seems like it'd be a great option.

Its cool whatever it goes in. Maybe won't sell too many but they'll sell em.

For me now anything more than 2 jugs is too many but I may be able to handle sextuplets when I grow up.

So I'm thinking MSRP is gonna be like $35,000???

looks like the old katana 1100. this bmw would be awesome to have out in the yard.

Someone posted a picture of the engine over on Speedzilla and, according to the pic, it seems to have a single throttle body. Based on my experience with a Rotax 1170 cc four-stroke triple used in some Ski-Doo snowmobile models, it makes for less than ideal low-speed response (response is somewhat sluggish until air velocity gets high enough through the large single venturi to liven things up, I would think the situation could be even potentially worse on a six). May be good for fuel economy (the reason given by Doo engineers for their choice) but it certainly doesn`t respond like individual throttle bodies. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

If the bike sounds anything like a Honda CBX then it could be a winner.

I dig it, there is not much choice in perfect balance engines, boxers, radial and I6 and V12.
They cancel their vibrations, have a lightweight crank and sound awesome. (but overall twins sounds the best)
All other engines have some imbalance that can't be corrected.
So BMW is clearly after silk smooth engines, Boxer twins, their parallel twin with a counterweight system that simulate two opposing pistons to get boxer benefits, now an inline 6.
They will probably make a few designs using the same platform, this one is very aggressive Italian-Japanese (Akira-style), I say it should be ridden

?? CBX lasted less time than our SHawk and was a sales dissapointment (again like our SHawk).

I read the BMW release as a joke.

"light and compact, not much wider than a four-cylinder machine of similar displacement."

Which inline four is 1600cc? NOT much wider? When the objective is light weight, reduced width, low center of gravity and yes power, just how does an inline 6 meet these objectives other than perhaps power - and maybe not even there as I expect bore is compromised width

I am not a Vtwin snob, but I have to say that this design strikes me as almost as rediculous as a Boss Hog V8. Why not a transverse V6? Seems a V would make more packaging sense

Usually, German = Boring. At least it's not boring. Mel Gibson will be digging out his Mad Max leathers as we speak!

I absolutely hear what you are saying.

That doesn't mean that the CBX or SHawk were bad bikes. The CBX sounds like an old V-12 Ferrari. I think they are cool and I would love to have one. They have a huge cult following and are probably more popular with motorcyclists now then when they were new.

I think that if this BMW sounds like the CBX it would be awesome!

I am not about to make predictions on sales figures. However, I will say that the US market is pretty cut and dry. It is possible that the bike could do very well in other markets (Europe). There are tons of cool bike over there that never make it to the US.

I hope it is not a joke and that they make the thing. I would never buy one but I think it would be cool.

Width
 

I believe this enine will not be as wide as some of you believe. The CBX engine was only 1.5" wider than a CB900. But is't still a BMW= expensive and problematic(IMHO).

Mark

Perhaps I am the odd one out but I like a LOT of the BMW bikes out there (and some of the much newer cars and pre-90's cars). I also like the asymetric styling, the headlights make me think of what I would probably look like under the helmet at high speed.

I sat on an older R (1980's?) and it honestly made the superhawk feel like a heavy hunk of lead... even though the bike was about 100lbs heavier. It isn't running so unfortunately I have no idea of it's power (but it was heavily modified, I wouldn't be surprised if it kept up with the hawk). Engine was also dropped down some, so that apparently had some to do with the light feel.

As for boring cars, I feel like BMW hit that wall in the 1990's. My E30 (rusted out in need of repair), the earlier 6 series, the 8 series, the original M1... I think they look great.

As for sound, a twin, 6, or 12 is what I like. If my superhawk sounded like my E30 I would have absolutely no complaints. On a bike, I would have to see what the 6 feels like between my legs, I have gotten addicted to the skinny twin. I think the body work will have to really hide the width from me to make me happy with it.

I think there's gonna be a market out there for it. It just won't be as big as other configurations. I definitely agree with the touring model, but I can't say I like the sports pictures I have seen until I see one from front/behind for a better feel of the width.

No, I get that it is interesting. Hell, I own a CX500 Turbo. I really don't believe that Honda ever thought the the Turbo would have legs, but they looked at it as an engineering exercise.
Water cooling, fuel injection, computer (sort of), prolink suspension - these were all CXT legacies that ended up refined in almost every Honda sport bike since.
I'm curious what BMW is doing. I know they make kick ass inline 6s, but the fours and twins in their bikes are pretty good too.
Would I kick it out of my garage? Hell NO! I'm just more curious about what will come out of this cause I highly doubt it will be the inclusion of a six in its bike motor stable

if they did a longitudinal "v" with dual counter rotating cranks like the motocyz, yeah, that would be cool.

I agree...the guy designing BMW bikes right now is an American and he's done a great job in the last few years. The new S1000 Superbike is a great looking 190hp missile...and last year they did OK in their inaugural WSB season.
As for the cars...I've owned five BMW's, from the E30 (loved it) to 1992 325i Coupe (favourite) and company cars (320's) 1998 and 2001. The newer they got the less interesting they became IMO.
One thing for sure...the Germans sure know their engineering - and as I worked for Bosch for ten years - I can support that comment!

I owned an E34 for 7 years and still have the V8 on the garage floor, despite being an heavy pig, I could put a 4.6 mustang to shame.
The E30 is a great classic, lightweight and yet powerfull, the steering is just there to start turns, the gas pedal is there to complete the job.
A freind of mine have a turbo E36 M3, the next best chassis with a 400 RWHP engine is as good as it can get, then came the E46, damn they took all the fun out of it, but now the spirit is back, the M cars are just insane.
Those Germans have something, the bike are a tad different, but they are learning fast what people like, so they are loosing weight and gaining power, yet retaining ergonomy.
It would be boring if all the bikes were the same and the very reason I was in love with Honda was their balls to try insane things, the oval pistons bikes with two con rods, CBX, turbos.
Can't blame BMW for trying new technology, this is what make all bikes better.