Power, performance, style, innovation and an in-line six-cylinder engine are basic requirements in a BMW. The cars, that is. Not the motorcycles. But BMW has crammed six round pegs into a square hole to create the sexiest and sleekest six-cylinder motorcycle yet.
BMW Motorrad has for years teased motorcycle enthusiasts with the Cheshire-cat grin inducing power of an in-line six. The Concept 6 is not the first of its kind by any means; Honda's awesome CBX-1000 from 1978 comes to mind. But this is the first one we’ve seen that doesn’t look as if it were designed for – and by — a seven-foot tall linebacker.
With power numbers comparable to a BMW 1.3-liter four-banger and better emissions and fuel economy, the candy coating on the Concept 6 is it 96 foot-pounds of torque at 2,000 rpm. We can only imagine what kind of ridiculous numbers this bike is capable of with an engine that revs to about 9,000 rpm.
The first, and biggest challenge, BMW's engineers had to overcome was shrinking an engine never designed to be small. We tried to wrap our collective heads around BMW's explanation, which requires advanced degrees in mechanical engineering and German. Simply put, the trick according to BMW involved a “slightly over-square bore:stroke ratio with a relatively longer stroke and very small gaps between cylinders.”
Whatever. The important thing is the engine is about four inches slimmer than any six-cylinder motorcycle engine in history and only slightly wider than the big fours you see these days. It's canted forward 55 degrees to maintain a low center of gravity, and the dry-sump system means the engine should continue BMW's rep for anvil-like durability.
There are many more toys besides the engine, which sits in a light alloy bridge frame with BMW’s Duolever and Paralever suspension. BMW made the Concept 6 light, it made it fast and it made it stop on a dime with oversized six-piston fixed calipers. Most interesting, though, may be instrument cluster. It's minimalist in form yet offers more info than Wikipedia unless you’re looking for a traditional tachometer. It may rub you the wrong way, but BMW's opted instead to let the rider know how much torque is on tap at any given moment.
Once the engine, suspension and uber-geek tech was sorted, BMW needed the key ingredient to any Beemer -- style. The Germans considered Concept 6 “more than just the attempt to develop a motorcycle of a kind never seen before.” They wanted the bike to be a stunner.
They succeeded. BMW has captured the emotional and physical connection between man and machine in the sexiest café racer to ever grace the tarmac. The long split-face nose, short tail, twin-tipped chin spoiler and LED lighting look great. Catch a glimpse of the triple-tipped exhaust and your eye follows a sensual line to the rest of the bike, gawking at curves from top to bottom, front to rear. In the world of moto-porn, the Concept 6 is a centerfold.
And like a centerfold, the chances are slim you'll ever ride one. The Concept 6 is just that -- a concept. But don’t worry. Having proven that a straight-six motorcycle of a sporty flavor is more than possible, BMW says the engine will “expand the K-Series in the foreseeable future."
We’re hoping we’ll see the Concept 6 produce in the foreseeable future too.
Photos: BMW
