New BMW F800 vids

[DJ Down Under]

Nice....click here http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/03/28/002213.html

DJ

[Deans BMW]

They need some of us old farts to show them how to ride those trhings.

By the way, you might be intrested to know that both a "R" nakid and a "GS" version of the 800 will be available.

Also a very serious single cyl dirt bike and as an '08...a VERY serious street bike with an engine unlike anything in BMW's past.

[arkline]

Nice looking road. Why, oh, why does the sound always suck when there' s a motovideo....

[supermotoC]

Why, oh, why does the sound always suck when there' s a motovideo....


because it's usually recorded through a $5 microphone the size of a nickel.
Every time you see (and hear) an engine on TV/FILM/video, other than home video, it has been replaced with a better sounding engine. In fact, just know that every sound you hear in a TV/movie/DVD (that has been professionally produced) has had 95-100% of all the sound replaced, post filming. Think about that for a minute. Real life sounds SO much better live than on tape (or disk).

[BobFV1]

Very nice - I was particularly impressed with the handling of the ST with a passenger. The bike sort of looked like a "mini" K12S to me.

Thanks for the peek!

[Sir Limpsalot]

I find I'm starting to get quite keen on these new 800's. I'm not sure how big a seller they'll be here, although they are well priced compared to the Japanese competition. Dean has got me thinking, if they do a decent job on the GS version that could be a very useful and versatile machine for UK roads.
Interesting times are coming, that's for sure.
Si

[geechie]

Interesting times are coming, that's for sure.

Yeah, isn't there a Chinese curse along the lines of: "May you live in interesting times."

I'm interested in all that stuff. But it seems that I am cursed in that I can only have one wife and one motorcycle. The wife has, so far, lasted 26 years and has enriched my life. Mostly. The current motorcycle has lasted 7 years and has enriched my life. Would I get more enrichment with more bikes and fewer wives? I know for a fact that one wife is a generous plenty. God but I'd love to have more than one bike.

[Sir Limpsalot]

Man, that is *SO* well put!:)
When my wife comes home I shall tell her that you refered to her as a "generous plenty":) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
You're so right, only having one motorcycle sucks! That way you always have to consider the boring stuff, like practicallity, luggage capacity, serviceability, durability and so on.
We need to be able to be more frivolous George. To be able to buy something on a whim, because we like the styling or because it reminds us of a glorious past, or whatever.
In a perfect world, this Utopia we're creating, I reckon I could squeeze by with four bikes. How about you?
Si

[geechie]

Four would certainly be a good start...

They're going to have to stop making so many cool ones, though.

I'm weak, you see.

G

[Optimus Prime]

They need some of us old farts to show them how to ride those trhings.

By the way, you might be intrested to know that both a "R" nakid and a "GS" version of the 800 will be available.

Also a very serious single cyl dirt bike and as an '08...a VERY serious street bike with an engine unlike anything in BMW's past.

The 800 is drawing my interest, I'll be very interested to see what the GS looks like.

Also, the serious street bike... v3 perhaps?
http://www.motorcyclistcafe.com/forums/showthread.php?t=736

[DJ Down Under]

Another F800 vid...

http://previews.thenewsmarket.com/Previews/GBMW/VideoAssets/ASF/GBMW_4161_35230.WMV

And what does this pic show...

Will it be a twin that's like a big single?...(I thought the pistons would be off-set)...and is that thingie underneath a balance thingie to help with vibration?

DJ

http://www.bmwscruz.com/motorcycles/2006/f800S/pics/balancer.jpg

[Deans BMW]

Very intresting, perhaps in the GS version a change in cams and timing would result in a "Twingle", emulating an 800 cc single.......uhmmmmmmm

[Sir Limpsalot]

That, chaps, is a 360 degree twin. That is to say the pistons rise and fall together just like on the old British twins, from the 1937 Triumph Speedtwin onwards. The current Triumph Bonneville and Thruxton models use the same layout (although the Bonneville "America", "Speedster" and new "Scrambler" use a version with the crankpins offset at 90 degrees) which gives the engine a 'traditional' vertical twin sound.
A 360 twin is good on a 'sporting' machine, tending to accelerate well and gain revs quickly. In their natural (unbalanced) form, they vibrate excessivly at high revs. This is why all 'modern' versions use one form of balancer or other. They tend to feel quite 'busy' at highway speeds though.
The 90 degree version fires just like a 90 degree "V" twin (eg. a Ducati) this gives a much more 'relaxed' feel to the engine which would never feel to be working as hard as a 360. As a result of which 90 (sometimes refered to as 270 as 360 - 90 = 270) degree twins are nicer on long journeys, or Motorways.
The third option is a 180 degree layout, this is where one piston is at TDC and the other at BDC. This is traditionally the 'Japanese way', found on nearly all early Honda twins etc. Smoother than an (unbalanced) 360 they do tend to suffer from a 'rocking couple' vibration. This again would be balanced out on a modern interpretation of the 180 layout.
BMW's choice of the 360 is very interesting. Plainly they've opted for the traditional, sporty, feel for their new baby. This would place it squarely in competition with the middleweights already available from Japan. Obviously BMW are hoping to capture a slice of the 'youth' market, who can then mature upwards in the range.
If BMW are sincere in their wish to make a GS version with any sort of real ability 'off road' then they would be well advised to get Rotax (who make the engines for the new 800's) working on a 90/270 version which would provide much better traction than the smoother firing current engine.
Time will tell. I'm now starting to look forward to a ride on one of these.
Cheers for now Si

[DJ Down Under]

Thanks Simon for your great explaination..:023:

DJ

[DJ Down Under]

More of those vids...

http://previews.thenewsmarket.com/Previews/GBMW/VideoAssets/ASF/GBMW_4161_35227.WMV

http://previews.thenewsmarket.com/Previews/GBMW/VideoAssets/ASF/GBMW_4161_35226.WM

http://previews.thenewsmarket.com/Previews/GBMW/VideoAssets/ASF/GBMW_4161_35225.WMV

http://previews.thenewsmarket.com/Previews/GBMW/VideoAssets/ASF/GBMW_4161_35229.WMV

DJ