Easy rider

A motorcycle poised to launch in the UK will feature some of the most advanced engineering ever available to off-road biking enthusiasts, according to manufacturer BMW.

The German automotive group will put its on and off-road HP2 two–cylinder enduro machine on sale in the UK in early September.

The £12,000 motorbike includes new technologies designed to make it both sporting and exceptionally light, creating a road-legal machine that can also be used off-road.

According to the company, it will be the most powerful enduro bike on the market and was built to celebrate 25 years of BMW Motorrad’s off-road series.

The design is the first in a new BMW motorbike category called the High Performance (HP) series.

On rough terrain the HP2 benefits from a low centre of gravity and has been engineered to provide ideal rider ergonomics and balance, making it easier to handle in difficult conditions.

The bike weighs only 175kg dry and features a 1,170cc flat twin engine with a maximum power output of 105bhp. Maximum torque is 115Nm at 5,500rpm.

It features what BMW claims is the world’s first motorcycle spring/damper system running exclusively on air, which weighs under 2.3kg. This makes it 2kg lighter than conventional components, and the bike also has a new silencer construction that saves a further 2kg on existing alternatives.

The frame’s tubular system is based on the R900-R racing bikes used by BMW teams in the Dakar motorbike rally. It features upside-down telescopic forks with 270mm of spring travel, giving performance that cannot be matched by conventional configurations, said the manufacturer.

The instruments include a new display that tells the rider the number of operating hours run.

This is important for changing the air filter at the right interval after riding off-road on dusty tracks.

BMW is keeping production volumes low in a bid to make the HP2 ‘exclusive’.