Classic
Words : Jock McLauchlan Photos : Geoff Osborne
Take a look on Instagram or Facebook at the hashtag # bmwairhead and you ’ ll see lots of chopped and hacked BMW boxer twins . Some of them look absolutely stunning , others … well , not so much . Some builders have spent a lot of money making their old bikes look like this one ; an already hopped-up boxer you can buy from BMW , new and with a warranty .
The BMW R Nine T is the classic muscular Roadster . Bold , powerful looking and squat , with a little bit of a snarl . If it wasn ’ t German , it could be likened to the
sturdy British bull dog , possibly even the
pugnacious Churchill , at a stretch . But , actually , none of that matters all that much , because it ’ s the engine that defines this machine . The traditionally imposing 1170cc boxer is the centre of the R Nine T . It produces 109hp at
7250rpm , is air / oil cooled , has a single dry plate clutch and peak torque of 115Nm – which is the important number when considering the power delivery of this engine .
50 KIWI RIDER