BMW K 1200 R Sport 2009 — Specifications

What drives BMW to expand an already well-stocked lineup by adding yet another variant? With the S for the track, the R for the pure roadster, and the GT for devouring miles, you might have thought the K 1200 catalog was complete. And yet, the BMW K 1200 R Sport arrived in 2007 to fill a niche that nobody had really asked for — that of the semi-faired roadster with sport-GT aspirations. On paper, the recipe is simple: take the K 1200 R, graft on a half fairing topped with the famous double kidney shape dear to the propeller brand, and you're done. In practice, the result is more subtle than it appears.

Beneath the 19-liter fuel tank beats the same 1,157 cc inline four-cylinder, fed by a generous 13:1 compression ratio and a short-stroke bore/stroke of 79 x 59 mm. The numbers speak for themselves: 163 hp at 10,250 rpm and 124.5 Nm of torque at 8,250 rpm. For a machine that aims to be more comfortable than a full-faired sportbike, that's serious character. Against a Kawasaki Z1000 or a Suzuki GSX-S1000 of the same era, the Bavarian boasts superior horsepower while offering shaft drive and a six-speed gearbox with typically BMW smoothness. The list price of 14,500 euros placed it at the top of the range, but those looking for a used BMW K 1200 R Sport today can find examples around 3,900 euros, which radically changes the equation.

The chassis is carried over entirely from the R. The aluminum perimeter frame houses the Duolever system up front — that famous double wishbone arrangement that replaces the traditional fork and delivers remarkable stability under braking. At the rear, the latest-generation Paralever handles the job. Braking relies on two 320 mm discs gripped by four-piston calipers at the front and a 265 mm disc at the rear. At 241 kg wet weight and a seat height perched at 820 mm, the 2008 or 2009 K 1200 R Sport remains an imposing machine that isn't aimed at the most modestly sized riders. The raised handlebar, borrowed from the roadster, however offers a natural riding position that makes long stints possible without wrecking your wrists.

On the options front, BMW plays its usual hand. ESA for adjusting the suspension from the handlebar, RDC tire pressure monitoring, heated grips for early-morning riders — the list is long and so is the bill. The High Performance Parts catalog offers carbon fiber pieces for those who want to visually lighten the beast, from the engine spoiler to the seat cowl. During a BMW K 1200 R Sport test ride, what strikes you first is the protection offered by the half fairing: enough to ride fast without fatigue, not enough to rival the aerodynamic comfort of a full fairing. The BMW K 1200 R Sport review also reveals a positioning problem: it gives up 4 hp to the K 1200 S while losing full protection. Among the recurring BMW K 1200 R Sport issues, you'll mainly find Duolever maintenance and the mechanical complexity inherent to BMW's inline-four engines of this generation.

This sport-GT is aimed at the experienced rider who wants a muscular roadster capable of stringing together mountain passes and highways without choosing between riding pleasure and comfort. It inevitably cannibalizes the S from below and the GT from above, but it's precisely in this in-between space that it finds its personality. Neither a radical sportbike nor a tamed tourer, the BMW K 1200 R Sport remains a singular proposition in the Munich catalog — a machine with character that ages rather well for those willing to live with its technical complexity and hefty weight.