BMW R nineT Urban GS 2018 — Specifications

Forty years after the R 80 G/S invented an entire segment, BMW isn't simply sticking a commemorative badge on a tank. The Bavarian brand is playing a more ambitious, and also riskier, move: taking its neo-retro NineT platform and making it run in the tracks of the ancestor. The result is the BMW R nineT Urban GS, a hybrid object that blurs the boundaries between homage and reinterpretation.

Visually, the operation is successful. The prominent beak, the white fairing with Bavarian blue stripes, the two-tone seat tinted red, the fork gaiters and the small windscreen resembling a museum piece: each detail cites the original without making a faithful copy. It plays on the sentimental chord, and it works. There remains one significant regret: the spoked wheels with typical off-road tires are offered as an option, not standard. It is precisely this detail that would have tipped the silhouette towards authenticity. Without them, the BMW R nineT Urban GS resembles an adventurer who has forgotten its boots.

Under the 17-liter tank, we find the 1170 cm3 flat-twin boxer engine, air-cooled, with its 101 mm bore for 73 mm stroke. It develops 110 horsepower at 7750 rpm and 116 Nm at 6000 rpm. It's not a cutting-edge engine, but that's precisely what gives it character. The piston strokes are felt, the Paralever monobrach cardan transmission absorbs the reactions without erasing them completely. This Boxer growls, breathes, and moves forward with the regularity of a locomotive. The six-speed gearbox does the job without fuss. You don't push this engine to its limit; you wind it, you enjoy the theoretical 200 km/h on the open road to appreciate the torque available from low revs.

Technically, the BMW R nineT Urban GS test reveals a well-equipped motorcycle for its positioning. The 43 mm fixed-tube telescopic fork offers 125 mm of travel, the rear gains 140 thanks to the Paralever. Sufficient to absorb rough roads and a few dirt tracks, insufficient to claim to compete with a real trail bike. The 19-inch front wheel clearly directs the machine towards beaten paths rather than the cross track. The dual front disc 320 mm and floating rear disc 265 mm braking, coupled with the standard ABS, inspires confidence. What is the weight of a BMW R nineT Urban GS? With full tanks, the scale shows 221 kg. That's honest for the displacement, but far from the 98 kg of the Dakar ancestor.

The seat height of the BMW R nineT Urban GS is 850 mm, which doesn't make it a candidate for short riders. This figure, combined with the weight, clearly places the machine in the hands of an experienced motorcyclist, an enthusiast of beautiful mechanics as much as of long rides. Not a beginner, not a track rider, rather someone who has known the original GS and wants to rediscover that spirit without giving up modern comfort. At 13,950 euros, the BMW R nineT Urban GS is positioned in an emotional segment where Ducati Scrambler and Triumph Bonneville T120 also play on nostalgia, but without this boxer twin that pulses with so much personality. It is this mechanical character, more than the style, that justifies the entry ticket.