BMW R nineT Urban GS 2020 — Specifications

Forty years. That’s how long it took BMW to transform a legend into a collective obsession. The R 80 G/S of 1980 had invented everything, the trail, the Dakar, the idea that a motorcycle could be serious on the tarmac and adventurous on the dirt. Today, the BMW R nineT Urban GS doesn’t seek to commemorate this heritage with a gold plate screwed onto the dashboard. It plays it again, piece by piece, with 21st-century tooling.

The first glance settles the style question in a few seconds. Bavarian white, a red seat, the duck beak pointing to the sky, the fork gaiters, the small round windscreen inherited from modern GS models. BMW has invented nothing here, it has simply worked at the right address. What many ignore is that this silhouette rests on the same foundations as the NineT Scrambler, dressed in adventurer’s attire. A base, several costumes. It’s assumed industrial pragmatism, and frankly, the result holds up. The only valid regret: spoke rims with trail tires remain an option. For a machine that sells a dream off-road, it’s a bit short.

Under the skin, the air-cooled 1170 cm3 boxer does what it has always done, with its raspy character and frank progression. Its 110 horsepower arrives at 7750 rpm, its torque of 116 Nm peaks at 6000 rpm, and the whole convinces without forcing. The engine pushes up to 8000 rpm if you insist, but the Urban GS is not made for that. It likes to unwind on national roads, to swallow curves with flexibility, to let the twin sing its deep melody between rows of corn. The announced consumption of 5.3 liters per hundred, combined with the 17 liters of the tank, gives a correct range for this type of escapade. The wet weight of 221 kilograms remains within the standard of the category, even if the seat height at 850 mm will naturally filter out the most modest builds. It’s a question we are often asked during the BMW R nineT Urban GS test, and the honest answer is this: expect legs.

The chassis relies on a three-part frame, with engine carrier, 43 mm fork and the Paralever at the rear, that single arm that links the boxer to the wheel via cardan for decades. The front wheel goes to 19 inches compared to the classic NineT, the suspension travel gains a few millimeters on each side, 125 mm at the front, 140 mm at the rear. Enough to absorb a clean forest track, not to play heroes in a riverbed. The double disc 320 mm front braking system, 265 mm floating rear disc, with ABS, inspires confidence without being spectacular. In 2020, traction control ASC finally joins the list of standard equipment, which was the least one could expect at this price level.

What is the weight of a BMW R nineT Urban GS? 221 kilograms, as mentioned above. And the price? 14,450 euros in the catalog. That's the real question this motorcycle poses, not its technical capabilities. Faced with a Triumph Scrambler 1200 or a Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled, the BMW R nineT Urban GS plays in another league, that of the symbol as much as the tool. It is aimed at experienced riders, lovers of beautiful mechanics, who want to carry a piece of history on them without sacrificing the comfort of modern equipment. It will not do better than a GS on the highway, nor better than a real enduro on the rocks. But in the space between the two, on those winding roads that belong only to lovers of beautiful machines, it finds its justification without difficulty.