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BMW shows off a slew of custom Lo Rider renderings
Click above for more custom renderings of the BMW Lo Rider concept
When BMW introduced its Lo Rider motorcycle concept on the unsuspecting public at the EICMA Show, officials for the German cycle manufacturer said that it designed the bike to be owner-customizable. Guess what? They weren't joking, and to prove it, the manufacturer has let loose more than a dozen renderings of possible custom Lo Riders. Much like what Harley-Davidson has done, BMW has created a single platform that offers customization through various saddles, handlebars, headlights and exhaust systems. By varying things like the seat height and footpeg location, the Lo Rider could offer either a very sporty ride or a machine for laid back cruising.
This theme is something new to BMW Motorrad, which has traditionally been much more at home designing long-distance touring mounts and standard bikes. More recently, the cycle maker has branched out into all-road style machinery under its GS label and super sporty bikes under its K-Series nameplate. In the late '90s BMW introduced the R1200C to combat the growing number of HDs and Japanese cruisers, and it is this custom crowd that the Lo Rider is aimed at. We hope to see more bikes from BMW that follow this pattern.
Gallery: BMW Lo Rider Concept Renderings
[Source: Motorcycle News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kitko 10:05AM (11/18/2008)
Gib mir Benzin
Es fließt durch meine Venen
Es schläft in meinen Tränen
Es läuft mir aus den Ohren
Herz und Nieren sind Motoren
Benzin
It doesn't get more German than this. It's Rammstein on wheels.
Give me petrol
It flows through my veins
It sleeps in my tears
It leaks from my ears
Heart and kidneys are motors
Petrol
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Adam 10:34AM (11/18/2008)
Most of the sportier configurations look like a Roland Sands design, and that is definately is not a bad thing.
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Hot_Carl 10:37AM (11/18/2008)
Looks tough, and not overly quirky like a lot of BMW's bikes. I love the sort-of fenderless look and hanging solo seat.
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Bryan 11:52AM (11/18/2008)
It's Official, this is the first BMW bike I have liked. Hopefully this can bring the D-bag factor down for them.
fixitfixitstop 12:17PM (11/18/2008)
Bryan, I've never seen a D-bag behavior on BMW motorcycles, at least not in comparison with Duc or Gixxer riders.
Bryan 8:19PM (11/19/2008)
@fixitfixitstop
Oh don't get me wrong, there are plenty of Duc & Gixxer Dbagisms. Its just different for BMW, here are some examples:
-BMW's are the best bikes out there because...then I have to sit and listen to all the neat tech specs the sales guy told you about.
-When the storage boxes on your bike far surpass the number of brain cells you have, there may be a problem.
-Shiny new bike, shiny new helmet, shiny new jacket, shiny new....you get where I'm going with this.
-My rich, fly fishing wannabe, Eddie Bauer wearing, dbag of an uncle just looooves his BMW. I think he's ridden it once and it scared him. ;)
BoxerFanatic 10:56AM (11/18/2008)
Not bad...
I really like the red engine on some of them...
The steel tube subframes look really simple and open, hopefully they are robust. The R12S and HP2 Sport's rear engine subframes are more triangulated than that.
This does seem like distilled motorcycling, more primal than even other bikes like Ducati Monster.
I could see a variant of one of these replacing my Honda Hawk GT someday, and I do like BMW's boxer engine and shaft drive.
I do kinda wish they had fitted Duolever, or kept Telelever, though... I suppose it would only be as hard as re-fitting the R1200R front subframe and telelever system, to get it back.
I do like the minimalist seat, and the "toaster tank" look. I got into motorcycling by helping a college room-mate work on his 73 (IIRC) R50/5 toaster tank bike. I think I came out of that knowing more about that bike than he did, but it has been a long time since...
Have liked the boxer bikes ever since, especially the 1200cc hex-heads...
I can dig these minimal bikes, but the R1200S is still calling to me... I wonder if they will release a successor to that... since they cancelled it after a short run. (they did the same thing to the 88-91 Hawk GT, too... I seem to like very niche, low production/demand vehicles...)
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kevjohn 11:08AM (11/18/2008)
Well crap. Now I have nothing worthwhile to say after that. Stop hogging all the good comments, dude.
Rocketboy 11:10AM (11/18/2008)
A concept/rendering of a motorcycle that actually looks like a motorcycle that would work in the real word?
Unheard of!
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Alex 11:47AM (11/18/2008)
I'll take #17 please
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/bmw-lo-rider-concept-renderings/1164220/full/
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fixitfixitstop 12:22PM (11/18/2008)
#8 is full of win.
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Nobody Special 1:57PM (11/18/2008)
Build it.
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j 2:01PM (11/18/2008)
ugly
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Nobody Special 2:02PM (11/18/2008)
Oh, by the way - I'll take either #1 or #15 or #16 with the Red motor.
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RLQ 4:10AM (11/19/2008)
Please BMW build this.
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GTT-4 12:21AM (11/19/2008)
beautiful bike
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Andre 11:43AM (11/27/2008)
At long last, an awesome custom bike from BMW! Yes, BMW please start producing it!
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