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NEWS
BRIEFS
Yamaha Motors ' President Yoshihiro Hidaka has gone on the record to state that , in his view , the priorities of the market should be Biofuel first , EV second , saying that " CO2 may be treated as a ' Bad Thing ', but I believe that the engine itself is not ." Those remarks came in a magazine interview and followed the news that Yamaha and , initially , Kawasaki are to invest heavily in exploring the potential of hydrogen power for PTWs . Honda and Suzuki are expected to come on-board with the research effort before too long .
The NHTSA in the United States has issued what it is referencing as " final rules " for fully autonomous vehicle manufactures . There is a big , fundamental change . The new " rules " roll back the requirement previously stipulated within SAE J3016 for Level 5 full-time autonomy to still have controls for human override . That requirement has now been eliminated , meaning that vehicle manufacturers are not compelled to equip fully autonomous vehicles with manual driving controls in order to meet crash standards . General Motors Co . and its selfdriving technology unit Cruise petitioned the NHTSA for permission to build and deploy a self-driving vehicle without human controls such as steering wheels or brake pedals . The rules revise regulations that assume vehicles " will always have a driver ' s seat , a steering wheel and accompanying steering column , or just one front outboard passenger seating position ," according to the NHTSA .
Airoh has signed as the main FIM ISDE Partner for a further three years , having first teamed up with the series in 2015 . In 2022 the Six Days will take place in France , at Le Puy-En- Velay , from the 29th August - 3rd September . Airoh will be the first-ever naming rights sponsor of the ISDE .
The Moto Guzzi Museum in Mandello Del Lario is reopening . Situated at Moto Guzzi ' s historic home on the shores of Lake Como , the collection has been completely and conservatively restored , the rooms renovated and the visitor experience completely redesigned .
BMW - Q1 Unit sales + 11.3 %
Motorcycles segment deliveries and revenues were up again in the first quarter of 2022 for BMW Motorrad - the company increased its sales volume by + 11.3 %, delivering 47,403 BMW motorcycles and scooters to customers ( 2021 : 42,592 units ). Segment revenues climbed + 6.1 % to € 799m ( 2021 : € 753m ). The motorcycle segment ' s earnings before financial result ( EBIT ) totalled € 108m ( 2021 : € 135m ), while the EBIT margin came in at 13.5 %. However , as Roger Willis in BDN reported , Q1 cost of sales in its motorcycle division rose by 11.7 % to around € 800m resulting in operating profit actually being down by -20 % compared to Q1 2021 at around € 107m . Operating margin fell to 13.5 %, compared to 17.9 % for the year ago period , with net motorcycle segment profit down by 12.7 % to € 89m .
R12 cruiser on the way ?
By Ben Purvis
After a decade and a half away from the cruiser market , BMW ' s massive R18 was perhaps the perfect machine to launch as a statement that the German firm was back in the game and serious about its intentions . Given the R18 ' s vast dimensions and weight , riders who want a BMW-branded cruiser with a little less excess will be pleased to hear that the chances of a smaller version of the bike reaching production have just increased . BMW has filed trademark applications across the globe for rights to use the name ' R12 ' on a future motorcycle , and given the company ' s current naming protocol , that badge seems sure to be used on a cruiser similar to the R18 . The R12 name clearly sits alongside the R18 , with the ' R ' denoting a boxer twin engine and the ' 12 ' indicating a capacity of around 1,200 cc . The existing 1170 cc twin from the R nineT retro roadster would seem to be the ideal engine : with 109 hp it has got all the performance it needs to compete in the 1,200 cc cruiser sweet spot against machines like Indian ' s 1,133 cc Scout , Harley ' s 1,252 cc Sportster S and Triumph ' s 1,200 cc Speedmaster . The proliferation of 1,200-class cruisers and the potential that the BMW R12 will join them illustrates how much the market has changed since BMW ' s last attempt at a cruiser - the 1997-2004 R1200C . While warmly welcomed by
BMW M 1000 RR
To mark the 50th anniversary of BMW M GmbH ( founded in 1972 as BMW Motorsport GmbH ) BMW Motorrad is presenting this M 1000 RR 50 Years M anniversary model in Sao Paulo Yellow finish and with the historic 50 Years BMW M emblem . " With its striking M colours , this anniversary model lives up to the M philosophy and the racing spirit from almost 100 years of motorcycle construction by BMW Motorrad and 50 years of BMW M vehicles ." The M RR 50 Years M is fitted with the M Competition Package as standard . No maximum production number has been set , but it can only be ordered between 21 May and 30 November 2022 .
reviewers , the R1200C was left behind by the early-2000s trend for ever-larger engines in the class . By the end of its life in 2004 , rivals included the Honda VTX1800 , Kawasaki VN2000 and , of course , the then-new , 2.3-litre Triumph Rocket III . Speaking in 2004 , BMW Motorrad ' s then boss , Dr Herbert Diess ( now one of the most powerful men in the motor industry as CEO of the VW Group ) said : " There will be no direct successor to the cruiser in our next model generation . This is due to technical considerations : The new engine you know from the GS is designed consistently for low weight and therefore - quite intentionally - offers only a small margin for an increase in engine displacement . Since the trend in the cruiser segment has now been pointing far beyond 1,400 cc for quite some time , a cruiser in its former , classic style with a smaller engine would no longer fit into our concept for the future ." Even then , he left the door open for a return , saying : " This does not mean that we are turning away from the cruising philosophy with BMW motorcycles once and for all . On the contrary , it would be quite conceivable for us to reinterpret this theme quite differently at some time in the future ." Fast forward to 2022 and the market today is very different , with a thriving class of cruisers in exactly the capacity category where the R1200C used to be . Since BMW already has the right engine for the job - in fact the R nineT ' s 1,170 cc twin is directly descended from the identically-sized motor used in the R1200C - the development costs of a new R12 cruiser would not be great . In fact , there ' s already an aftermarket kit from NMoto - called the ' R sevenT ' - that converts the stock BMW R nineT into a pre-war-style cruiser inspired by the 1934 , one-off BMW R7 .
BMW ' s last venture into the Cruiser segment - the R1200C ' Independent ' was launched in 1997 , but dropped after 2004 . The original R12 is legendary - it was an R11 successor based on a 1933 Alfred Boening Art Deco styled R7 concept . It was the first production bike to feature hydraulically damped telescopic front forks and ran from 1935 through 1942 - 36,000 were made .
24 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - JUNE / JULY 2022