The BMW R1200S is a luxury

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

produced by

BMW Motorrad BMW Motorrad is the motorcycle brand of BMW, part of its Corporate and Brand Development division. It has produced motorcycles since 1923, and achieved record sales for the fifth year in succession in 2015. With a total of 136,963 vehicles sold i ...

from 2006 to 2007. Compared to the

BMW R1100S The BMW R1100S is a sports motorcycle that was manufactured by BMW Motorrad between 1998 and 2005. Introduced some 25 years after the R90S, the company's first sports bike, the R1100S was the first BMW bike having clip-on handlebars, rearset foot ...

which it succeeded, the R1200S was lighter, and (with a compression ratio raised from 11.3:1 to 12.5:1) it was 25% more powerful with a "hexhead" motor rated at . Much of the weight saving was down to a new trellis-type frame which replaced the massive alloy frame of the R1100S. The R1200S thus had superior handling, improved braking, higher power output, greater ground clearance, and sport ergonomics. Although the instrumentation was updated, the bike retained the unconventional BMW-system indicator switches (one on either side). Factory options included front and rear Öhlins shock absorbers, switchable ABS, a light weight Akrapovič muffler, expandable locking luggage, heated grips, a solo tail piece, a

Tire-pressure monitoring system A tire-pressure monitoring system (TPMS) monitors the air pressure inside the pneumatic tires on vehicles. A TPMS reports real-time tire-pressure information to the driver, using either a gauge, a pictogram display, or a simple low-pressure wa ...

and a wider 6" rear wheel to accommodate a size 190 tire. Despite these refinements, overall the earlier R1100S has perhaps proved the more successful design. ''

Motor Cycle News ''MCN'' or ''Motor Cycle News'' is a UK weekly motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspaper". The title was founded in lat ...

'' said of the R1200S: "As an oddball track motorcycle it works, but as an accomplished all-rounder it falls short of the standards set by the R1100S that preceded it." However, the owners’ comments attached to this article viewed the R1200S much more favourably. The 2006 BMW R1200S was reported to have a 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds, and a quarter mile time of 11.1 seconds.

HP2 Sport

In 2008 the R1200S was superseded by the

double overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

HP2 Sport. At 178 kg (dry) and 128 hp, the HP2 is even lighter and more powerful than the R1200S upon which it is based; (and compared to the R1100S, the HP2 is 30 kg lighter and 30 hp more powerful). The HP2's dohc engine was the most powerful "oilhead" design before BMW adopted liquid cooling for some of its flat twins in 2013.

References

{{BMW motorcycles R1200S Motorcycles powered by flat engines Shaft drive motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in 2006