Are the Bavarians at the H-D gates?

[advrider]

Mucho buzz in Bavaria. BMW has protected the model name R12 in the German registration register since December 2021. Since April 2022, the model name has also been protected in other European countries, Asia and overseas. The factory has stringently denied that this mean there would be a smaller sibling for the successful (though not in Australia) R18. Usually, that is the surest sign that there is something coming, and it would make a lot of sense. Not with a smaller version of the R18 massive donk, which could not compete with H-D’s Sportster S—but there is no need for that: BMW has the cash cow R nine T all ready to be restyled yet again.

You don’t usually go to the trouble of registering a name unless you are going to apply it to a product, although there are numerous cases where precisely that happened, often as a blind to raise the level of concern at other manufacturers. And the cruiser segment is in the doldrums. But the Sportster S from Harley-Davidson is an entry-level model in the premium segment and has demonstrated good sales figures. It has also been speculated by some German sources that BMW is still gun shy due to the failure of the R 1200 C back in 1997, which bombed despite the booming cruiser market.

The same German sources (I’m not going to dob in my friends) however wonder whether an R12 could join the currently successful trend for two wheelers: heritage. Many factories, think Kawasaki and Honda as well as Ducati and Triumph, are releasing new models with the latest technology, but visually keyed to the brand’s heritage. At BMW, those bikes are the R NineT in some of its many versions and the R 18. An R12 would have potential in the heritage segment.

If it was to challenge its obvious competitors like Harley’s Sportster S, the Indian Scout and the Triumph Bobber it would need decent performance. That is readily available from the boxer engine of the R NineT with 1,170cc, 94kW and 116 Nm meeting Euro 5 and Euro 6.

But that’s not all. BMW has also recently reserved the name Roctane. Will Milwaukee have to put on the red light? Speculation in Europe is that this might presage a Bavarian version of Harley’s Sportster range. All in all, that might suggest that despite the current lull in cruiser sales, Munich is serious in its attack on Milwaukee. Mucho buzz, indeed.

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