The best bike in the world
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Date Posted:
September-7-2009 15:12
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BMW’s greatest invention isn’t the M3 or Nick Heidfeld’s F1 ride, it’s this two-wheeled beast of crackling satisfaction – the HP2 Sport.
This curve-slaying, fire-breathing phenomenon is, frankly, the best motorcycle in the world. The BMW HP2 Sport has transformed the horsey Bavarian marque from a two-wheeled carnival ride for liver-spotted old blokes into something that will cause girls to pull at their suddenly uncomfortable clothes and play with their hair.
Look at this thing. It is the most non-BMW-like BMW ever built.
Sure, it still has a shaft-drive and those two horizontally opposed cylinders thrust out the sides, but they’re now crowned with luscious carbon-fibre and are bristling on the inside with up-spec nastiness. Damn it, the heads even have sliders – like you see on Valentino Rossi’s knees! So evil are they, Darth Vader could wear one as a hat.
Clenched within the steel-tube frame is a 1170cc engine that produces 97kW (at 8750rpm) of power and a glorious 116Nm (at 7250rpm) of torque. It weighs a mere 178kg (dry), so the Sport has the bang to back up the bling.
The rest of the bike is just as lusty. It’s like a precision-built watch of exotic materials worn between the legs. You can stare at the Sport for hours and still not see everything there is to see. With adjustable brake and clutch levers (by Magura), gearshift lever, rear brake lever and foot pegs, the Sport can be dialled in to fit you. And that’s important, because once it fits you it will take you on a ride that will re-boot everything you thought you knew about how motorcycles behave.
The Sport's specs will blow you away...