First adjust your eyes to the shock of the pink of the sculptural fuel tank, then prepare to be startled all over again as the newest BMW cafe racer is fired up with a deep guttural roar that's almost earth shaking. This is Munich’s latest concept motorcycle, known as the R20 Concept, a minimal exercise in two-wheeled power equipped with the finest that motorcycling engineering can offer, and a little luxury besides. Grab your helmet, because this BMW cafe racer is going to be quite the ride.
You wouldn’t expect a BMW cafe racer, concept or not, to be anything less than ready for a Sunday breakfast blast. The R20 Concept is prepared for that and - from what we’ve seen and heard - a track day at the Nurburgring by lunchtime, too. Style is naked cafe racer, chassis is bespoke in double-loop chrome-molybdenum steel, suspension is by Öhlins while braking is taken care of by ISR of Sweden. Only the best is good enough for this BMW cafe racer concept. Custom saddle in leather and Alcantara? Obviously.
But the real star of the show is the engine on this one-off BMW cafe racer. You’ll have already noticed the huge polished cylinder heads protruding from each side, signals of a new evocation of BMW’s renowned flat-twin series of engines. BMW Motorrad call this formidable unit the “Big Boxer” and you can expect it to pack quite the knockout punch. Capacity is a whole 2.0-litres, exposed driveshaft takes the power to custom disc-styled 17" rear wheel, two-into-one exhaust has slashed end-pipes, providing a visible touch of aggression.
Detailing includes Metzeler Sportec M9 RR tyres, circular LED lighting to the front and a neat LED to the rear tucked away to the bottom of the rear subframe. All in all, it’s the sort of radical BMW cafe racer you’d expect to emerge from a tucked-away specialist workshop in downtown Los Angeles rather than from an apparently-dour corporate headquarters in Munich. Its makers say this BMW cafe racer represents the very core of what they do. "The R20 concept is a mechanical masterpiece,” says head of BMW Motorrad Markus Flasch dispensing with unnecessary modesty. ”The Big Boxer is at its core. An unmistakeable BMW Motorrad."
Naturally we’d like an example of this growling BMW cafe racer in our garage. Bad news is this concept is unlikely to make it to production unaltered. Better news is that motorcycling aficionados expect the shocking pink of this unique ride to pave the way for a rather less shocking BMW roadster that’s not so radical in looks, but still powered by that brute of an engine. They’ll certainly hear you coming.
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