DESMO Boxer Engine in SECRET BMW Superbike! Probably the MOST ICONIC Sportbike of the Company...

In today's story I will show you the one of it's kind desmodromic boxer engine in a secret BMW superbike! This is probably the company's most iconic sportbike.

[@K777John]

This bike was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 1999-I was there with a mate and we are both Ducati nuts-we could tell it was desmo because the valve train noise is very distinctive. We got chatting to the BMW rider and he confirmed that it was desmo and had been developed to enter WSB but was too heavy being shaft drive and not fast enough so the project was cancelled.

[@NathanNostaw]

Thanks for another interesting bike. And thank you for not using a robot voice narration.

[@bake162]

I enjoyed this with the exception of the distracting background music

[@JayCGypsy]

...and maybe the weird choice to fully spell out "cubic centimeters" instead of saying "cc" but then using "mm" instead of millimeters.

[@wierdbike]

A classic wIErdbike memes started?😅

[@straightchad8059]

A shaft drive racing machine is going to be more heavy and complicated than a normal chain driven bike . Especially since Ducati had a well balanced chasis /engine layout .

[@JUDEEDWARD]

The GRAIL!! BMW really should have raced it, even if it was just for the hell of it. I adore my R1100rs, It's such fun on trackdays especially at Cadwell 😁

[@henningpieterjordan7416]

Baut das ding in serie für die strasse... wäre töffte...!!!😊

[@MacOne53]

There were a couple of 105e's with 1650 lotus engines competing in Allcomer Saloons in the mid 60s in New Zealand.

[@TheMatrixcube]

This is the project that made clear to bmw that they needed to develop a 4 cilinder inline engine ... All hail the s1000rr

[@rodneystacey1155]

Having an engine as high as that is alwys going to create fundamental handling problems

[@carlosandleon]

I remember there was only 1 pic of this bike on the web back in the day

[@giraffeheavyfactory]

I'm not an English speaker, so I'm not familiar with common English pronunciations, but is it common to pronounce mm, which means millimeter, as M-M? Or is it a misreading by the voice reading software?

[@Super-Dave-Outdoors]

I would not say it is a common way to pronounce it but i think it gets the point across. Maybe they measured in round chocolate candies instead of millimeters

[@simmottos]

was wondering the same thing .

[@patrickarchibald6787]

It's not the correct was to pronounce it. You either say millimetres or mil, or mills.

[@melderosa656]

As an Englishman yes it’s very common to do this. M M, C M and CL are abbreviations just like CI is for cubic inches

[@My-Opinion-Doesnt-Matter]

@@melderosa656 LOL, Englishmen are notorious for purposely pronouncing and writing everything from the metric sytem wrong, hint: kph, kphr, khr, k/hr.. instead of km/h.

[@yorkchris10]

This looks like the boxer I saw in a magazine that had a V angle slightly less than 180 degrees. I don't remember it being desmo, but was l/c.

[@brucebrown5185]

Give it up!! 😂

[@anthonyxuereb792]

Awesome looking bike, the Germans now own Ducati.

[@Druwoods]

It's like my ducati 916 and bmw 1150rt had some mutant child.

[@theyudhakrisnanda]

Second comment saved

[@alfred-vz8ti]

ducati has been surviving with a similar programme for many years. they are lighter and narrower. maybe bmw could prosper off the road?

[@My-Opinion-Doesnt-Matter]

That's a weird way to say M&M's.

[@wierdbike]

yeah, wIErdbike😂☺️

[@couttsy222]

I really wanted to watch this but the bloody background music totally ruined it.

[@Exitwoundstudio]

First comment. What do I win.

[@adel5637]

Nothing

[@Exitwoundstudio]

@@adel5637 😂

[@manyamile410]

It Is weird.

[@antiestablishmentarianist]

why are germans so stubborn with engine/automotive design? they kept the boxer in this race bike, knowing it will be more difficult, then find out it causes excessive vibration, then cancel it, instead of just building a regular v-twin or inline 4, both proven designs. the 911 stuck with rear mounted engines for like 80 years now, i know they've been able to engineer around it, but clearly it's not the best layout, or other companies would do it. they seem to overcomplicate things just for the hell of it, or just because they're stubborn? i don't get it. they make some incredible engines, but they're so complicated they need more maintenance than other brands and they're generally way less reliable because of that. hence costing a LOT more to own. while simultaneously destroying their resale value. i just can't fathom why any rational company wouldn't use the absolute best strategies for the most power, and most reliable, and easiest to maintain. unless their real strategy is planned obsolescence (talking vw, bmw, merc) not porsche so much, as they seem to be pretty reliable, and they did finally make a mid engine car.

[@josbosman7933]

BMW's customers were stubborn. BMW wanted to stop with the boxers, but the customers stil wanted the boxers to be kept. Zilly customers ;-) .

[@patrickarchibald6787]

Agreed, it's not a good design for racing, you can't lean the bike enough, so they had to raise the engine and then it upset the handling. Also, with an air-cooled bike a flat twin made sense because the cylinders are out in the breeze, but on a water cooled race bike the fact that they're in the airflow means the produce drag. The V twin design is superior in this respect because of the lower frontal area.

[@GIGABACHI]

Egotistical Pride and Sadism. This is their engineers life long payback to the World for not being able to win WWII. So now they make EVERYTHING over engineered, over complicated because they can, not because they should hence making every mechanic the world over beet itch and moan every time they have to wrench on one of their plastic fantastic monstrosities. That's what someone I know says about it. And I somewhat sarcastically agree.

[@anthonyxuereb792]

As the comments say below, Zilly customers, it's what they want and gladly part with their cash for. When they tried alternative drivelines, 924, 944, 928 they failed to catch on. Yes they bleed through the nose for the upkeep but happily do it.

[@antiestablishmentarianist]

@@anthonyxuereb792 thanks for the reply. yeah i know about the others they tried, but they weren't bad cars, they were just ugly as sin. if they would have hired a better designer they could have been iconic cars..well at least the 928 and 944. one car you didn't mention looked pretty awesome too, the 914. i dunno why those never really took off. but i think they're having a bit of a resurgence now because they're cool looking mid engine porsches and probably are really fast with a k swap.

[@sbsb4995]

Boxer engine is 😢😢😢 rubbish.