Almost the entire
range of two-wheelers in BMW Motorrad’s catalogue has received updates for the
upcoming 2019 model year. While most of the revisions are cosmetic and involve
new paint schemes, Motorrad’s big ‘K’ line of six-cylinder touring rigs have
stepped up a notch in the rider aids stakes.
First off, except
for the C 650 Sport and GT scooters, the G 310 GS (RM 28,223) and R, the F 800
GT and R (not listed for Malaysia) and the S 1000 RR and S 1000R, all 2019 BMW
motorcycles come with self-cancelling indicators based on road speed. In the
previous generation, self-cancelling mode was based on a fixed time or
distance.
As BMW Motorrad’s
first foray into the sub-middleweight market, the G 310 R (RM 25,392) will come
with a Racing Red paint scheme for the new model year. Also offered is the HP
Motorsport colour scheme in Pearl White Metallic with “HP” lettering and the
previous Strato Blue Metallic colour is now superseded.
Motorrad’s
one-litre four-cylinder ‘S’ bikes, the S 1000 R naked sports (RM 87,666) and S
1000 XR sports-touring (RM 99,930), now come with new colours in 2019. The S
1000 R is available in Black Storm Metallic and HP Motorsport colours of Light
White/Racing Blue Metallic /Racing Red with the Catalano Grey and Light
White/Lupine Blue/Racing Red paint options deleted. The S 1000 XR will come in
Triple Black with a Black Storm Metallic finish and lettering, complemented by
black handlebars. The previous paint scheme of Ocean Blue Metallic Matte is no longer
available. Losing weight is the S 1000 RR superbike (RM 100,875), with the
installation of a lightweight lithium-ion battery. This lets the S 1000 RR lose
2 kg from the previous wet weight of 204 kg.
All five machines
in BMW Motorrad’s “Heritage” bike series – the R nineT and its variants the
Pure, Racer, Scrambler and Urban GS as well as the F 750 GS and F 850 GS – now
come with Dynamic brake lights. This is Motorrad’s term for a two-level brake
light system, where the brake lights flash at a frequency of 5 Hertz when
braking from speeds above 50 km/h.
During panic
braking, the second level of brake lighting in supplemented by the hazard
lights and remains active till the bike accelerates to above 20 kmh. This
option was previously only available on BMW Motorrad’s bigger bikes, notably
the GS and K series motorcycles.
Several R nineT
models receive paint scheme changes, starting with the base R nineT (RM 97,100)
which gets optional Mars Red Metallic Matte/Cosmic Blue Metallic Matte and
Pollux Metallic/Aluminium, deleting the previous Blue Planet Metallic/Aluminium
colour option. The R nine T Pure (RM 79,176) now comes in optional Black Storm
Metallic with Light White or Aurum options, with Matte Black removed from the
options list.
The R nineT
Scrambler (RM 82,949) heads into 2019 cross-spoke wheels as an option from the
Motorrad catalogue with the Monolith Metallic Matte standard paint deleted.
This is replaced with Stereo Metallic Matte as standard or Black Storm Metallic
combined with Light White or Aurum schemes.
Rounding out the
list of R nineT paint changes is the Racer (RM 84,836), which comes in optional
Black Storm Metallic/Aurum with “Racer” lettering. The R nineT Urban GS
(RM 82,949) adds classic looking cross-spoke wheels as an ex-works option.
BMW Motorrad’s big
touring machines, the K 1600 series, now come with Hill Start Control Pro (HSC
Pro) as standard. This rider aid automatically holds the bike when brakes are
activated for approximately one second beyond standstill on any gradient of more
than 5%, plus or minus.
New paint option
for the K 1600 GT (RM 150,874) is Black Storm Metallic/Glacier Silver Metallic
with gold brake callipers. The Mars Red Metallic and Lupine Blue Metallic/Black
Storm Metallic paint schemes are deleted for the new model year.
The higher
specification K 1600 GTL (RM 160,308) is available in Pollux Metallic, deleting
the previous year’s Thunder Grey Metallic and Ebony Metallic from the
catalogue. Major change for the K 1600 B bagger-style cruiser (RM 150,874) is
seat height, which drops to 750 mm from 780 mm, with the latter being the “tall
seat” option along with a new Imperial Blue Metallic paint scheme.
Low seating is also
applied to the K 1600 Grand America (not listed for Malaysia), with comes with
the same 750 mm seat height. A rear speaker with amplifier is added to the
topcase, with fader function and the Austin Yellow Metallic/Black Storm
Metallic paint is no longer available, replaced with Imperial Blue Metallic.
Light White paint
is now omitted from the C 650 Sport (RM 62,189) and C 650 GT (RM65,962)
scooters, replaced by HP Motorsport paint on the former and optional Sparkling
Storm Metallic and brown seat on the latter. Meanwhile, the C 400 X comes in
Black Storm Metallic, while the C evolution is available in Mineral Grey
Metallic/Black, deleting Ionic Silver Metallic/Electric green.
Completing the list
of changes is BMW Motorrad Connectivity which gets a major update to version
1.6, with digital maps completely revised and optimised navigation by TomTom
with a “winding route” navigation option. The 2019 BMW Motorrad range is
available for order this August and prices listed above are for 2018
motorcycles, excluding road tax, insurance and registration.
