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BMW
Driving report BMW G 450 X
BMW’s sports enduro
BMW is entering the sports enduro market with a completely new concept. The focus of the avant-garde off-roader: the chain pinion and the pivot point are on the same axis.
This is what is called just in time: second place at the Austrian Erzberg Rodeo, double victory in the second run of the German Cross Country Championship. Precision landing ?? two days before the presentation of the new sports enduro from BMW, the G 450 X. Because that wasn’t always the case. With defects and poor sporting results, Bayern’s young off-road project dragged its way through its first season last year.
Line underneath. Now it is there, the first series-produced sports enduro in the BMW company’s history. The central element of the G 450 X concept is the coaxial arrangement of the swing arm pivot point and chain pinion. It enables a longer swing arm, which should provide better traction. A positive side effect: As the tension of the chain remains unchanged over the entire spring travel, the forces that the drive exerts on the rear wheel suspension are reduced. Although this approach is not new (see box on the right), it is being pursued consistently by BMW for the first time. That means: First of all, the rocker shaft runs through the hollow transmission output shaft. Second, the clutch, which in its usual position would collide with the swing arm axis, moves forward and sits directly on the crankshaft. Thirdly, the necessary translation of the primary drive is taken over by an additional intermediate shaft. Why, fourth, the crankshaft? like Valentino Rossi’s Yamaha MotoGP machine ?? rotates backwards.
A break with many customs, which can also be seen in the chassis of the 450 series. Slim stainless steel tubes replace the common constructions made from aluminum profiles. The tank resides close to its center of gravity in the rear frame, the air filter housing under the nose of the seat bench. It’s actually amazing that the BMW feels so familiar. Footrest, seat and handlebar position as well as the slim knee joint ?? everything as usual from the competition enduros. Even after pressing the button? the 450 engine does not have a kick starter? only the sniffing from the intake tract and the singing of the intermediate wave shyly remind of the unorthodox environment.
Single is looking for adventure
archive
Sporty single: the G 450 X is fun for everyone.
But now: in the corridor and away. Loose stones, narrow single trails, bumpy paths ?? Enduro terrain de Luxe in the southern Spanish hinterland. Thanks to the gasoline injection with double throttle valve, which is still unknown in competition enduros, the single runs smoothly immediately ?? and owes a current record to this technology: In the street legal version, the four-valve engine develops 41 hp (for comparison: KTM 450 EXC-R: 12 hp). When it is launched, however, the BMW competes with the supplied competition kit (Akrapovic silencer and sport mapping of the Keihin injection system) and thus with officially stated, class-standard 52 hp.
In fact, the dohc engine, equipped with titanium valves, hangs neatly on the gas, and starts up smoothly and easily just above idle speed. Fine. Mainly because the single, which is completely manufactured by Kymco in Taiwan, not only masters the sensitive approach. As soon as the area opens up, the genes of the 59.6 millimeter short-stroke engine break through, it revs up greedily and freely, and can be casually zapped through the easily shiftable five-speed gearbox.
But as easy as it is for the Bavarian at the speed of an express train, she challenges her pilots in the core enduro disciplines. Because the slower the trail, the heavier the front feels. Then it takes a lot of concentration to lift the front wheel over boulders or stone steps. A feeling of insecurity that increases even further downhill despite the remarkably hard suspension setting of the Marzocchi fork. It cannot be due to the total weight (factory specification: 111 kilograms dry) or the static weight distribution. All that remains is to look for the cause in the influence of the unusually strong tilted cylinder. It is no coincidence that the competition has been trying for years to influence the handling with minimal changes in the cylinder inclination? with an almost vertical installation position. After all: on non-slip ground ?? even without residents ?? The front wheel literally bites into the ground. The tight disc spring of the cable-operated clutch, which requires the force of two fingers on the hand lever over time, is of little help.
It is also not easy for the hindquarters to meet the high expectations that they have set themselves. The Ohlins monoshock, which supports the 30 millimeter longer swing arm without deflection, works sensitively and cleanly swallows small edges. In terms of traction, however, the rear remains at the level of conventional systems. Not worse, but not better either. What remains of the first impression? That the G 450 X does not redefine the limits in enduro sports. Point. Instead, the innovative concept requires the driver to at least get used to it. Only a direct comparison can show whether it will be on a par or even superior to conventional technology. That’s what the off-road scene is waiting for until the market launch of the BMW in September ?? Incidentally, just like their price, which has not yet been set.
Everything has been there before
The length of the arm and the chain hoist significantly influence the traction and behavior of the rear suspension. The following applies: The longer the swing arm, the more traction, the smaller the change in the chain hoist during the spring movement, the less stressed, i.e. more sensitive, the suspension can work. That’s why resourceful minds tried early on to come close to the ideal through the coaxial design of the pivot and pinion pivot point.
With the mere reduction of the influence of the chain hoist it left off-road noble tuner Fritz Kramer in 1976 in the Kramer-Maico named after him. A double pinion on the swing arm axle, which put a second, short chain drive upstream of the actual secondary drive, enabled constant chain tension over the entire working path of the rear wheel swing arm. After only a few uses, the construction was discarded after only a few uses. A year later, in 1977, Italian tinkerers extended the swing arm of a 125cc Crosser and placed its pivot point by means of a subframe at the level of the transmission output shaft. The so-called Wafner 125 remained a one-off, and was the first time such a concept went into series production in a road machine, the Bimota SB2, also presented in 1977. After a few years, however, the very broad frame construction disappeared again in the sinking.
Technical specifications
engine
Water-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke engine, two overhead, chain-driven camshafts, four valves, bucket tappets and rocker arms, wet sump lubrication, injection, regulated catalytic converter, alternator 280 W, battery 12 V / 7 Ah, mechanically operated multi-plate oil bath clutch, five-speed gearbox, chain.
Bore x stroke 98.0 x 59.6 mm
Cubic capacity 450 cm³
Compression ratio 12.0: 1 rated power
30.0 kW (41 hp) at 7000 rpm
Max. Torque
43 Nm at 6500 rpm
landing gear
Bridge frame made of steel, upside-down fork, Ø 45 mm, adjustable rebound and compression damping, two-arm swing arm made of aluminum, adjustable spring base, rebound and compression damping, front disc brake, Ø 260 mm, double-piston floating caliper, rear disc brake, Ø 220 mm, Single piston floating caliper.
Spoked wheels with aluminum rims
1.60 x 21; 2.15 x 18
Tires 90 / 90-21; 140 / 80-18
Dimensions + weights
Wheelbase 1475 mm, steering head angle 61.8 degrees, caster 119 mm, suspension travel f / r 300/320 mm, seat height 955 mm, dry weight 111 kg, permissible total weight 280 kg, tank capacity 8 liters. Warranty two years
Color white
Price c. A..
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