Study: BMW R 120 CS

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Study: BMW R 120 CS
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Study: BMW R 120 CS

Study: BMW R 120 CS
Boxer dreams

“I expect a strong response to the study”, predicted MOTORRAD reader Eckehard Haake in view of the R 120 CS designed by Stefan Kraft (MOTORRAD 23/2009). He didn’t know how right he was about that.

Stefan Kaschel

December 17, 2009

Over 100 responses in one week, more than 150 in total. There wasn’t even anything to win. There was also no form on which a few crosses could be made quickly. No, every single one of the MOTORRAD readers wrote a personal, mostly very detailed statement on the topic “R 120 CS”.

Why this surprising response? Just because MOTORRAD draftsman Stefan Kraft succeeded in creating a convincing design with his version of a retro BMW, as is so often the case? With all the enthusiasm for the crisp, daytona-orange study and its role model, the R 90 S, that would have been a bit too short.

No, this topic seems to be about more. It’s about the mental state, about the feeling of life and motorcycling of an entire generation. A generation that remembers exactly the old days without ignoring the new. Which is neither anti-technology nor restorative, but thinks in a practical way and confidently formulates claims. It’s about people who are professionally successful and with a family out of the rough. In other words, consumers who would have a few euros left to put a classic BMW in the heated garage. Seen in this way, it is about the desired clientele of every salesperson. And above all about the fact that this group of buyers obviously leaves something to be desired that BMW cannot (or does not want) to satisfy..

At least that is reflected in the responses. Most of the enthusiastic writers are mostly between 40 and 65 years of age, the majority have a long, sometimes extremely complex motorcycle biography behind them. And annual and lifetime mileage on two wheels that are well above average. This is where practitioners and committed motorcyclists write, and what they have to say (and demand) should not leave even experienced technicians and hardened marketing directors in Munich indifferent. At least not colder than the demands of the highly sought after youngsters or those of the potential new customers who are being poached from other brands.
But are not exactly those who “the boxer is stuck between the legs” (Reader Rudi Menke), well served at BMW for decades? Probably only in part. Because even if the traditional, meticulously further developed engine concept of the air-draft-cooled boxer is a pound that the Munich-based company can use, many BMW customers and fans are missing something completely different: a clear design without edges, asymmetries and frills.

Contrary to what the retro-skeptics at BMW suspect, it is probably not just the glorified look back that makes the Kraft design so widely accepted. Rather, it is also the formal clarity that is already inherent in the R 90 S model and that is missing in the current BMW designs with their playful, exuberant beads, edges and forced inclinations. The R 90 S is a classic. But not because many years have passed since it was published, but because, even after many years, it is still able to inspire people across age limits. Through successful proportions. And because their makers left out everything superfluous and emphasized everything essential.
So the limitation is the second aspect that is mentioned again and again in the letters to the editor. Most of them don’t need 120 horsepower. 80, maybe 90 would do it too. Those who write this should know because they usually have several motorbikes in their garage. As has been emphasized again and again, they would love to supplement this vehicle fleet with a classic range from the BMW shelf or replace their ancient BMW with a motorcycle like the R 120 CS.

The question that remains is whether it would be worthwhile for the BMW product planners to consider an appropriate offer in their portfolio. In any case, MOTORRAD would like to continue the debate. Perhaps invite them to a discussion in the editorial office. MOTORRAD readers, MOTORRAD editors, BMW managers – that would be something, wouldn’t it?

“No frills motorcycles with visible technology”

Designer Stefan Kraft has been dealing with the subject of two-wheelers for MOTORRAD for 25 years. The classic R 120 CS was one of the easier exercises.

? Stefan, what was the biggest problem for you in implementing the retro BMW idea??
! (laughs) To convince you not to use the Telelever! No, seriously: Fortunately, we quickly came to an agreement in this regard. The trickiest thing is certainly to transform the classic design as loss-free as possible to the dimensions and technology of the present and to modernize it carefully.
? What does that mean in concrete terms?!
! That you can’t just start completely without restrictions in this regard. I have to consider things like today’s tire sizes, but also the changed ergonomic conditions such as seat height, handlebar position, arrangement of the footrests as well as chassis dimensions and the installation situation and size of the motor-transmission network. The proportions are very different today than they used to be. And at that time BMW didn’t have a tubular space frame either!
? But such a classic tubular space shouldn’t be a problem?
! The frame design generally does not. But the currently very dominant triangular compound below the tank has seriously disturbed the desired no-frills, tidy design of the retro version. I tried to defuse this problem area with a formally suitable air scoop.
? How do you go about a draft? Do you just start drawing?
! No, first of all I rummage through my now quite extensive archive. Look for pictures of the original and detailed photos of that time and let me inspire you. Then I determine the main style-forming features. In the case of the R 120 CS, these were the tank shape, the triangular side covers, the seat and of course the cockpit fairing. In this case, I then used the technical package of the R 1200 as a starting point and then transferred the design language of the model from that time to this modern basic structure.
? How do you rate your design yourself?
! It fits in well with the time. I think people are longing for honest, no-frills motorcycles with visible technology again.

All the arrogance of the brand

Your draftsman Stefan Kraft has shown a sense of aesthetics that I sorely miss in today’s BMW Mars models. Hence my ambivalent feelings about the study based on the old R 90 S. Joy, because after years I finally got a really nice vehicle in your paper. And sadness, because I know that this part will never be available for purchase. After all, manufacturers definitely want to come out on top in the competition for the ugliest appearance. In the design department of BMW Symmetries, for example, they are still punished with a warning and elegant round lens headlights with notice, so that a GS 1200 will continue to be ordered not because of, but in spite of its appearance. Perhaps at some point in Munich the realization will prevail that the age group who can afford such a motorcycle cannot be served with plastic waste in the long term and, because of the lack of alternatives, prefer to drive the old darling until it falls apart.
Ulrich Knorra, Wiesbaden

How would a retro BMW be received? Already from the LoRider study I blindly ordered two units from BMW and I would also like to fill my garage with the R 120 CS without annoying the dealer with questions about money. But this interview with Mr. von Kuenheim can hardly be surpassed in arrogance.
For decades the boxer has grown firmly between our legs for older people and we have endured flops, faulty constructions and stylistic ridiculousness in this intimate area and paid for it without asking too much. It was not always easy to endure the unspeakable plastic mountains from RT or RS and assign excesses such as Scarver or the extremely unsuccessful X series to our favorite brand. But to dismiss us now as romanticizing old customers from old Europe is just cheeky. So for us only the R 1200 R. Basta remains!

But I don’t want to spend hours looking at the two pee pots (brake fluid container) and listening to the embarrassing rustling from the silencer under my flip-up helmet. I want to ride, hear, taste, and feel a motorcycle for another 20 years, which equates to around ten new machines worth around 150,000 euros. When BMW is overwhelmed with these oh-so-difficult product developments, and better so “fascinating” If we want to develop products such as the X series, the 800 twins or the Fireblade replicas for new customers in Asia and America, we will probably have to switch.

I am now happy to bring my money to the friendly Harley dealer. When it thunders and thunders in the garage, I know that the decision was the right one: Rudi Menke
This retro BMW would definitely be the hottest candidate for my next bike change. Even if it wasn’t a bargain. The color should also be black, the seat a bit more modern – and I wouldn’t have any objection to a one-armed rear wheel guide. Overall a great idea! Martin Muller

… And one more opinion: if the motorcycle is built tomorrow, I’ll buy it the day after tomorrow. Certainly.
Kurt Muller (biker 50+)

Fifteen years ago my wife gave me an FJ 1200 for Christmas. As she watched me today as I studied the picture of the R 120 CS with shining eyes, she said with a wink that I should expect a slightly bigger Christmas present this year. Mr. von Kuenheim, we have a problem! Jurgen Jurczik

MOTORRAD 23, published October 23, 2009. Sudden stopping of customers in front of the motorcycle area of ​​the newspaper shelf. MOTORCYCLE is the reason. 10/24/90, 9 a.m .: The last MOTORRAD from the delivery on the 23rd is sold, new ones ordered from the wholesaler. The same reactions could be observed with the title with the small picture of the Honda study, which unfortunately never came. Or the Konigswellen-BMW around 2002. October 24th, 2009, 1:10 pm: Fight against a violent gag sensation at the sight of an R 1100 R at the gas pump.

BMW apparently forgets that the boxer driver family does not only consist of owners of the current BMW models. (…) I would plunder my savings account immediately for the study. Frank Knuth

Wow! Yes! Just as! At that time I couldn’t afford the R 90 S, I would even finance the R 120 CS. I still ride a triumph, but this great bike could make me a BMW owner. But also in Daytona orange, please! And one should talk about the ox-eye flashers again.

Only if the acquisition of this beautiful retro bike were combined with the purchase of a BMW system helmet, I would have to refrain from acquiring it … 😉 Great study. And I would like to give Mr. von Kuenheim to think about: “The opposite of entrepreneur is neglect.” With kind regards, Wolfram Behrendt

Please build immediately. Make no demands that make the project more expensive. Single-sided swing arm and Telelever can be installed, as well as ABS. Ultimately, the tank bench line and the half-shell determine the design. Smoke silver paint, suitcase and tank bag in the range, and I immediately fill out a check. Reinhard Friedrich
My compliments to Stefan Kraft. The R 120 CS would definitely be a magnet at all trade fairs, bikers’ get-togethers and in front of the local cafe. Since the days of the R 80 R / R 100 R, no bike with the blue and white emblem has turned me on so much! For me, it would be an absolute alternative to the daily uniformity. Ingo Effenberger, Waldenbuch

The R 120 CS would be my first choice. I also buy the R 1200 R with a normal front fork. Telelever doesn’t work at all! Hopefully something will happen in this direction at BMW. Otherwise my savings for the next season will go to the spaghetti or across the English Channel. Ralf Affeldt, Stuttgart

A retro bike based on the 90 S and 100 CS, but technically state-of-the-art, I would buy immediately, if the price remained within the framework. I might even give up my XS 1100 for this. But BMW seems to be increasingly losing sight of the 55 plus target group. Technically, the R 1200 R seems to be a successful bike, which unfortunately cannot be said of the design. Dr. Michael Bockler

I’ve been driving my rubber cow since 1995. For five years I have been looking for a successor, since the money would finally be there for more. Not that easy, as mopeds have changed a lot in the past few years. The tank wider, the seat higher, the seating position longer – at least in the case of the immediate successors to my naked R 80. (…) I wish for myself “my” Boxer modernized. And that is exactly what doesn’t exist and, according to Mr. von Kuenheim, there won’t be either. A classic project like the R 120 CS would be such a pretty thing … Birgit Jung

Hello people, give master Kuenheim steam that something should be put on urgently. The makers, who considered themselves market strategists, wanted to crush the boxer (at BMW and Porsche). I would put such a machine right next to my GS. Dirk Schneider

After presenting the R 120 CS study, all I can say is that I’ve been waiting for this BMW for years. With the introduction of the Telelever design catastrophe and other BMW fork ugliness, the topic of BMW was long off the table for me because I didn’t like it. Unfortunately, Mr. von Kuenheim’s skepticism regarding production costs and profitability proves that he has retained the bad taste of his predecessors. All that remains to be said is that I would definitely be one of the first to order the new R 120 CS (…) Gunter Preuss, Rottenburg
What the exceptionally good designer Stefan Kraft has put on paper here should be taken over one-to-one in the next possible offer from BMW. Sobering, however, is the realization of how far removed an emotionally charged retro concept can be from the globally determined thinking of a board of directors who are concerned with shareholder value. With all due respect: Mr. von Kuenheim cannot be a biker. This can be seen quickly from his cool designs. A BMW R 120 CS would be neither only “a copy of the original” still a “completely new development”. It would be a timely continuation of an old idea with the integration of modern, partly available resources (…) In short: I would order an R 120 CS immediately! Hope dies last … Christian Zeter

To cut a long story short: I would buy the part directly, even though I actually gave up motorcycling when I sold my last Harley E-Glide in 2004 because I don’t feel like using technology from the day before yesterday for the price of the day after tomorrow, so beautiful Things look too. But I don’t trust BMW to have such a great bike. I wouldn’t have bought the newspaper at all if I had this “R 120” not seen on the title page, I’m off it … Wilfried Klein, Cologne

I bought the MOTORRAD booklet and at first only saw the drawing of the R 120 CS. On the drive home I was already restless and in my mind I already chose the color and counted my money. After many years of abstinence, should it be possible again to drive a BMW with the latest technology without having to choke and throw up for optical reasons? The disillusionment came after reading your article and interview. Unfortunately, it’s all just the imagination of the author and draftsman. For me, the interview shows all the arrogance of the brand over the past few years. Customer requests are not of interest. You can buy our motorcycles as we put them on, or you can leave it. (…) What a wasted potential. Every business economist at BMW would have the heart to bleed. My Honda dealer is already happy about the ignorant BMWs. He’ll probably sell me a new VFR next year. Christian Binger

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