Beutler Boxer BMW

Posted on by admin

Menus

Beutler Boxer BMW
Jahn

Beutler Boxer BMW

The BMW ball is coming

They still exist: motorcycles that are unique and really difficult to control. About the attempt to drive a not quite ordinary BMW R 1150 GS over the southern Black Forest.

An icy wind whistles over the plateau on the edge of the southern Black Forest. The sky is gloomy and overcast. A spherical monster stamps with a dull rumble through the inhospitable area. Original tail replaced, looks filigree. Not on the finish either. The surface of its add-on parts looks raw and if it were shaggy, it could be one of those giant primeval creatures on the run from the approaching Ice Age.

But we are in late autumn 2007. The ice age is long gone. The original, however, not. You hardly want to believe it, you can’t believe your eyes, but even after closer inspection, the monster remains a motorcycle, more precisely a BMW R 1150 GS. Only with a different “fur”. The long standpipe covers of the Telelever fork stick out like giant tusks from under the fat skull. This is a huge, curved surface that stretches from the neck, the tank, over the wide handlebars and tapers towards the nose in order to provide the necessary support for two projection lenses arranged on top of one another. Like gills, to the right and left of the skullcap, two panels continue to the rear, enclose the tank and complete this spherical shape.

“It took me a lot of brainpower to make fork, tank and handlebars disappear under one big whole,” says builder Klaus Beutler, a painter and mold maker who works on unusual Streetfighter paintwork and conversions during the day. Hence his weakness for conspicuous things. When he’s not out and about with his Benelli Tornado, MV or Zundapp Bella on the weekend, he devotes himself to his GS. Actually, it shouldn’t have gotten that high. It should appear much flatter. But the long fork was visibly in the way. Nonetheless, everything looks like it has been cast from one piece, if shapes and lines are coherent, everything from the instruments to the indicators fits together homogeneously. As with an articulated bus, the “skullcap” slides over the “gills” when it is steered. Just awesome.

The challenges of the Beutler boxer


Markus Jahn

As if from another planet: the Beutler Boxer BMW

Beutler used plenty of fiberglass mats and resin in his GS, which is hardly recognizable anymore. He did not pay attention to lightweight construction, even if the spartan hump that replaces the heavy original rear end looks filigree. Not on the finish either. The surface of its add-on parts looks raw and unpolished. Even the best metallic paintwork cannot whitewash that. But the many deceptively real carbon imitations from the wheels to the frame to the intake manifold in dip-print technology (thin foils that cling to the surfaces in the immersion bath) give a little insight into what the master is like has it. Switch and handlebar fittings, on the other hand, are simply painted over in silver.

Beutler’s BMW not only looks like an ancient creature, it is also a colossus if you dare to move it. Number one hurdle: the seat height. The delicate hump is so high that there could almost be snow at the top, while it is still raining below. The right leg swings over the obstacle with difficulty. Done! Now you are stuck firmly between the expansive tank dummy and the hump. Next up is hurdle number two: the footrests. When maneuvering on tiptoe, they try tricky to kick the driver in the calves and pull his legs away. And that with a turning circle where Nardo’s high-speed oval would hardly be enough to get around in one turn. Feet up, go and hurdle number three: the handlebars. He takes a stand directly in front of his chest. Its GRP handles are as thick as forearms. They can hardly hold their hands around them, they just lie on top of them, clenching them with difficulty, as if suffering from gout. Pull clutch, apply brake? these are tasks in themselves. If after 35 years you suddenly forgot to ride a motorcycle from one hour to the next?

Show instead of performance

Deceptively real carbon imitations with dip-print technology on the Beutler BMW

Klaus Beutler claims that he has not changed anything on the chassis. Everything series. You don’t want to believe it. As if on raw eggs, Beutler’s BMW juggles the barely winding road, looks nervous and wobbly. Perhaps it is the high center of gravity or the sitting position that has been moved far forward, or both, which always messes up the clean line or lets you not find the right line in the first place. The driver gallops clumsily and aimlessly and does not warm up even after an hour or two with the creature.

In any case, Klaus Beutler is relieved when he sees his GS return to Gorwihl, near Waldshut. "Yeah, it’s pretty stupid to drive. What such a changed seating position and driver posture can do", he says with a laugh. He designed it as an exhibition piece and a crowd puller at trade fairs to steal the show from the countless pimped-up custom Harleys. What he succeeded in doing. He never really wanted to drive with it. It was still worth a try.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *