The plans of BMW and Gilera

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The plans of BMW and Gilera

Secret thing

MOTORRAD has thought: This is what BMW’s future projects could look like. The resurrection of the Gilera brand, however, is a done deal.

BMW is more successful than ever before. Constantly increasing sales figures and market shares give BMW’s model policy an excellent mark. It has paid off to break new ground in chassis construction with the Telelever, and it has paid off to open up new buyers with the single-cylinder series. That gives the developers courage. There is nothing to shake with one dogma: The two-cylinder boxer, which has been the power source for Bavarian two-wheelers from the very beginning, will probably be the most important mainstay of the White-Blue for the next few decades. However, there is still a lot of leeway for the engineers within this concept. For example in the valve train, where there is a historical role model that the hard core of sports boxer fans still dreams of. The supercharged bevel racers with which the legendary Schorsch Meier won not only the European Championship in 1938, but also the world’s most prestigious road race in 1939, the Senior TT on the Isle of Man. And the vertical shaft naturally aspirated engines of the post-war racing motorcycles, which won titles en suite in the World Team Championship.
At the beginning of the 1990s the chances for such a project were good. Under the aegis of development manager Dr. Burkhardt Goschel, today at the top of the BMW board of directors, had developed a vertical shaft boxer relatively far (but was shelved again. High manufacturing costs due to the complex construction and loud noise development were the arguments of the opponents of this idea.
Kawasaki, of all people, refuted at least the issue of noise emissions with the W 650 retro bike. A vertical shaft drives the overhead camshaft and does not cause any acoustic grief. That obviously left a lasting impression in Munich. The happy news for the fans: The development department is again thinking intensively about a vertical shaft boxer. A thoroughbred, ultra-short-stroke sports engine with a significantly smaller overall width and one liter displacement is under discussion. One vertical shaft drives one or two overhead camshafts per cylinder head, each of which actuates four valves. Since the output per liter of Japanese 1000 twin-cylinder would not quite be achieved due to the unfavorable routing of the intake ports, there could be two variants. In addition to the naturally aspirated boxer engine, a supercharged variant would be available for performance-oriented customers. A classic Roots blower above the gearbox then ensures there is always enough steam and ample torque even in the medium speed range. The aim would be to achieve outputs of around 120 without and around 150 HP with a load. The fans of the white and blue brand could then walk in the footsteps of Schorsch Meier. In addition to the engine and the current six-speed gearbox, which would have a supporting function as before? the trailing arm of the Telelever is mounted in the engine, the parallel swing arm in the gearbox ?? a tubular steel tubular grid would accommodate the remaining components.
But not only the boxer engine, but also the now aging four-cylinder K series, which has been in production since 1983, could give way to a completely new design in the next few years. Because the in-line four-cylinder installed lengthways is simply at the end of its performance and displacement, and is also very expensive to manufacture. True to the models from the Far East, the future in-line four-cylinder should sit transversely in the chassis and angled around 30 degrees forwards, so displacements of more than 1300cm3 would be possible.
True to the BMW philosophy, the new design would have to have the latest engine and exhaust technology such as four valves per cylinder operated by two overhead camshafts, updated injection and a regulated three-way catalytic converter. Components such as gimbal and Telelver are almost mandatory. On the other hand, special technical solutions are also required with a new BMW. In this way, the crankshaft could transmit its torque via a central output. The clutch would be on one side of the primary drive and the two gear shafts on the other. The tiresome subject of shiftability could finally be a thing of the past with a transmission that runs much slower than a crankshaft. At the transmission output, the one-armed rocker could be mounted concentrically to the angular drive of the deflection in the motor housing. Advantage: This eliminates the need for length compensation of the cardan shaft, and the swing arm can be made accordingly long. Due to the overall length, the reaction torque of the swing arm would be correspondingly low in the event of load changes, and the complex and heavy paraleversystem could be saved.
The trailing arm of the Telelever could also be mounted in the engine. What remains is a relatively light subframe that holds the upper bearing of the fork and the attachments. The prerequisites for a light tourer would be extremely favorable.
But a sporty touring bike would also be conceivable with displacements between 1000 and 1300 cm3 and outputs from 100 to 150 hp.
The fans of the Gilera brand can also hope again. The brand, which belongs to the Piaggio Group, will enter the motorcycle business again this year. And how! Because Gilera will start with a super sporty 600 with an in-line four-cylinder. You are breaking completely new ground in frame construction. For the first time, titanium is used for the bridge tube frame, a metal that has a low specific weight and high strength and is therefore predestined for lightweight construction .
The engine is provided by Suzuki: the power source of the ultra-sporty Gilera 6th00 will be the injector of the Suzuki GSX-R 600, whose wild 118 horses will provide fun. Ram-air inlet between the headlights, a high exhaust system and two-stage adjustable mirrors characterize the super sports car, which is expected to achieve racing fame for the brand in the 2002 super sports world championship.

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