Background - The BMW K1300S
BMW announced updates to the K 1200 series at the 2008 Intermot show in Germany. They sent us 85 pages (!) of information covering the BMW K 1300 S, BMW K 1300 GT and BMW K 1300 R, with even a little S 1000 RR thrown in for good measure.
This much information means that BMW is counting on this as a major release. But...we can't help but wonder if this is a case of "too much, too late"?
With the global economic meltdown of 2008, worldwide extreme fuel prices and the difficult loan situation in many countries, a $20k bike with a 1300 cc engine may not be the best strategy. Meanwhile, at least in North America, dealers are completely sold out of smaller, fuel-efficient 125 cc to 500 cc motorcycles for the first time in decades, due to the new riders coming online and high fuel prices motivating buyers to look for MPG rather than HP.
In any case, the production schedule for the new K 1300 series was probably set several years ago, so there isn't much that BMW can do about it. And 1300 cc should be quite a kick...may as well go down in flames as the world comes to an end!
Here is an edited version of their information on the revised K 1300 S; we'll follow up with the rest of the new K 1300 series as soon as we can wade through the rest of the 85-page press release covering these new models.
