The venerable Boxer twin was the bike long-distance riders aspired to in the Seventies. It didn't matter that the gearbox was clunky or that a Z1 would leave it standing at the lights. BMW was selling quality with a capital Q.
But while a fairing is great on a touring bike, some riders don't like the extra bulk and prefer going naked.
Now BMW have given its baby roadster, the R850R the same looks as its R1150R stablemate. And it is gorgeous, with its neatly sculptured lines running from mudguard to gas tank.
The air and oil cooled flat-twin, four valves per cylinder engine is a small-bore version of the 1150. Modifications incorporated on the 2003 version of the six-speed gearbox include extending the geometry of the gears to provide greater overlap of the gear flanks to give a softer mesh when gear shifting.
The mechanism has also been improved to give a smoother action. Other mods to the clutch have resulted in less noise and reduced weight (by approximately 1kg).
Clunky changes are a thing of the past. And with 70bhp at the end of the twistgrip the R850R is good for 118mph - that's plenty fast enough for riding naked.
In fact, the 850 tops out at the same speed as the 1150, although the big-bore Beemer has more torque. You get the same dependable handling and EVO front brake as the R1150R. Two large diameter brake discs (320mm) and new four-piston calipers provide supreme braking control from light to extra-powerful.
Compared with conventional designs, the same amount of effort applied to the brake lever will produce up to 20 per cent more braking force.
The full range of optional extras for the R1150R is also available for the smaller model. The bigger banger sold out in the UK within months of the launch when it was introduced two years ago, so expect a rush of orders for the 850.
