BMW 450 enduro (merged) threadfest...

This my dear friends, is a new BMW enduro motorcycle. It was ridden bij Sachsa Eckert, former German enduro champion in the German E2 this weekend.











Very stealth indeed, and both BMW and Sachsa seem very hush about it.

(pictures courtesy of 6days.eu)

Left-side chain? So its a completely different engine than the 650? Wow.....

It needs a bath.

How is it that the new designers think that you don't need a frame wrapping around the bottom of the motor? They must have never ridden in rocky terrain. I have cased my bike with a skid plate on it so hard that the dent goes all the way to the motor. The last time I hit something hard it bent the frame behind the skid plate. It seems real stupid to me to think that the motor cases are going to hold the skid plate in a manner strong enough to thwart off these kinds of impacts.

I don't have a problem on my 950 since it doesn't get to do singel track, but on a bike designed for single track it just doesn't do the job. I am going to pass on the new KTM 690 if the dualsport version doesn't have a cradle frame.

hmmmmmm...














<b>

How about removing the engine from the frame just to change the sprocket:



This has to be a prototype, yes definately.

Stop It!!!!

Now we're going to have a bunch of X-Challenge order holders second guessing their down payments.....:eek1

Can we get a mod to move this to the "Nessie and Bigfoot" Forum....

You can see the engine mount above and to the left of the sprocket, so I'd guess that there's a enough room to slip the sprocket off. Maybe I'm wrong in this assumption, but to me cleverly placing the swing arm pivot at the sprocket locations negates the problem with chain slack.

[Speculation]
Perhaps this would lend itself to belt drive (pivot at the sprocket), and with the room behind the frame at the sprocket, perhaps BMW is working on a fully enclose a belt drive system (protection it from mud, gravel etc.) for use on something like an F800GS? [/speculation]

Hmm I dont know man. There's also a swingarm in between there. Maybe it's just a matter of removing the swingarm. But you are right, placing the swingarm pivot concentric to the front sprocket is the way to prevent chain slack problems (but I didn't know it was a problem either).

Anyway, we're just wild guessing on what the pictures show, not on what they don't show.

More pictures:

Hey Max,

I went to that website, but I can't read Dutch. It's a cool looking bike, but what indicates that it is a BMW and not an Aprilia or something else?

Is this the race in Chile?

The entrant on this bike was Sachsa Eckert, he was registered riding on a BMW in the E2 class (250cc 2 stroke / 450cc 4 stroke).

That's all I know unfortunately.

AFAIK the event was in Uelsen, near the border to The Netherlands. Unlikely we handed that region over to Chile.

They are already doing that with the 650s.

That was no Aprilia, that was a Rotax engine. And even then the BMW used a different head than the Aprilia. Nowadays the G650 X is being built by Aprilia, but again with a Rotax engine.

Anyway, more pics Mr Sulu:

EOE

Note ---

Fuel Injection (See lambda sensor etc)
Does any other manufacturer currently offer FI on a 450 enduro ?

The foot Pegs are exactly the same as used on the HP2, 1200ADV and G650 X.

Yep, Sherco does, as well as Gas Gas.

GasGas and Sherco come to mind.