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Bike Review: 2007 BMW K1200R Sport - From RoadBike March 2008
 New-Bike Test: 2007 BMW K1200R Sport By Joe Knezevic, Photos By Bob Feather
Regardless, when the opportunity to ride BMW’s in-line four-cylinder K1200R Sport presented itself, I jumped. Up until now, the only K bikes I’d ever ridden were the old K100 and K75. I know BMW makes twins, but I’ve just never liked them. So when I was tossed the keys to the KR Sport you see here, I was pumped. After ripping around town, I reported to the RB staff that I was impressed and really liked the bike. Then they coerced me into writing this review. In-line fours are a far cry from the air-cooled, 45-degree V-twins that I regularly ride. On top of that, this bike is not your everyday in-line four. It’s a highly sophisticated piece of German engineering that was designed for sport touring, limited track days, and breakneck Bavarian speeds. As such, it took me a moment to get comfortable with the K.
The KR and KR Sport share the same potent, transverse-mounted, liquid-cooled in-line four-cylinder engine and six-speed gearbox. The 1157cc power plant has been tilted 55-degrees forward in the frame to lower the bike’s center of gravity and provide additional room for the large airbox required to feed the engine. BMW claims this arrangement puts out an impressive 163 hp and 94 pounds of torque at the crank. A 13:1 compression ratio requires the bike to run on premium 93 octane, which could be a drawback in some parts of the country.
The pulling power of the K1200R Sport reminded me of the straight six 528 Bimmer I owned back in the ’80s. As for top end, I am ashamed to admit that I could not safely reach the bike’s maximum speed, since it’s built for roads like Germany’s fabled autobahn. What I can report is that in sixth gear with the engine spinning at 6000 rpm I was easily breaking the triple-digit mark — impressive considering that the engine’s redline is 11000 rpm. The only drawback to this power plant is that it is used as a stress member and solidly mounted to the composite aluminum frame. Because of this, there is a vibration that runs through the bike, beginning when the engine is about halfway through the rpm range. This can become numbing during long stints at high rpm. The K1200R Sports suspension is made up of a high-performance aluminum Duolever up front and an EVO Panalever out back. Without getting into details, I can say that both were compliant and easily did their job, even when hauling my girth, a passenger, and loaded saddlebags. The BMW EVO Panalever single-sided swingarm shaft drive is a marvel of engineering, and it looks good too. In slow, stop-and-go traffic I found the combination of the shaft and clutch to be clunky and it had some lag, but it’s not nearly as bad as other shaft drives I have ridden.
This is a long motorcycle by sportbike standards. Its wheelbase comes in at 62.2", and the overall length is 87.7". Combined with the bike’s 531 pounds this length provides great stability in long sweeping turns and high-speed straights, but it’s not ideal for fast switchbacks. Since I’m 6' 1", the unladen seat height of 32.3" posed no problems for me. However, a 31.3" cost-free option is available for the inseam-challenged. With all the power, weight, and length this bike brings to the table, I was glad to find that it had wonderful brakes. Dual 320mm disc and dual four-piston calipers up front and a 265mm and single, two-piston caliper out back can quickly slow this bike from any speed. Combine that with BMW’s optional integral ABS ($1,040) and this bike stops almost as fast as it accelerates. I was not a fan of the fact that the front brake also activates the rear, but I was glad to find that trail-braking the rear did not activate the front. With all this performance it’s a good thing that the KR Sport also boasts great lighting thanks to two H7 halogen bulbs. I worried that I would outride my beamers at night but that just wasn’t the case.
Overall, I loved speeding around on the K Sport. At one point, we had some issues with the fuel delivery system, and it started acting like it was running out, even with the tank filled to capacity with 5 gallons of fuel. However, the bike is covered under a three-year or 36,000-mile warranty, so this issue was fixed right away. We were told that it simply needed a software update. I guess that’s the price you pay these days with a high-tech motorcycle. The only two nitpicks I had with this bike are the vibration and the semi-integrated brake system. Except for that, if I had an extra $14,925 (base price), the K1200R Sport might be the first Beemer I would make permanent room for in my garage. RB
Tech Sheet 2007 BMW K1200R Sport
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One of the many perks of my job as managing editor of American Iron Magazine is that once in a blue moon our sister publication, RoadBike, tosses me the keys to the latest and greatest metric motorcycles. As someone who grew up on metric bikes, it’s ironic that I have now actually become biased toward American-made motorcycles. Not to diminish metrics but, simply said, these days my heart is a V-twin, and it beats potato, potato, potato.
For those of you already familiar with BMW’s naked K1200R and the fully faired K1200 Sport, this bike is basically a combination of the two. For others like me who don’t live and breath the Fatherland’s motorcycles, it’s nice to know that the K1200R Sport is basically a K1200R with a frame-mounted half fairing. It was developed in a wind tunnel, and does an excellent job of providing protection from the elements at high speeds. By the way, it’s no secret here in the office that I think windshields are for cars. That said, the engineers at BMW did such a nice job with this fairing that I actually appreciated the protection it offers, especially when doubling and tripling the posted speed limits. With sport touring in mind, this bike features an upright seat position, giving the rider relaxed ergonomics.
Although we were unable get our own real-world dyno numbers, I can tell you that this bike has a ton of usable power. There is a nice combination of top-end horsepower and low-end grunt, so much so that on flat surfaces I could let out the clutch in first gear and the bike would actually accelerate slightly, even carrying my large body.
The Duolever front suspension took some getting used to for two reasons. First, it’s designed to take in and absorb even the smallest bumps, and it does this so well that I felt like I wasn’t getting much feedback from the road. Secondly, the Duolever has almost zero front end dive under braking. The great thing with this front suspension is that there are almost no worries braking hard while leaned over in turns.
Our test bike came in a beautiful White Aluminum metallic finish and with several options. First, and perhaps most impressive, is the Electronic Suspension Adjustment (ESA) which allows the rider to adjust the suspension setup with a simple press of a button. The ESA is a wonderful high-tech addition, and in my opinion well worth the extra $900. It was also equipped with BMW’s second-generation integral ABS. An on-board trip computer option with oil-level warning costs $275 and seamlessly presents information to the rider with a flat, large-area, info screen mounted on the dash. The final option (and my least favorite) was the big-buck BMW Sports PannierSystem, which costs about $1,200. I understand that when touring you need luggage, but this bike deserves a better setup, or at least one that looks better.