The annual japery of April Fools Day came and went over the weekend with BMW and Triumph both making the effort to come up with dummy press releases.
It didn’t take too much to see through Triumph’s April Fools announcement of a ‘steering wheel attachment to attract more car drivers.’
The firm’s press release said:
The innovative HandleWheel will fit directly on to the top yoke of some of Triumph’s most popular models like a regular handlebar setup, allowing new riders to steer the bike as they would a car. The steering device will also feature the Triumph Rider Intuitive Control Keys (TRICK) system, a pioneering feature that enables the rider to control switches through voice commands, including lights, indicators, emergency kill switch and horn.
Designed to be smaller than a standard car steering wheel at 260mm in diameter, the HandleWheel provides an intuitive, responsive turning action and ensures the model it is fitted to retains its exciting, sporty feel.
UK and Ireland general manager Paul Lilly was quoted as saying: “We are realistic enough to understand that it can be a daunting prospect for car drivers to climb on to a motorcycle and learn how to ride. We want to make that transition as easy and swift as possible, so our design team, always at the forefront of motorcycle development, came up with a solution.
“The benefits of motorcycles for everyone are clear. For the rider, bikes are more economical because they use less fuel than cars, more efficient because they aren’t hampered so much by congestion and, let’s face it, more fun.
“Bikes are good for everyone around them too. They help ease traffic problems – when some 85% of commuter cars only carry one person – and they are, typically, a greener travel solution than cars or buses.
“At the moment, the HandleWheel is available only in the UK, but in due course we will adapt a version that will be suitable for driving in Europe and other countries where they drive on the right-hand side of the road.”
While Triumph’s valiant effort at humour was easy to see through, BMW’s April Fools press release actually had some people believing it.
The Bavarian firm claimed to be launching a 2wd version of the R1200GS, with an electric motor powering the front wheel. Called the xDrive Hybrid, the system was claimed to put up to 45bhp through the front motor in addition to the 125bhp boxer twin powering the rear wheel, for a total of 170bhp. It even said the bike had been tested by riding to the North Pole, quoting test rider Reiner Scherbeck as saying: “We were absolutely amazed how problem-free and reliable the all-wheel drive worked even at minus 56 degrees. Thanks to our functional BMW rider equipment, the cold temperatures were no problem for the rider, too. Probably the most thrilling conclusion we can draw from our test runs, is that for the first time we can offer a motorcycle that makes riding a motorcycle a pleasure at snow depths of 1.25 metres in high winter with the new R 1200 GS xDrive Hybrid. Special front section components have also been developed for this purpose as well as high-speed suitable M+S all-season tyres. This was also necessary in order to meet the necessary requirements for high-speed winter operation.”
Thanks to a couple of fairly convincing pictures and a press release that played it very straight, BMW’s April Fool managed to take in some outlets, who reproduced the release as truth.
Given the bike’s similarity to 2015’s real Wunderlich X2 prototype, it’s easy to believe that while this was an April Fools spoof, BMW could easily have a 2wd hybrid in development.