Rather than looking to its past BMW has been celebrating its centenary this year with a series of concept vehicles that look towards the next 100 years. It’s already revealed a BMW-branded ‘Vision Next 100’ car, a MINI-branded Vision Next 100 concept and a Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100. Now it’s the turn of BMW’s Motorrad division, and the result is intriguing.
While it’s easy to argue that the latest technical developments on two wheels, largely focussing on electronic rider aids, bring a disconnect between the rider and the bike, BMW has the opposite opinion. It suggests that the Vision Next 100’s ability to prevent you from crashing would be so unbeatable that it will actually lead to a purer riding experience. How? By making protective clothing including helmets an unnecessary legacy of a more dangerous past.
Freed of the need to wear helmets, leather or padding, riders would have a more visceral experience despite the fact the bike would be largely in control.
There’s no detail on how this tech would work, but BMW says the Vision Next 100 would have a self-balancing system to prevent it from toppling, even when stationary. Added to that is a system that sends information from the bike to a smart visor worn by the rider. No doubt BMW also plans the sort of Connected Ride systems that have already been under development for years, allowing the bike to ‘talk’ to cars around it, preventing accidents.
In terms of styling, the bike draws on BMWs past. Despite what’s described as a ‘zero-emission’ drivetrain – presumably electric – there’s the shape of a boxer engine. The carbon frame is intended to hark back to BMW’s first bike, the 1923 R32.
Don’t go rushing to place a deposit just yet. Like the rest of BMW’s Vision Next 100 concepts, this is a pure ideas platform, not something that’s got any chance of seeing production. Maybe in another century, this is what motorcycling will be.
