BMW rumors or facts?

Interestingly and won't say who and at what dealer told me:

1. K1600b top speed was limited due to increased vibrations at speeds over 120MPH and poor aerodynamics;

2. R-nine-T is an oilhead because of excess oilhead engines made.

Any of it true?

IIRC top speed was originally limited to 240 km/h (=149 mph) for GT and 220 km/h (=136 mph) for GTL. Aerodynamics may well have been the reason for the difference, I was never really happy with how "wobbly" the topcase on my GTL felt.

Hmmm, these days the international website says "over 200 km/h" (=125 km/h) for the GT, GTL, and B - maybe they've bumped it down for Euro6 emissions compliance? It also says 162 km/h (=100 mph) for the GA which I find mystifying given the relationship between the GTL and GT is much like that between the GA and the B: topcase vs. no topcase. The US website doesn't acknowledge either the B or the GA, I wonder why?

My uninformed opinion is that the R-nine-T started out as an oilhead (well, the camhead variety of the oilhead) because it's based on a concept bike (an homage to the R90, hence the name) using that engine. The concept bike was really well received and they didn't want to mess with whatever magic sauce made so it popular so they made as few changes as they could while certifying it as street legal. I think they may have backfitted a justification too: they now view particular model as a platform for customization and it's easier to do a clean job if all you have to work around is the little oil radiator and standard fork instead of the two larger water radiators and the Telelever front end. Also some might consider it good for all the camhead owners out there, because engine and drivetrain parts remain in current production.

I doubt BMW had crates of surplus oilheads and created the R-Nine-T just to use them up. That would be crappy production planning as well as financial mismanagement to have hundreds/thousands more engines than frames, even if that were the case it'd be cheaper to use them up by building more camhead GS/GSA and RT bikes and delay introduction of the wethead than to design a whole new bike, tool up for manufacturing it, and certify it in all the markets they want to sell it in. I wouldn't be surprised to find that inventory management was part of the reason that the only 2013 wethead was the GS; the wethead GSA and RT didn't arrive until 2014.

...My uninformed opinion is that the R-nine-T started out as an oilhead (well, the camhead variety of the oilhead) because it's based on a concept bike (an homage to the R90, hence the name) using that engine...

Small point, but my recollection was (and according to Cycle World) that the R-Nine-T was named for the 90-year anniversary of BMW production (as were the "90-Jahre" models).

"As for the model name, RnineT is meant to pay homage to BMW's 90 years in the motorcycle business, not to any one specific model."

I agree that the compact camhead makes for a better R roadster than the wethead does for the current R1200R and was the reason that motor was chosen rather than being "leftover" stock. They've sold well -- I think it's a great engine.

JohnH it seems we're both right! Roland Sands was commissioned by BMW for their 90th anniversary to build an homage to the R90S. He says so at 4:43.

Hexhead/camheads are great, I completely agree. However to me it seems a bit counterintuitive to not have the wethead in what is a newer bike. I live in the city and for me to have a wethead is almost a must because of constant traffic. On another occasion, driving south of here in the summer can be a challenge. Once, I got stuck on route 1 riding my hexhead and had to wait at least a half hour with another rider to cool off (he just purchased his touring Victory, was taking it home and that thing would refuse to start entirely until cooled off). And just a thought - how much more compact is a camhead vs. a wethead?

Interestingly and won't say who and at what dealer told me:

 

1. K1600b top speed was limited due to increased vibrations at speeds over 120MPH and poor aerodynamics;

2. R-nine-T is an oilhead because of excess oilhead engines made.

 

Any of it true?

Answer to 1: Someone was disappointed with the dealer's response to "What will she do, mister?" The nonsense reasons were to placate the customer or make him/her go away.

If you were the President of Legal Affairs for BMW USA, would you be handing out a 155 mph bagger to riders whose cruisers would typically max out at around 115 mph.

Answer to 2. I think the engine layout with the swept-back intakes and no radiators makes a better basis for a retro-bike than the down-draught intakes of the LC engine. Those going for the homage reason are probably spot-on. i believe no-one was more surprised at the success of the R-nineT than BMW themselves.