BMW K1

The BMW K1 is a motorcycle that BMW introduced in 1988, a short-lived, expensive and polarising sports tourer whose enclosure and fairing set it apart. BMW had begun developing an alternative to its flat-twin engines to meet proposed European Union emissions rules with the 1,000 cc K100 produced from 1983 to 1992, a longitudinal four based on a liquid-cooled Peugeot car engine and led by Josef Fritzenwenger and Stefan Pachernegg. Because BMW was committed to the 100 bhp (75 kW) limit for motorcycles sold in Germany, the K1 relied on aerodynamics: it carried a large two-piece front mudguard and a seven-piece main fairing with two small panniers, after the Racer mockup shown at Cologne in 1984, though the enclosure built up heat and the long wheelbase gave a 22 ft turning circle. Its short production run changed how the press and public saw BMW motorcycles.