BMW Motorrad CEO Teases New R20 Cruiser

BMW Motorrad appears to be getting ready to launch its next big bore cruiser, the BMW R20. Images shared by BMW Motorrad CEO Markus Flasch show six units of the soon-to-be-launched R20, in almost production-ready form. While BMW Motorrad already had a chrome-laden big cruiser in the BMW R18, and before that, the R1200C, the German marque hasn’t had much success in the segment.

But that doesn’t seem to have taken a hit on BMW Motorrad’s ambitions in the heavy-duty cruiser segment. At the heart of the new BMW R20 is expected to be an evolution of the air/oil-cooled boxer twin used in the BMW R18. That 1,802cc boxer-twin had an output of 90 bhp at 4,750 rpm and 158 Nm of torque kicking in at 3,000 rpm. 

As the name suggests, the R20 is expected to get a bump in engine displacement, to 2,000cc. Detailed specifications haven’t been revealed yet, but it would be safe to assume the R20’s engine will have an output of around 100 bhp and 180 Nm – cracking figures for a heavy-duty cruiser. Compared to earlier cruisers from BMW, the R20 is expected to have a sportier personality – and the suspension is expected to be from Ohlins to aid in the dynamics department.

More details on the BMW R20 are expected to be revealed closer towards the end of the year, possibly at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, in early November.