BMW Brings Back The G/S Name For The 2021 R NineT

BMW has updated its neo retro offering, the R NineT, to meet the current emission norms. The interesting bit here is that there is no longer a cafe racer version of the bike, in its stead comes in the Urban G/S. The return of the Gelände und Straße name for a small(-er) capacity road focused bike is in accordance with the 40th anniversary of the GS brand. What remains common between all trims?

The heart, obviously. Just like every R series bike that BMW has built, the R NineT bears a boxer twin motor, specifically a 1,170cc air-cooled (with oil-cooling) boxer twin motor. Peak power has gone down by 1PS, now putting out 109PS at 7,250rpm. Thankfully, the internals have been tweaked to deliver meaty mid-range performance as max torque continues to be rated at 116Nm at 6,000rpm. A six-speed gearbox with a hydraulically-actuated clutch system exists with the power continuing to be delivered to the rear wheel via a shaft drive.

The electronic rider aids suite has seen an improvement with ABS Pro (cornering ABS), Dynamic Brake Control (DBC), Automatic Stability Control (ASC), traction control, and two rider modes (Rain and Road) as standard. With the optional Rider Modes Pro package, you can unlock an additional rider mode (Dyna for the standard and Pure model and Dirt for the Scrambler and Urban G/S trims), Dynamic Traction Control, and engine drag torque control (MSR). Cruise control is an optional fitment but there’s no bi-directional quickshifter here.

A tubular steel frame continues to make use of the engine as a stressed member. While the standard trim gets a chunky USD fork, the other three models (Pure, Scrambler and Urban G/S) have to contend with telescopic units. While you get paralever suspension at the rear on all models, there is extra travel on offer on the Scrambler and Urban G/S models. Plus, these two variants also have a 19-/17-inch wheel setup.

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The R NineT continues to exude classic round BMW lines. A round LED headlight, USB charging socket, and a newly designed twin-pod semi-digital info cluster are found on all R NineTs. It gets 16 distinctively different colour options distributed among the four models. We particularly like the Option 719 offerings designed by BMW’s in-house customisation team. However, our pick of the lot remains the standard Urban G/S colour. You get the traditional Alpine White finish with BMW historic colours sprawled across the tank, gold cross-spoke rims, and dual-purpose rubber. This is quite like the original R 80 G/S that won four Dakar rallies.

We expect BMW to bring in the updated R NineT models to our shores by mid-2021. Price tag? We guess the most affordable one will be the R NineT Scrambler (just like it was in BS4 times) at around Rs 17 lakh. This makes the R NineT quite a pricey bike, especially considering the Ducati Scrambler 1100 Pro is available from just Rs 11.95 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom India).