First Ride Review: 2017 BMW R nineT Racer

Three thumbs up, half a dozen longing stares, and a stoplight-worth of flirting with a cute girl in an Audi A3—that's the sort of attention you get riding BMW's RnineT Racer down the Pacific Coast Highway on a casual weekday afternoon. For a lot of people, I think the review could end right there. No amount of disappointing specs or caveats about a potentially uncomfortable riding position could dissuade you from wanting this bike in your garage and in front of your coffee shop. So, if that's you, read no further. I have nothing more to offer and I'm sure you'll be very happy with your new purchase. But, if you do happen to have some deep, buried curiosity about how the Racer actually stacks up as a functional machine, then I encourage you to read on. I won't judge you for it.

THE FEATURES The Racer is the latest addition to BMW's ever-growing lineup of Heritage motorcycles that started with the RnineT back in 2013. While all these nineT variations have different designs, components, and price tags, they do share an identical 1,170cc boxer engine—one that makes a claimed 110 hp and 86 lb.-ft. of torque. It may not be BMW's latest and greatest wasserboxer (like the one you would find on a 2017 R1200GS), but it's a damn fine power plant and one of the primary reasons that these bikes have so much character.

But the similarities largely stop with those twin cylinders. The whole reason that the Racer exists is to expand BMW’s market share—to sell motorcycles to people that didn’t already buy an original nineT. And, as you might assume, the quickest way to a consumer’s heart is through their wallet. The Racer is listed at $13,295, which is actually $2,100 below the flagship R nineT’s price of $15,395. That’s impressive both in how much less the Racer costs and how credit-card-burningly-expensive the flagship model is. Especially for a bike with minimal electronics and an engine that’s been around for close to a decade.

Of course, BMW didn’t just make the Racer less expensive because they wanted to be a good guy. The design and paint scheme may look premium, but the hard parts on the bike tell a different story. Starting with what keeps you rolling, both the wheels and the suspension are considered lower spec than the OG nineT. That means the 17-inch hoops are now cast, instead of spoked, and the inverted fork has been swapped for a cheaper right-side up one. Add onto this a steel tank instead of an aluminum one, a single seat with no passenger accommodations, a simplified 2-in-1 exhaust, and, well, you can begin to do the math.

Then there’s the riding position. Not a cost-saving measure as much as a style-improving one, the Racer is equipped with lower clip-on handlebars up front and a higher footpeg/seat combination out back. When you actually sit on the bike and find yourself stretched out across the tank in a track-mode tuck, the name “Racer” begins to make a little more sense. It’s a far cry from the relaxed (see: comfortable), upright ergos found on the rest of the nineT models, but none of those come standard with the fantasy of making every ride feel like a rip around Isle of Man in the 1970s.

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THE RIDE While we're sorely lacking in the sort of quaint British roads that I imagine a nineT Racer would prefer, a day spent ripping around Southern California proved to be more than adequate for feeling out the limitations of the bike. Limitation numéro uno, you ask? Comfort. A luxury that is swiftly executed in the name of looking incredibly cool and mysterious as you cruise from what I assume is one gallery opening to another. Whether it's the pressure on your wrists, an ache in your back, or a kink in your neck, it's difficult to escape a long stint on the Racer without some minor ailment. For a bike that's destined to be a Sunday cruiser, or for people that swear their GSX-R is as comfortable as a touring bike, this probably isn't a deal breaker. But, considering that handling and performance were clearly not the priority when it came to building this bike, it seems like they could've dialed back the aggressive seating position just a touch and we all would've been less hunchbacked for it.

Beyond that minor detail, the Racer is a perfectly enjoyable motorcycle to fling around town. Those "low-spec" components never feel like they're really holding the bike back and I think the tradeoff between performance and price is pretty fair. Sudden bumps are a little harsh in the front end and low-speed handling is a challenge (due to the riding position, as much as anything else) but overall the bike performs as you'd expect with off-the-shelf suspension tuning.

What the bike has in spades is character and the majority of credit goes to that boxer engine. From the second it rattles to life, to the moment it lurches forward with the pop of a gear change, this engine just radiates personality and constantly keeps you in touch with the feeling between the throttle and road. Not to mention that if you momentarily lose that feeling between throttle and road, the Racer comes standard with ABS and traction control. There aren’t any fancy ride modes, or adjustable levels of TC, but both safety features can be turned on or off to your hooligan heart’s desire and represent a nice splash of technology in an otherwise Spartan machine.