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Welcome to the world of the modern classic.
Factory-restored mud bikes that look and sound like beautiful pieces of classic machinery but offer modern features Modern price tags, too.
This is the hottest category in motorcycles today, and BMW's R nineT is perhaps the best-looking.
BMW makes five different flavors of this bike, and this is the most recent.
It's the BMW R nineT Urban G/S, and while that name may sounds a bit like an oxymoron if you're a fan of classic beemers, The truth is, it's actually a pretty great bike.
Let's take a closer look.
Yes, we'll throw a leg over this thing soon enough, but since modern classics are as much about looks as they are performance, I figured we start with some epic slow pans to appreciate the design of this beautiful thing.
Now while the tank is lifted straight from the other R19 variants, The distinctive headlight fairing and that high front fender give the Urban G/S a look that is a definite throwback to the R80 G/S from the 1980s.
That plus the white tank and red seat make this something of an homage to BMW's [UNKNOWN] Winning rides of yore.
But don't be fooled by that styling.
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You see, this bike may look like an off-roader, but really it's much more destined for urban pursuits.
Hence the word urban in the name.
Yes, you can spec it with a set of knobbly tires if you're so inclined.
But really, I don't know why you would.
The bike's actually really comfortable out here on twisty roads.
And even on city streets, it's really nice to ride.
The pegs are in a comfortable Comfortable place.
The handle bars have you sitting nice and high, and the seat which is wide and flat, I find to be pretty comfortable, but I don't think everybody's gonna like that necessarily.
This I think is a bike you can reasonably cover a lot of miles on and still have a lot of fun.
The overall fit and finish on the bike is quite nice as well.
Everything is nicely powder coated or painted and even the plastics are of a real high quality.
Being a BMW all the Is also quite nice.
So overall, it has a feel of a premium bike, which you'd expect, since they're definitely charging a bit of a premium price.
But the most important part of any motorcycle, of course, is the motor.
Like the other R90s the Urban GS is powered by BMW's classic air cooled boxer twin, that actually saw its first service in a real GS.
Over a decade ago, back then it was rated for 110 horse power and 89 power feet of [UNKNOWN], here it's rated for 110 horse power and 86 power [UNKNOWN] yes, that means the bike has properly earned it's heritage designation, but don't read that as hate All those figures are indeed somewhat modest by modern motorbike standards, there's more than enough scoot here.
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Okay so this isn't BMW's most high-tech, advanced motor on the planet.
But despite the fact that it's a little bit old it actually works really well on this bike.
Boxer twins are all about torque and in here for sure this bike has tons of it.
Any time you crack open the throttle.
[LAUGH] It just surges forward.
It's definitely not an engine that's intended for high speed runs around a race track.
It's much more about squirting through traffic or blasting out of twister corners like this.
It's a really fun motor and sounds really great with this exhaust.
It's a little bit raspy, a little bit raucous.
It sounds great, it definitely makes me want to crack open that throttle.
And enjoy the ride.
But there are some complaints about this motor, probably the biggest one, you get a lot of vibration here and that can be a little bit tiring on the highway.
You'll want to keep the revs low, to kind of minimize that.
Maybe not the best motor for touring, But for blasting around country roads like this.
It's really, really fun.
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Yes, the urban GS is mostly about looks but thankfully, it's really great to ride too.
It's nimble and torque enough to be fun but stable and comfortable enough for daily riding.
And it just oozes character and when you're talking about modern classics, that's really what it's all about.
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