I present here a nice semi-rare 1:9 scale model rendition of a BMW R1200C.  It is a model that I have had for some time and I believe that its made by the company called 'New Ray' although I'm not too sure as there are no trademarks stamped on it anywhere?

If you have read some of my other web pages about these scale model motorcycles then you will recall that I advocate Minichamps.com as one of the very best scale model manufacturers.

Well that stance doesn't alter here with this particular model, its very nice and quite good with working suspension front and rear, the wheels and handle bars turn and the detail is more than adequate with all the cables routed to the brakes etc.

The model only cost $17.00 and is a half decent representation of the awesome BMW R1200C motorcycle and as its a weird 1:9 scale its quite big at over 260mm long and about 120mm tall, to the top of the mirrors.

Close up photographs of it though show that the level of detail is somewhat lacking when compared to a more expensive model.  You always get what you pay for though , I'm not overly dissapointed, it just could be a little better in certain areas.

The bike is still complete though, its all there down to the badge on the side of the tank and it looks quite impressive...from a distance, but close scrutiny will reveal an economic manufacturing process.

Anyway on to some information about the real bike that this model emulates:

The BMW R1200C  was BMW's very first attempt at building a cruiser style motorbike and what an attempt it was too.  It had a very radical style helped by a unique method of  having the front suspension going to a huge cross-member that pivots under the petrol tank.

It is a masterpiece of modern design that was in fact actually drafted on drawing boards many miles away from BMW's factory in Stuttgart, Germany, all the way over in Los Angeles USA to be precise.

It was however still the German engineers who skillfully transformed the technical drawn designs into a real motorcycle.  Its nice to know too that the main designs came from the minds of men and not a computer.

The R1200C has a flat (pistons horizontally opposed) 2 cylinder, 1170cc or 61Cubic inch engine that comfortably pushes out around 62 Horse Power.

I suppose the most striking thing about this new design of motorbike is the huge cross member called the 'telelever' that handles the bikes entire frontal movement.  Having a model of this bike is great as I can pick it up and study how it all works whereas on a real bike it would only offer a kerb side view and one would have to resort to reading a book to discover more about its intricacies !

The bike is quite a heavyweight too, weighing in at 520Lb's I'm thankful that my model is only ½Lb

The BMW R1200C had a relatively short production run of 7 years from 1997 until 2004 in which time a total of 40,218 R1200C's had been produced.  At the time of production a smaller cruiser was also made and that was the R850C, produced from 1997 until 2000.

The R1200C retailed for $14,500 in 2001

The very last version of this bike to be built was the Commemorative edition called the Montauk  and it was a limited production run of only 350 bikes.

Now where have I seen one of these bikes before?...it rings a bell...but where...?

Well, BMW was fortunate to achieve instant world wide recognition for this bike when it had a main part to play via an ' advanced promotional placement ' in the movie Tomorrow Never Dies  and it was ridden by none other than James Bond in an exciting chase scene involving a helicopter and some back streets.

The R1200C was a propshaft drive bike as illustrated in the photos above and below, it had 5 gears manual gearbox, 2 front and one rear disc brake that was more than adequate for stopping this bike from its maximum speed of 104mph.

It had a 17 litre fuel tank with 4 litre's in reserve, fuel economy was 5.9 litre's of petrol used for every 100 Kilometers traveled at maximum speed.

Looking at that propshaft, there is a lot of solid engineering there, it is interesting to see the propshaft pivot up and down on its swing arm when I pick the model up and it helps me to understand the engineering factors.

A wide 'flat' engine that sticks out the side quite some way is an early announcement that its a BMW coming down the road, as all BMW's have the same engine configuration.

The big 18inch front wheel and 15 inch rear wheel give the R1200C the classic cruiser stance.  Along with moderately wide tires 100/90-18 56 H on the front and 170/80-15 83 H on the rear, both tires were also tubeless.

I like this model bike and I am glad its part of my collection as its just so damn radical with its main design, but it maintains its respect at the same time and that's the clever part.