2024 BMW R 12 Review

Part of the reason people buy cruisers is for the look, and if styling matters then BMW’s new R 12 should grab your attention.

Critics have been praising the look of the new R 12 nineT, even if it is a crazy name. How can it be 12 and 9 simultaneously? Actually, the nineT relates to BMW Motorrad’s 90 years of existence. Back in 2014, the R nineT was a birthday present to itself! The success of this neo-retro machine kind of took the company by surprise. It was so well accepted that BMW Motorrad produced a whole family of R nineT derivatives, a Cafe Racer, a Scrambler, and a Paris Dakar lookalike, among others. 

Now that they’ve produced the R 18 family of cruisers, it’s time to expand the R 12 line-up with smaller capacity additions. So from the update of the R nineT, which would be the R 12 nineT, comes simply the R 12, a mini-version of the R 18. Only it’s much sexier; where the R 18 is brutish this is catwalk material. It’s one of those bikes that stops people in their tracks, even if they know nothing about motorcycles. And who wouldn’t want one of these sexy beasts to liven up their garage space? It is definitely one of those bikes you glance back over your shoulder at when leaving, for one last pleasurable glimpse.

Does it ride as glamorously?

Pity then that it doesn’t operate quite as brilliantly as it looks, sorry to have to report. If it were me, I’d probably be looking more towards the R 12 nineT, the one with the crazy name. 

It’s not that it’s a bad ride, far from it. It’s just that it is a cruiser, and with that comes some baggage. Not in the form of panniers though, more in how it rides and handles. For while this shares the new tubular steel spaceframe with the R 12 nineT, it has different chassis settings. The forks are raked out a couple of degrees more for that cruiser appearance (and slower steering that accompanies it) while the suspension travel is 90mm front and rear compared with 120mm each end for the standard bike. Moreover, the USD forks on the latter are fully adjustable whereas they’re not at all on the cruiser. Fortunately at the rear, the preload can be messed with thanks to a knurled knob sited inboard of your right knee. When we first jumped aboard it was wound up fairly tight, and we thrashed over a couple of sharp bumps that the suspension just could not deal with. This led to a few owie moments. So we backed the preload right off, which led to some wallowing in bumpy corners, but improved things otherwise. A preload position midway between turned out about right. 

But it’s still best to load up the pegs and take the weight off the seat if you spot any mini-craters ahead. And with despite a government war on potholes, there still seem to be plenty of them about. Those on the state highways get patched quite quickly these days. But those on the lesser roads still seem to be overlooked. It’s handy then that the R 12 has mid-mounted pegs and a somewhat sporty, but also easygoing riding triangle. A pity though that the single seat – it is part of the 719 cosmetic upgrade package – looks better than it feels. You kind of sit into a hollow in the middle of the seat that isn’t that comfy. If you push back a little you can rest your sit bones on the back part of the seat which is more forgiving. This is also worth doing when you spot bumps you know are going to hurt.

Tried slowing down? 

Of course you can always slow down a bit but on this bike that’s quite hard to do! Because on smooth surfaces it really does fly around corners providing you make sure to apex them perfectly which means more open lines and lesser lean angles for the same speed. Lean it over too far and the pegs touch down in that hero-blobby metal-on-asphalt way, even though the pegs do pivot up. 

The other reason you’ll probably be going a bit quick is because this is a torque-laden thing. BMW Motorrad engineers have seen fit to retune the engine so that it produces less power (71 vs 82kW) but has much the same amount of torque (110 vs 115Nm) as the R 12 nineT, only developed 500rpm earlier (at 6000rpm). 

At the other end of the rev range, it really starts to kick from 3000rpm which is just below 100km/h and is silky smooth as well at such revs. So 3500 is around 105km/h and 4000 equates to 120 indicated in top gear. At both speeds this feels utterly effortless. You are having to cling on some at 120, however, as there’s no screen so there’s certainly some wind effect. On a calm day, no biggie.

Not quite as zippy as R nineT

Speed creep can be a thing which I actually don’t mind. But in retuning it for cruiser duty, the R 12 has lost a bit of zing the old nineT had. And this is essentially the same engine as the original, the air/oil cooled 1170cc flat twin now with a new airbox and exhaust. Where the original R nineT could hit 100 in under 3.5sec, this only just squeaked under 4sec in the Rock mode (the other being Roll). The overtake required 2.33sec where the standard bike managed 1.8. Both then are a half second down. Just reporting; it’s still plenty quick enough for a cruiser. Quiet too, with little noise from the left sided exhaust system. The up/down quickshifter works pretty well on the whole, but can be a touch abrupt at low speeds around town.

Brakes are radial-mount Brembos, twin discs up front. Activating these seems to make the foot lever move downwards. Indeed that is the case, as they’re linked. And there’s cornering ABS too. Like many BMWs this features shaft drive so there’s no messy chain maintenance. 

Something completely different is the instrument set-up, a small rectangular affair, pretty legible, somewhat different to the analogue instruments on the R nineT. I imagine the R 12 nineT’s are similar.

However, the look may be enough for many cruiser buyers. Sure, there are a few detractions but this is just such moto eye candy, even at $29,990. Go see for yourself.  

BMW R 12
$29,990
0-100 km/h 3.91s
80-120 km/h 2.33s (66.28m)
100-0 km/h 39.40m
Speedo error 94 at an indicated 100km/h
Engine Capacity 1170cc
Format Air / Oil-cooled / fuel-injected / F2
Max power 71kW@6500-7000rpm
Max torque 110Nm@6000rpm
Cylinder head DOHC / 8v
Gearbox 6-speed
Drivetrain Shaft drive
Suspension front 45mm USD forks, Unadjustable
Suspension rear Monoshock, Preload and rebound adjustable
Brakes front Four-piston calipers, 310mm twin discs
Brakes rear Twin-piston calipers, 265mm disc
Safety systems ABS, TC
Tyre size f-100/90R19, r-150/80R16
Tyres Continental
Wheelbase 1520mm
Seat height 754mm
Rake/trail 29.3° / 132mm
Fuel capacity 14L
Measured weight 227kg
Weight distribution f-112kg / r-115kg