I spent Tuesday at Shannonville with the BMW racing team, riding the bikes from 2007 and 2008. I know, I know — but somebody has to do it, and I metaphorically girded up my loins and headed out.
The day was fun (and I understand that my colleague Steve Bond will be providing some impressions for CMG later), but the most interesting bit was at the end of the day, when we got some official "hints" from BMW staff about future racing plans.
First, most people who follow racing know that BMW will have an entry in the World Superbike Series for 2009. What said people, and you, may not realize is that a WSB entry requires a street bike from which the racer is developed … so by the end of 2008 there have to be a couple of hundred street versions of the new racer.
Chris Duff, Marketing Manager for BMW Canada Motorcycles, tells us that they’ve already got deposits for more bikes than they can possible deliver. And that for 2010 those bikes may be available in Canada.
Man, I need some money …
Further, there have already been rumours and Internet spy photos (or Photoshop pix, who knows?) indicating that there will soon be a smaller displacement sport bike, based on the 1,000 cc inline four WSB candidate. But with three exhaust pipes showing in the spy photos …
Are we looking at a 675 cc Triumph-like triple supersport bike in 2010?
Duff was coy, but he’s the one who mentioned the three-exhaust photos and the displacement (which happens to meet World Supersport regs …).
Stay tuned.
