Beemer's new bike oozes six appeal

Forget six-cylinder cars, BMW's six-cylinder motorcycle is about to go into production, starting with a luxury touring model. The Concept 6 that launched the engine is a cafe racer-style bike, to best showcase the narrow-profile powerplant and six-chamber exhaust. BMW says it's overcome the traditional motorcycle disadvantage of weight and size for its 1.6-litre unit, which is 100mm narrower than previous variants and barely wider than a straight four. The slim profile was achieved by using a long stroke and small gaps between the cylinders, with ancillary components fitted behind the crank, in the space above the gearbox.

BMW says the advantages come not in terms of power, but torque - with this machine delivering 130Nm from 2000rpm. That's just 10Nm less than a Toyota Yaris, in a vehicle about one seventh the weight. BMW says the bike won't need a tacho - instead of revs, an LED display shows how much torque's available. Bring it on!