BMW has trademarked the 'R12' name, leading to speculation that the German manufacturer is about to release a smaller-engined R18 clone.

BMW Planning an R12 To Ride Alongside the R18?

BMW Motorrad has filed an application for an 'R12' trademark which, given BMW's naming protocol, can only be for a boxer-engined cruiser.

If the application for the 'R12' name is pointing to a smaller-engined cruiser along the lines of the R18, then you have to hope that BMW realises the irony. The R18 was developed because BMW considered the 1200cc boxer engine too small for a cruiser, despite trying with the ill-fated R1200C. Now, here they are thinking about a 1200cc boxer-engined sibling to the R18. OK, so there are quite a few years between the demise of the R1200C and the appearance of the R18 but still....

At the time when the R1200C was dropped, the trend in motorcycling was for gargantuan cruisers, such as the Kawasaki Vulcan 2000 and the Honda VTX-1800 and therefore, the R1200C was seen as being a bit puny. Now, however, the market is for smaller-engined cruisers, such as the Indian Scout and new Harley Davidson Sportster S and Nightster - forgetting the R18 for a moment! - and so an 'R12' would fit in perfectly.

Back when the R1200C was dropped from the lineup, BMW Motorrad’s boss Dr. Herbert Diess, said: “There will be no direct successor to the cruiser in our next model generation. This is due to technical considerations: The new engine you know from the GS is designed consistently for low weight and therefore—quite intentionally—offers only a small margin for an increase in engine displacement. And since the trend in the cruiser segment has now been pointing far beyond 1,400cc for quite some time, a cruiser in its former, classic style with a smaller engine would no longer fit into our concept for the future. But this does not mean that we are turning away from the cruising philosophy with BMW motorcycles once and for all. On the contrary, it would be quite conceivable for us to reinterpret this theme quite differently some time or another.”

It took BMW a good 15 years to return to the cruiser market but, now they are there, it seems as if they might be planning a longer stay this time.

Making a 1200cc cruiser would be a lot easier than creating the R18. BMW isn't short of boxer engines around that capacity. There is the 1254cc, Shiftcam-equipped engine from the R1250 range but there is also still the old air-cooled 1170cc engine as found in the RnineT range, which might appeal more to buyers in this segment.

It would be logical for BMW to retain the pseudo-retro styling of the R18 for a 1200cc version. Going that route offers huge scope for a bulging accessory catalogue, such as that for the current four-model R18 line-up.

It's hard to divine BMW's working practice on this one: have they already developed the new model and are only now registering the name? That would seem very inefficient for a Teutonic manufacturer. Surely they would make sure the name is in place first?

Whichever, it will be interesting to see what does emerge once the paperwork has settled.