Best Inexpensive Motorcycle

A Super Bike Review Of The 2009 BMW HP2 Sport Motorcycle

If all motorcycles had the sheer power of the 2009 BMW HP2 Sport, competition really would be on a level playing field. BMW's engineers managed to pull 130 horsepower out of the HP2's boxer twin engine for 2009, making it one of the most fun, beautiful, sexy machines on the road or the track today. BMW names this motorcycle the carrier of the most powerful boxer twin engine that has ever been designed by BMW Motorrad. Don't believe it? Pull up to one at a stoplight if you can find one and listen to the exhaust note. The engine practically breathes fire and dares you to try to beat it. The 2009 BMW HP2 Sport wasn't designed for Saturday night rides across country, though. You're far more likely to see this motorcycle gripping the inside lanes at your local speedway than you are to see it at a bike-night showdown, and that's what BMW engineers designed the 2009 BMW HP2 Sport for- competition and track day.

Race breeding means that all the finest technology that BMW engineers have access to found their way into this super sport motorcycle. Quickshifter technology reduces the time between shifts, a fully adjustable Ohlins sport front and rear suspension keep the tires planted firmly on the tarmac, and powerful, quick-acting Brembo brakes ensure only the most pleasant of trips through the curves. This is a motorcycle that practically begs to be raced, and though beginners might find a better mount in one of the more inexpensive Japanese sport bikes, the BMW HP2 Sport is a more advanced machine for more experienced riders.

The BMW HP2 Sport is centered around an Air/oil cooled flat twin with two camshafts and four valves per cylinder producing just over 133 horsepower at 8, 750 RPM, and 85 lb/ft of torque. The BMW HP2 Sport features Electronic intake pipe injection, a BMS-K digital engine management system with overrun fuel cut-off. All this sits snugly in a tubular steel space frame of which the front and rear are self-supporting carbon. You'll find milled cast aluminum wheels, ABS optional with a deactivation function and brake pressure detection.

Unfortunately, the 2009 BMW HP2 Sport is available only in Alpine white, and is BMW's most expensive motorcycle at $25, 375, with ABS optional at $1000. No doubt if you're going to pony up for this fastest of BMW motorcycles, you're going to want to check out the BMW accessories catalog for some matching leathers.