The first question of whether two-wheelers compete with the four-wheelers for a place at the charging station soon, can be easily answered, because there are already plenty of two-wheelers with electric drive, of course, driving the rear axle. Incidentally, front-wheel drive in a two-wheeler is not new, four-wheel drive either. New is just a hybrid drive, which additionally means two fundamentally different engines on board.

Many questions remain open. The basis for the R 1200 GS xDrive Hybrid is the R 1200 GS Adventure, whose engine data you find here. In addition, there is now an electric motor in the front hub with 33 kW (45 hp). The weight should be left approximately the same by eliminating the second brake disc (- 2.9 kg). Does this only mean an amount of manual force or does the electric motor help braking?

In any case, it recuperates excellently, otherwise it would be over quickly with the support of accelerating e.g., because of charging from outside is not possible. If one subtracts the 0.88 kg of the hub motor from the already mentioned 2.9 kg of the brake disk, there are about 2 kg left for battery and extra control. BMW does not give any information about the battery energy, but it can not be much. There is no talk of electric driving either.

However, it is strange appears when the press release reports of test drives from the North Cape over the frozen Barents Sea to the North Pole and back - at least 4,200 km without gas station - at -56°C the BMW functional clothing is praised and allegedly with this motorcycle snow depths up to 1,25 meters can be mastered. And have you ever heard of a 'high-speed all-season tire according to M + S specification', probably a kind of everything in one. 11/17