British motorcycle tabloid MCN has gotten hold of some photos of the motorcycle that will spearhead BMW Motorrad’s big push into the small displacement market. Code named K03, the motorcycle is being developed as a partnership between BMW and Indian motorcycle company, TVS. The agreement between BMW and TVS began in 2013 and was entered into to help BMW develop smaller capacity machines for the western market and TVS to make larger capacity machines for their markets.
The agreement set out plans for the two firms to develop machines in the sub 500 cc class, so its no surprise that the first machine they jointly collaborate on will be one for the increasingly heated circa 300 cc market.
Based on the photos, it’s a single cylinder water cooled engine – just like the Honda CBR300R. Forks at the front are inverted and look like the same forks from the TVS Draken (a concept bike shown at the Indian Auto Show last year) and straightforward shock absorber at the rear – nothing unexpected for what will need to be a keenly priced bike in India. While it can’t be seen in the pictures, ABS for any bikes sold by BMW will obviously be standard but perhaps not for TVS sold machines.
Given however that BMW has strong intentions to sell these entry level machines in western markets, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some enhancements in certain areas of the bike like suspension before it goes on sale here though.
MCN also suggests that in addition to the naked bike caught in the pictures here, BMW will also release sportsbike and GS style adventure bike on the same platform.g shipped from Europe to Bangalore for testing in India. It’s expected the first of these motorcycles will be officially unveiled at Intermot later this year.
300 cc BMW "K03" Spotted Testing in Germany
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