Klaus Nennewitz

Motorcycle Review

Comparison: BMW K 1600 GT vs. K 1600 B

Six-cylinder engines are as much a part of BMW as veal sausage is of a Bavarian Sunday breakfast or the Oktoberfest is of Munich. The in-line engine became an icon in 1973 at the latest, when it appeared on racetracks in the BMW 3.0 CSL Coupé, also known as

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Nicola Dutto Rides Again

Thirteen years and three seconds. That's how long it took motorcycle rally racer Nicola Dutto to realize his dream of competing in the 2023 Baja 1000, a point-to-point race from La Paz to Ensenada. Those three seconds, however, were the longest of his life. On March 20, 2010,

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BMW R 20 Concept Motorcycle at Villa d’Este

After a long absence, BMW Motorrad has presented a concept motorcycle at the stage of the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d’Este. In addition to the big boxer engine, the brightly-colored tank was the focus of the R 20 roadster Every summer, the park of Villa d'Este

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Interview with Alexander Buckan—BMW’s New Head of Design

Alexander Buckan—born 1974 in Erfurt, Germany—took over the direction of the BMW Motorrad Design from Edgar Heinrich on January 1, 2024. After working at Mercedes-Benz and a freelancer, he joined the motorcycle department in Munich in 2003. I sat down to chat with the fresh head designer to

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Pen to Production—Interview with KTM Designer Gerald Kiska

Austrian designer Gerald Kiska has been responsible for designing KTM models for more than three decades. Since Husqvarna and Gas Gas joined the same group, his portfolio has extended to these brands as well. Kiska has never been afraid to provoke with his designs. I sat to chat with him

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Interview: Markus Flasch, Head of BMW Motorrad

Markus Flasch, born in 1981, took over as the head of BMW Motorrad on November 1, 2023. He succeeded Markus Schramm, who had been in charge of the company since 2018. After studying automotive engineering, this Austrian manager’s career got off to a flying start at engineering service provider

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2024 MV Agusta Enduro Veloce

Every conversation about MV Agusta, the famed motorcycle company from Varese, Italy, sooner or later arrives at a “yes, but…” It might refer to spare parts’ availability, customer service, quality, or over-bred machines that have become increasingly extreme to fill high-priced premium niches. In addition, the firm has had a

Product Review

Review: Metzeler Cruisetec Tire

The new Metzler Cruisetec tires are designed specifically to emphasize the sporty character of big power cruisers. I put them to the test on the racetrack aboard a Harley-Davidson Sportster S 1250. This bike marked a paradigm shift at Harley-Davidson with its ultra-modern, water-cooled, and powerful twin-cylinder engine. The Pan

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The Battle of the Twin

I returned home from the October 2023 press launch of the BMW R 1300 GS in Málaga with mixed feelings. On one hand, I was totally enthusiastic about the bike's brilliant handling on the road. On the other, I was disappointed by the event’s too-short off-road part.

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Fantastic Plastic

Acerbis, a motorcycle components manufacturer and pioneer in plastic fuel tanks, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with an entry in the Guinness World Records. The company’s founder Franco Acerbis took me on a journey through time during this interview. Ever heard of a motorcycle with a 28-gallon fuel tank?

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BMW ASA Transmission—A Smooth operator

BMW is gearing up to launch  the Automated Shift Assistant (ASA) automatic transmission for the GS motorcycle family in the second half of 2024. In an ASA-equipped GS bike, the foot shift lever is still present, but the clutch lever is missing. This technology has already been incorporated into the

Mar/Apr '24 Premium Content

Germany and Austria: The Walk of Fame

Sadly, you can celebrate a centenary only once every 100 years. I’m saying that because one could get used to high-class events like BMW’s 100th anniversary tour in the German and Austrian Alps. The three-day 100 Years of BMW Motorrad Anniversary Tour went from Munich to the Grossglockner

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A Life of Design: Heinrich Full Interview

Edgar Heinrich worked at the BMW Motorrad Design Studio, apart from a short interruption, since 1987. At the end of 2023, he decided it was time to retire from his leading position and handed the design department’s reins over to Alexander Buckan. Without any conspicuous image cultivation, at his

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How Salvo Pennisi Shaped Pirelli’s World Class Tire Testing Practices

His business card reads: "Pirelli Head of Outdoor Testing and Technical Relations, Motorcycle and Bicycle." However, it’s impossible to explain Salvo Pennisi's job in one sentence—let alone who he is as a person. Perhaps a little anecdote, told during a dinner by the sea

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The Thunderstorm: Aprilia Tuono and I

I was struck by the world of racing at the age of 12 when the local motorcycle club organized the European enduro championship race in my hometown. All of a sudden, life came into the secluded world of the German state of Hesse on the edge of the Iron Curtain.

Nov/Dec '23

Review: 2023 BMW R 18 Roctane

The BMW R 18 was quite an audacious move from the Munich-based company, bringing it to a new market segment. BMW has explored the cruiser category before, but without substantial success—although the R 1200 C from 1997 has a large fan base today and the prices for used machines

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A Professional Globetrotter: Royal Enfield's Paolo Brovedani

At the age of 63, when most of his colleagues are already enjoying their retirement, Italian engineer Paolo Brovedani packed his bags and moved from Peugeot in France to the Royal Enfield development center in England. After a successful introduction, he then moved to Chennai, India, in 2020 where he

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2022 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special

The first impression is always the most important, whether you’re visiting your potential mother-in-law for the first time, going to a job interview, or seeing a brand-new bike at a motorcycle show. The Harley-Davidson Pan America sure made an impression when it stood undisguised and naked in a glass

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Riding the 2024 Kove Rally 450

A few years ago, I was at a motorcycle trade show in Chongqing, one of the world’s largest cities in the heart of China. It was a chaotic affair, and the noise and strange bikes probably traumatized me a little. The event almost made me lose interest in the

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The Future of Motorcycling: Interview with Head of BMW Motorrad, Dr. Markus Schramm

RoadRUNNER recently had a rare opportunity to sit down for a chat with Dr. Markus Schramm, the head of BMW Motorrad. During the interview, he shared his views on the current motorcycle market and what the future might hold, both for BMW and motorcycling in general. Grab a nice cup

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100 Years of BMW: New Bikes and an Exhibition

In 1923, a little company called BMW Motorrad built its first motorcycle. Now, 100 years later, the company is still going strong—and that’s cause for celebration. On May 12, BMW opened a new exhibition at the BMW Museum in Munich, Germany. The displays highlight BMW’s centennial journey,

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Aprilia’s History of Racing

Off-road racing was Aprilia's debut in competition. That’s nothing strange for a brand that revealed its off-road soul with its very first models in the ‘70s, such as the Scarabeo. In 1974, Aprilia’s first race bike was a 125cc motocross machine. As early as 1977 came

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Riding Mopeds from Paris to Dakar

A motorcycle trip in Africa is always demanding, but on a moped like the Piaggio Ciao, it turns into an enormous challenge. That’s especially true when your journey takes you from Paris to Dakar in Senegal, covering almost 2,900 miles over 23 days in the summer. When preparing

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Ducati Multistrada V4 Rally

Ducati has redesigned the Multistrada to create the Rally model, a premium adventure bike to travel faster, farther, and more comfortably, even off-road and with a passenger. I took the bike for my first ride in Sardinia, Italy. With the Rally, Ducati goes one step further than the previous Multistradas

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Aprilia Tuareg

Many things have been said and written about the off-road qualities of the Aprilia Tuareg. But while private and semi-official teams kept lining up at the starting gates of ADV raids and European off-road races with the Yamaha Ténéré 700 bikes, Aprilia still hadn’t seen the opportunities that the