BMW's new Concept Roadster

Surprise new 125hp boxer-engined streetfighter concept

BMW HAS unveiled this boxer-twin-powered streetfighter-style concept at a show in Italy.

Called the Concept Roadster, it's got an 1170cc boxer engine making a claimed 125hp and 92lbft.

It's got a single-sided swing-arm with shaft drive, a tubular steel frame with a gloss milled aluminium subframe, and an LED headlight.

What looks like a belly pan also incorporates part of the exhaust. 

'Form and function are innovatively combined in the future-oriented engine spoiler. In the BMW Concept Roadster, it not only performs an aerodynamic function but also incorporates the entire front silencer,' says BMW.

Protective pads on the valve covers indicate 'that the BMW Concept Roadster can and should be taken round bends at an extreme banking angle,' according to the release on the bike.

The firm says the concept represents the 'aspirations of BMW Motorrad with regard to future generations of boxer-powered roadsters,' a possible hint that we could see something like it in production. 

The concept was revealed at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2014 in Cernobbio, northern Italy, where BMW last year first unveiled the R nineT.