BMW and Ducati are two sought-after premium European brands in the motorcycling arena and both these companies have a raft of new bikes coming this year.
BMW
F450 GS
The first bike on this list is actually a made-in-India small-capacity bike carrying a hallowed European badge. It has been a long time coming, but the BMW-TVS partnership has finally yielded a twin-cylinder engine. The Concept F 450 GS shown late last year is powered by this new parallel-twin mill and while it was a concept, it appeared to be close to production ready.
The exact displacement of the motor isn’t known yet but it should be in the 450cc ballpark, considering the 450 in the name. It is rated for 48hp and BMW claims that the Concept F 450 GS weighs ‘close to 175kg’. When it comes to the engine's firing order, things get a little interesting, and BMW claims this engine will have a unique firing order and it won’t have the now commonplace 270-degree firing order.
The Concept F 450 GS' headlight design is similar to the R 1300 GS and it also uses a 6.5-inch TFT dash, cross-spoke wheels and fully adjustable suspension. It remains to be seen how much of this equipment is carried forward to the production-spec bike that's slated to break cover in 2025, soon after which it will be launched in India. We expect it to be priced around the Rs 5 lakh mark (ex-showroom) when it does come here.
R 1300 GSA
Where the F 450 GS promises Bavarian adventurism on a more accessible affordable level, the new R 1300 GSA asks you how big is too big?
This one builds on BMW’s new 1300 platform and in trademark GSA fashion, has a 30 litre tank. It tips the scales at 269kg, which is 32kg more than the R 1300 GS, and 1kg more than even the previous 1250 GSA.
The 1300 GSA can be equipped with BMW’s Automated Shift Assistant, which eliminates the need to manually use the clutch while changing gears and coming to a stop. While this bike doesn’t come with a clutch lever, it still comes with a gear lever so the rider can take manual control of gearshifts if needed. The R 1300 GSA also comes standard with radar-assisted rider aids and we expect it to be launched here in the first half of 2025. Expect the GSA to cost around Rs 23 lakh (ex-showroom) when it launches.
S 1000 RR
Where the GSA is all about making light work of crossing continents coddled in comfort and luxury, the updated S 1000 RR is about blitzing through them as fast as possible.
For 2025, it gets the redesigned fairing and winglets seen on the M 1000 RR but remains mechanically unchanged otherwise. The other visual difference is the addition of wheel covers to its front wheel, which incorporate cooling ducts that direct cool air to the brake calipers. The current BMW S 1000 RR is priced between Rs 20.75 lakh-25.25 lakh, and you can expect prices to go up marginally when this updated bike gets here.
Ducati
Multistrada V2, Streetighter V2, Panigale V2
Where BMW is going to launch 2 new ADVs at either end of the spectrum, Ducati is going to straddle the middleweight category with the new Multistrada V2.
Some months ago, Ducati showed a new 890cc V-Twin motor, which would serve as a replacement for the aging 937cc Testastretta mill which powers five models in the company’s range. And shortly after that, it revealed not one, not two, but three new models powered by the new 890cc motor - the new Multistrada V2, Streetfighter V2 and Panigale V2.
In the smaller Multistrada, this engine is rated for a lower 115hp peak horsepower number. And the new V2 also trades its predecessor’s steel trellis frame (at one point, a Ducati trademark) for an aluminium monocoque unit (the current Ducati mainstay) and new styling derived from the bigger Multistrada V4. The new Multistrada will likely find itself in the Rs 17 lakh - Rs 19 lakh ballpark upon launch.
The 120hp Streetfighter and Panigale V2 models are now a lot less powerful than their 955cc Superquadro-powered predecessors (by 33hp) but they’re also a lot lighter (by 18kg). These two bikes now directly compete with middleweight offerings from KTM and Yamaha. Expect all three new Ducati V2s to be launched in India in 2025. The current 955cc Streetfighter and Panigale V2 models cost Rs 18.50 lakh and Rs 20.98 lakh (ex-showroom), respectively. It will be interesting to see how Ducati prices these new, less powerful models.
Panigale V4
Where the aforementioned V2 models are all-new, the Panigale V4 has been updated majorly. The entire motorcycle has undergone revisions in just about every area, with Ducati claiming that the bike is now easier to ride faster than ever before.
The biggest visual change is sure to be the new double-sided swingarm, making the 2025 Panigale V4 the first flagship Ducati since the iconic 916 to not use a single-sided swingarm. It is also one of very few bikes to use Brembo’s latest Hypure brake calipers.
