BMW K Series

While BMW motorcycles remain mostly associated with its R-series shaft-drive boxer twins, it's the K-series liquid-cooled 'multis' that have been - and remain - the German firm's most advanced, radical and downright wacky bikes of all. Launched in 1983 to propel BMW into a whole new era, the K-series has included some of the world's most innovative and interesting motorcycles. From the original liquid-cooled, fuel-injected K100, to the radically aerodynamic K1 of the 1980s; the ultra-powerful K1200RS and space age K1200LT of the 1990s; and the 'Duolever' K1200S and 6-cylinder K1600 of the 2000s and beyond, BMW's 'Ks' have always been special, but also so advanced and pioneering that they've helped shape the whole of modern motorcycling. BMW expert Phil West, author of BMW Airhead Twins and BMW GS, also published by Crowood, has again painstakingly researched their complete history, found pictures never published before and recounts the whole K-Series story in a comprehensive and engaging tale.

Phil West is one of the UK's best-known and longest established motorcycle journalists and authors. His thirty-plus years at the top of the profession has included being editor of leading magazines Bike and What Bike as well as creating and launching American Motorcycles and Biking Times. He was also Executive Editor at Motor Cycle News. As a freelancer his work has been published around the globe, in publications varying from Stuff to FHM and the Evening Standard and he remains a regular contributor to MCN, Bike, RiDE, Autotrader and others. He is also a prolific, successful author of motorcycling books.