BMW AG will begin selling a high-performance bike in January to compete with dominant models from Honda Motor Co. and Suzuki Motor Corp.
The S 1000 RR is Munich-based BMW's first motorcycle in the "superbike" category that's characterized by hunched-forward seating, light weight and high horsepower engines. BMW plans to price the bike within $1,000 of its top competitors' offerings and predicts it will increase U.S. motorcycle sales by 20 percent.
"We are going to take the Japanese head-on," said Pieter de Waal, vice president of the company's U.S. motorcycle operations, at an event last week in Woodcliff Lake, N.J.