Motorcyclists see BMW’s R 1200 GS as a globe-trotting adventurer that holds its own on-road and off. The big Beemer has countless transcontinental trips to its name and the Bavarians revere the platform as the perfect motorcycle. But, where do you go from perfect? When BMW partnered with Lego Technic for a joint design, the brand’s engineers and designers envisioned an R 1200 GS of the future. The GS Hover Bike was born.

After rolling BMW’s flagship ADV into the Lego offices, a team led by designer Lars Thygesen replicated the motorcycle with Lego Technic sets. Inspired by the model, BMW tasked its young designers with charting the R 1200 GS’s future course using only Lego pieces.

“Riding a bike is all about freedom, but the ultimate freedom is to go anywhere,” said BMW Head of Vehicle Design Alexander Buckan. “I believe the GS Adventure is the right answer to almost every challenge. To rebuild an existing model into a futuristic model was so much fun.”

Once the team landed on the GS Hover Bike idea, they presented the design to BMW’s top brass in Munich. Using the Lego Technic model as guidance, senior designers at BMW headquarters translated the design to a photorealistic rendering. The company took the designer exercise a step further by commissioning a team to build a life-size version of the flying GS. The result is a thing of science fiction dreams.

“Our designers had a chance to be creative, and it was a big challenge to all who were involved,” explained Buckan. “I’m really impressed how an idea can be created by Lego, and then become a valid suggestion of how we may ride motorcycles in the future!”

The 1200 GS project only functioned as a design assignment for BMW employees, but the result is captivating nonetheless. Does the suspension really serve a purpose on a hover bike (aside from looking cool)? Not particularly. Would the handlebars still react to counter-steering? Probably not. Is the GS Hover Bike immeasurably cool regardless? One-hundred percent.

We may never get a production model GS Hover Bike, but it also wouldn’t be a far stretch for BMW’s “perfect” motorcycle.

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