EUROPEAN TOYS

BMW C1 History BMW's intention with the C1 was to appeal to car drivers in crowded city streets. The idea was to offer the convenience of a scooter or motorcycle but without many of the associated dangers or hassles. The C1's most innovative design feature was its emphasis on safety. BMW tried to add passive safety and car-like crash testing to the scooter. It claimed that in a head-on collision, the C1 offered a standard of accident protection comparable to a European compact car. That was the prime marketing strategy to convert car buyers; the C1 was claimed to be so safe that the rider did not need to wear a helmet to ride it. This was achieved by using two shoulder-height roll bars, a crumple zone around the front wheel and an aluminium roll cage creating a car-like safety cell. It also had twin seatbelts reminiscent of an aviation style four-point harness to keep the rider in place. Many countries deemed the use of seatbelts in conjunction with wearing a helmet to be unsafe. The added strain on the riders neck from the added weight of the helmet could cause significant injury to the restrained rider even in a low speed head-on collision. Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Israel and Spain authorities were quick to allow an exception to the helmet law for the C1. However, poor C1 sales in the United Kingdom may be attributable to the British government's refusal of BMW's request to change helmet regulations for C1 riders. Another country that requires C1 riders to wear a helmet is Sweden, although wearing the seat-belts is voluntary. “ It is a shame that the UK government is slow to foresee change when other countries have grasped the idea of a convenient, environmentally sound and safe solution to urban personal transport. With pressure for manufacturers to develop innovative transport solutions which benefit the environment I hope that legislators will become more receptive to our approach. „ After selling 10,614 units in 2001, BMW only sold 2,000 units in 2002, and ceased production of the C1 in October 2002. It was never made available in the USA. Since going out of production, C1s have found new homes with collectors and as pit-bikes for some of the Formula One Grand Prix teams. The '200' model's name is confusing to some as the engine is actually 176 cc. Its 50% capacity increase, 18 bhp power output and different gearing in the 'Variator' assembly make it faster accelerating than the 15 bhp '125' version. The fact it was not 200 cc but still called that caused many insurance companies not to pay out on accidents claiming that the bike was not correctly insured and therefore classed as void. This is still a problem which can occur today, but still some insurance companies insure the bike under the 200 cc name. In keeping with the wrong naming of the bike some specification sheets were wrong, stating the bike to be 200 cc. Used prices are holding well as many enthusiasts and collectors still purchase models to add to their collections. Some C1 owners are known to own up to five or six C1s, pretty much covering each model in the range. These can be extensively modified to compensate for the above average number of design faults that are often found in the first production run of any new vehicle. Many riders use the more than nine European C1 Forums on the internet for the purpose of implementing these modifications as well as meeting up and helping maintain the vehicle.