BMW has a truly fanatical fan base: if you need proof, a visit to the BMW Motorrad Days is all it takes. It?s an annual three-day shindig held in July, smack bang in the middle of the sun-drenched German summer, in a ski resort town called Garmisch-Partenkirchen, right on the Austrian border.
Garmisch is only about 55 miles from Munich, but you can double or triple that if you avoid the Autobahn and know the right roads. Thankfully I had a local with me: Christian Pingitzer, BMW’s marketing lead for heritage and custom. Christian’s own bike is a handsome bobber, but my ride for the trip was the new BMW R nineT Urban G/S.

The Urban G/S is basically a dressed-up R nineT Scrambler. And that’s not a bad thing. I loved the Scrambler when I first rode it, and the Urban G/S takes all of that goodness and wraps it in an even more retro-fabulous package. Visual cues come straight from the iconic R80 G/S of the early 80s?the grand-pappy of BMW’s entire ‘GS’ family, and the first big-bore dual-sport bike to hit the market. So you get a white paint job with the classic G/S blue graphics, a red seat, a small nose fairing, and a high front fender that shares duties with a smaller fender lower down.

The tank is the same steel unit as the Scrambler’s, and the single speedo, bars and pegs are carried over too?making the ergonomics identical. The only other notable difference is the exhaust; instead of the Scrambler’s twin Akrapovi? unit,...