Brave New World Squared – 1990-91 BMW K1

Mid-1980’s BMW was already planning around the end of the air-cooled era, and developed the 1-liter straight four for the K100.  Marketing naturally wanted pizazz, and the response was the 16-valve K1, with bodywork achieving an unheard-of 0.34 drag coefficient.  Controversial as all ground-breaking designs are, the K1 was fast if not quick, and gave…