Cyrus Farivar

Cyrus Farivar

Cyrus Farivar

Cyrus Farivar

Cyrus Farivar

SANTA MONICA, Calif.—BMW has been celebrating its centenary this year under the tagline, "The Next 100 Years." As part of that celebration, the company has created a number of concepts that imagine its future vehicles, and, today in Los Angeles, the company took the wraps off the latest, the BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100.

Concept cars and bikes fall into two distinct categories; thinly veiled production machines designed to get consumers ready for a new model and more outlandish, forward-looking affairs that often include technology that's still just a twinkle in the design team's eye. The latter is definitely the case for BMW's Vision Next 100 concepts, but that makes them no less interesting.

Previous BMW Vision Next 100 cars had already been revealed in Munich, London, and Beijing, but the company kindly assembled all four under one roof for us to take a look at. You'll be able to read more about that later today, but for now, let's take a look at that motorcycle of the future.

BMW has used the slogan "efficient dynamics" for a few years now, but its designers have taken that charge quite literally in this case, with an emphasis on "dynamics." Yes, it moves as a conventional motorcycle moves, but the frame and power unit reconfigure themselves depending on riding conditions. Although the engine is a zero-emissions power unit, it resembles the horizontally opposed "boxer" engines currently found in BMW's motorbikes—but only on the move. When the bike parks, the power unit folds itself up like an accordion.

The black triangle frame—which is meant to evoke BMW's first-ever bike, the 1923 R32—also bends and moves, doing away with the joints and bearings we'd see on a conventional bike. The steering is even speed-sensitive; at higher speeds, the frame becomes less flexible and more stable. The tires are also adaptive, reconfiguring themselves to optimize ride comfort and handling on the fly.

The bike is only part of the story, though. BMW also envisions a bionic riding suit and visor (integrated into a helmet for the time being, until BMW can prove the bike safe without one). The suit itself supports the rider, and the augmented reality visor uses gaze-tracking to control its UI, which can even project ideal lines and bank angles onto the road ahead.

If you're in the LA area and want to check out the VISION NEXT 100 concepts, they're on display to the public free of charge from October 13 through 16 at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport.

Listing image by Cyrus Farivar