BMW has long denied that it intends to make a smaller-capacity sports bike to sit under the S1000RR in the range and now any lingering hopes for such a machine have been extinguished.

While BMW has always said it doesn’t intend to make a smaller sports bike, the firm’s actions didn’t initially support that line. As long ago as 2008 it trademarked the ‘S600RR’ name and in 2010 it registered web domains with S600RR in the title.

However, the firm has now rescinded its S600RR trademark, leaving it open to anyone else wanting to use the name, and re-checking the S600RR domains shows that they’re no longer under BMW’s ownership.

With the 600cc supersport market in decline worldwide, the prospect of a middleweight BMW sports bike is further from reality than ever. A small-capacity single-cylinder sports bike based on the G310 is now much more likely to appear as BMW’s next fully-faired sports offering.

By Ben Purvis