another look at bmw 450

I note a web page on the aust 4 day and smets shows a bit of the internals of the 450 bike. Very interesting how the geabox is low and placed in the centre and the chain has that direct drive. I notice an ealier thread saying they were having clutch problems...they talk about there being less torque on the clutch but maybe they made it too small. No fron't tubes to protect when going over logs???? that has me worried. can anyone say who saw smets in the aust 4 day say how the bike went...I know he got 6th, but watching the bike would say a lot.

The new berg and these other new generation bikes with fuel injection etc looks interesting to say the least. As usual there will be those that want to stay with long term tested stuff and those that jump on the new stuff. Not sure where I sit yet.