ken cool

BMW S1000RR Ridden!



“It took the Germans to improve Japanese Superbike design and engineering” - Will Guyan.

Let’s quell the initial myths about the S1000RR. This is not the first inline four from BMW Motorrad. It is not the first 150+ Bhp sportsbike either from them. Remember the inline 4 that they had built and tested as prototype in the 90s ironically called the R1? The S1000 RR is however their first attempt into building a full production thoroughbred race track oriented machine, an attempt at making a mark on a domain that has been mostly dominated by the Jap giants. And what a mark they made. So thorough was their research and development into designing the machine to build a motorcycle that they obliterated any motorcycle ever made in any country and wiped out the competition with utter disdain!

They did not make a mark. They have built a chasm between themselves and the rest of the motorcycle manufacturers. Two consecutive years they won the BOTY awards shooting the S1000RR into stratospheric iconic status.


Bike with an Attitude!

BMW S1000 RR – the India Test Ride.

Another hot summer day. Another hot bike to ride. And make no mistake. This time around the bike is far more extreme than the Indian summer temperatures. I have been in touch with Will Guyan, noted writer and test rider of motorcycles, a connoisseur of fine motorcycle technology, appreciates good rock and roll and is a refined and skilled rider. At this moment I would like to quote his words… “It took the Germans to improve Japanese Superbike Design and technology.” The advent of this one single bike from the German engineers at Bavaria has given the Japanese Japanese manufacturers more sleepless nights than any other bike over the last two decades.


Path breaking motorcycle loaded with tech gizmos!


Path-breaking, history-making motorcycles come once in a long while and leave their mark and change history forever. Remember the Blackbird? Which was then devoured by its predator? Well the BMW S1000RR devours everything that stands in its way and beyond.


The Winking Snarl!

The BMW S1000RR is a bike with attitude. And this attitude is justified, beyond expectations! 193+Bhp at the crank, 185+Bhp at the rear tyre, gear shift assist, BMW proprietary Dynamic Traction Control, Ride by Wire and innumerable other electronic rider aids, this bike justifies the attitude that comes as standard feature with the booking!



When I was taking the S1000RR out of the garage, I was told that I could take the bike around a wet corner and I could open the throttle mid-corner and accelerate out of it! I said sure! I had barely engaged first gear and I was already being told to do stuff that a really ambitious rider would attempt to achieve greater glory. Here I was just out to try out a bike to see what gave it its reputation. Accelerating out of a wet corner can wait!



As I let the S1000RR warm up, it sounded like a typical inline4 from any manufacturer. I tried to distinguish a typical “BMW sound”! But there wasn’t any. This is what I find about inline fours… they lack character. They are all the same. It is when you engage gear, release the clutch and open the throttle that the character of the bike starts taking shape. That is where one realizes the true meaning of Will Guyan’s words as the S1000RR surges way ahead of the competition. And here we are not only talking about hackneyed topics of just 0-100 acceleration and quarter mile times. We are talking about the whole motorcycle as a composite package. However the S1000RR takes all other bikes out in both, 0-100 and quarter mile times!

APPEARANCE!

The looks of the motorcycle was initially received with mixed response. Mostly by people who were not used to the asymmetrical looks of a BMW. There was intense thought and research done even for the looks and exterior design of the motorcycle, with lots of rumours doing the rounds to the tune of varying headlights to reduce weight to making looks clearly distinctive from other manufacturers. I liked the looks. And we all know that with time, looks grow on you. And the S1000RR grew rapidly on us, not just with its stunning avant-garde looks but with performance that left every other Superbike gasping on the wayside!


The asymmetrical fairing with the distinctive gills to the right is with a researched reason.


And those headlights intimidate the moment we see them approaching... they have become a part of BMW folklore!

THE RIDE and HANDLING!

The initial feel that I had of the stance being very aggressive when I sat on the bike disappeared as the bike started to roll on the streets. I blended into the machine and I settled in snuggly and became part of the machine as if the machine had been built for me. With my kind of built, small at 169cms, light at 62kilos and not very strong, I feel every litre class monster to be a trifle big and a bit cumbersome with turns through traffic and the oft required U-turn on the Indian subcontinent. But the S1000RR felt compact, light, easy, quick, nimble, maneuverable… the last time I felt anything close to this kind of handling was when I rode the 1198S. And the S1000RR does it better and takes it to a different level. Does this then feel like a 600? Heck yes. Once in motion, it feels even better than a 600 and even nimbler! They have redefined handling by developing in-house a BMW proprietary Dynamic Traction Control which is a $1000 add-on option which is worth every cent of the money invested.



Riding the bike on a Sunday morning on the streets of one of the most crowded democracies in the world can be fun, the oomph factor being one of them. But as I was saying, this bike comes with more than just that. Much more! Sunday morning streets are usually desolate. But this bike is more than capable in handling traffic. Going through the narrow by-lanes of the back-of-beyond neighbourhoods with mindlessly haphazard parked cars seemed surprisingly easy. Even my Bajaj220 does not feel so easy in motion! I felt I was riding an easy 600 and not once did I feel the cumbersomeness that comes with a litre class. That is when I felt the need to open the throttle bodies and give inject some gas on the wider open roads and make the most of a desolate warm Sunday morning.


The Bad Boy of Superbikes from a good manufacturer!

I clicked through the gears as the revs mounted. After riding Japs for such a long time, these gears take getting used to. Later, with time I realised that blipping is a better and surer option to get used to the different characteristics of the gearbox. Once on the highway, I was “cruising” hard and I blinked to realise that I was cutting across the country at well over 200 clips! No crouching, no double bubble, nothing! Full-on stock factory motorcycle. And not an iota of vibes or turbulence or air-pockets! It was quite unbelievable at first impression. The bike did not even wheelie! I was utterly speechless to say the least. Was it me or was it the bike?


I had to do the next step. I had to take her around the bends… I made a beeline for the corners!

I went in to the long corner, bent the bike, getting full wonderful feedback… I was at 80 clips, I started opening the throttle. I could not see the apex. But I knew the corner well. The bike held its line. The tarmac was dry. I opened the throttle, the bike bent further, front end feedback still excellent and I exited the corner at close to three digits holding perfectly still. I was impressed at myself. Then I realised that it was not me. It was the bike! I wanted to do some more bends. I did a couple of more corners and came back to this one again. This time around I was exiting at over 100 clips. I am no Troy Corser and I realised that more mature professional riders would be taking this corner at over 150 with a bike like this.


Front end set at medium 5 clicks

I could get very good front end feedback though I have often heard the contrary with medium settings at 5 on Indian roads. Saying that handling of the S1000 RR was great would be a gross understatement. Although this is not the first time that BMW has made a bike with fantastic riding geometry. Remember the HP2 Sport? I found that bike to handle remarkably well too. And here I was riding a bike that has become an icon in less than a year of its inception. And now I could figure out why!


Double Sided Standard Swingarm in Alluminium

Like all oversquare, short stroke engines, the S1000RR too lacks punch at lower revs in race mode. But shift it to a mode more suited to your riding style and you would get some more usable torque at the low end. This engine redlines at a stratospheric 14200Rpm! And most of the fun is “up there”! However, this is a bike that can be easily used, ridden and tried by novice superbike enthusiasts. The amount of electronic technical gadgetry that has gone into this bike as aids to the rider, variable length intake manifolds, ABS, DTC, Wheelie control, chassis geometry, clear and distinctly mapped riding modes, all of which can be changed while riding, the S1000RR has become the Superbike rider’s dream bike and can be actually be ridden by anyone, from a beginner to a professional. In fact, while I was riding, I almost felt that if let alone, this bike might ride on its own!


If you are uninitiated in the domain of Superbike riding, you can easily get on top of one and adjust the settings with the help of the BMW tech guys and suit it to your riding. The bike is designed to take care of you. At the other end of the spectrum, if you are a real showoff hooligan loud rider with the red reflector riding jacket and babe in tow waiting to break the 300 barrier at every straight you come across on track, this bike will leave you stunned after each exhilarating ride! You can keep pushing the bike. And the bike takes it all with practiced ease!



Superbike performance redefined!



For more details on the bike, technical, insurance, warranty and booking related queries, do not hesitate to get in touch with Deutsche Motoren, Sarabjeet Singh, Manager Motorrad +919911424078. They would be more than willing to listen to you and your queries.



Text by Krishnendu KES, (KEN).
Photos by Kunal Rajput and Krishnendu KES (KEN)
Active participation by Deutsche Motoren, New Delhi
Supported by BMW Motorrad, Munich.

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The Wheel was a great invention; Two Wheels with a Motor in between was even better!


BMW Motorrad Days 2011

Xbhp's Indo-French Kashmir-Ladakh Tour

aargee

Always wondered what's the engineering reason for assymetrical headlamps? But now this one has asymmetrical fairings!!! Can you pls educate us Ken sir?

__________________
Patience pays...The Vulture's virtue is patience and the bird always get it's food - Wise man saying

This is not a bakery. I don't sugar coat anything. If you ask for my opinion...then that's what you'll get. Don't be mad when it's not what you want to hear

Jonak

Excellent photos and awesome write up.
I am not fortunate to ride this yet but I have seen the bike many time here Seoul. My favorite color would be yellow.

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blackside

Holy cow! my god this machine is mind blowing! phew! Seriously good man..

Nice review bro.. cheers

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Been obsessed with momentum ever since i was born, but 0 - 200kmph took 30yrs! This will do for now!

Own

Royal Enfield Bullet 350

Bajaj Pulsar 200

Honda CB1000R

ken cool

aargee: Your guess is as good as anybody's. However, from what I got while discussing with some of the BMW fellas, if you look closely, you would notice that the left fairing has left a gaping hole. This is to let the air in for cooling purposes of the 999cc engine. According to the BMW engineers, the opening on one side is sufficient for the intended cooling. The right side fin look is partly for dynamic aesthetics. However this finned side does expel some heat and adds in the cooling process.

Thanks Jonak. I really enjoyed this ride way beyond I can explain here. My R1 feels antediluvian in comparison!

And for this particular bike, though black is one of my favourite colours, I prefer it in all colours other than black!

Thank you bro!

__________________
The Wheel was a great invention; Two Wheels with a Motor in between was even better!


BMW Motorrad Days 2011

Xbhp's Indo-French Kashmir-Ladakh Tour

aargee

Nice idea, but the assymetrical headlamps
Even if one were for high beam & low beam, symmetrical would've done the job. But I'm wondering the engineering reason behind that too.

__________________
Patience pays...The Vulture's virtue is patience and the bird always get it's food - Wise man saying

This is not a bakery. I don't sugar coat anything. If you ask for my opinion...then that's what you'll get. Don't be mad when it's not what you want to hear

Sarvajit

Coming from you that the R1 feels antediluvian in comparison, I can just imagine what this bike is!
Though I have never ridden a litre class bike, I remember others saying that Hondas are very easy for novices to handle.
How would you rate this bike in that aspect?

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Quench my thirst with gasoline!

strider

Wonderfully penned Ken Sir, the crisp and detailed photographs add to the pleasure

The S1000R has indeed caught the fancy of devotees who worship the 'God of Performance' and likely to give wet dreams to many others

What a piece of engineering, boggles one with its handling and performance.

A very common question from an R1 owner, how does it fare in the bumper traffic ? (Does it heat up as much and as fast as the R1)

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Hammer the racetrack. Pace yourself on the street.

IBA Number: 47054

ken cool

I do agree that the Honda CBR 1000RR is an excellent bike and was indeed ruling the top spot at the BOTY awards before being brusquely brushed aside by this incredible motorcycle from BMW and has been on top spot since for two years consecutively. I personally feel at a very basic level both bikes to be quite at par in handling. However the BMW gets far ahead in terms of tech rider aids, notably the proprietary DTC that really inspires confidence while making mistakes around a corner. Both bikes are quite forgiving and easy on novice Superbike riders. But the BMW gets ahead of the Honda on several counts and that includes taking the rider into the corners!

Believe me, this bike is so well designed that it practically teaches you Superbiking and still remains the most powerful and fastest litre class yet!

__________________
The Wheel was a great invention; Two Wheels with a Motor in between was even better!


BMW Motorrad Days 2011

Xbhp's Indo-French Kashmir-Ladakh Tour

blackside

Man that is a reply i partially hate to read lolz.. this thing is DAMN! but with so much gadgetry you do feel its overly automated, if this is the first and only superbike someone has ridden, they'd have a hell of a hard time riding anything else. Though good, too much aids makes the rider less in touch with the experience of riding. But for a rider upgrading from another superbike, this would be a testing ground to push himself at par with anything and anyone else. Boggling, mind boggling! ;D

__________________
Been obsessed with momentum ever since i was born, but 0 - 200kmph took 30yrs! This will do for now!

Own

Royal Enfield Bullet 350

Bajaj Pulsar 200

Honda CB1000R