BMW S 1000 RR - 2010 |
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Pussycat or tiger? Much has already been written about BMW’s formidable S 1000 RR in the motorcycling press. Astounding everyone, BMW’s first serious attempt at producing a sports bike set a new bench mark for this sector of the motorcycle market according to many in the motorcycle industry.With already well established competition like Yamaha’s R1, Suzuki’s GSX-R1000 and Kawasaki’s Njnja ZZX- 10R, BMW really had to produce a sports bike that would be a cut above the rest to muscle in on a share of this hotly contested sector. So a good start is producing the world’s most powerful production sports bike with a claimed power output of 193hp at 13,000 rpm and a 112 NM of torque at 9,750 rpm. So does this amount of power make it an unruly, snarling tiger to ride or a pussycat? Add in jaw dropping distinctive looks with its asymmetric headlamp design and you already have a bike that will get peoples attention, even before they have ridden it.  We here at www.inter-bike.co.uk were not sure what to expect when we got the opportunity to test BMW Motorrad’s S 1000 RR, would the power be to much to handle, would the bike intimidate or win you over instantly? Well first off we can say it is a pussy cat to ride unless you twist the throttle too aggressively, but even then there is the traction control to stop you getting into too much trouble; though we did constantly manage to light up the white traction indicator light on the instrument panel, which flashed angrily every time we were too enthusiastic. However you can switch off the traction control if you dare! The bike is no way intimidating and for this you could glibly judge it to be a pussycat, but do not be mislead this bike is a tiger with the performance to prove it. Whilst the power delivery is delightfully smooth and controlled; this can quickly become very deceptive as you look down and see what actual road the speed the bike has so effortlessly achieved. Our riding would lead us to believe it has a theoretical top speed of between 190 and 200mph, which of course is academic for normal road use, but gives you a firm idea as to the amount of performance on tap. Now one of the overriding criticisms of sports bikes is one of comfort, contorting your body to fit the ‘A typical’ sports bike riding position can quickly lead to aching limbs, wrist strain etc.,. However BMW Motorrad has actually managed to produce a sports bike with a comfortable seating position. You are tipped forward but there is plenty of room for your legs, with the angle to the foot pegs not being too acute, so you don’t suffer with leg strain. Obviously you do carry some weight through your wrists to the span adjustable levers, but such is the seating position that this is minimal. The squab seat is also very comfortable. In-fact such are the comfort levels we think you could possibly tour (one up only) on this bike, though the small pillion seat and high rear foot pegs, mean taking a pillion on anything other than a short ride is out of the question.  Has BMW Motorrad realised that the average sports bike rider is getting older and needs something more comfortable? We think they have.With an average test fuel consumption of an amazing 45 mpg on its preferred diet of Super Unleaded, the bike has a range of approximately 170 miles, which is extremely favourable for a sports bike and again leads us to believe you could tour on it, if you wished. As always BMW have provided comprehensive instrumentation which includes digital gear indicator, digital speedo, analogue rev counter, trip meter, ABS and traction control warning lights. One notable extra is the bike is fitted with a quick shifter, which we kept forgetting to use, but for track days and when every second counts this is a nice to have addition. The bike also has 3 selectable power modes via a button on the bars which provides Rain Mode, Sport Mode and Race Mode, Rain Mode being the least powerful (approx 120 hp) with Race obviously being the most powerful and with it speeding up the throttle response over the Sport setting. As we had a dry day to test the bike we didn’t resort to using Rain Mode preferring to experience the full power and response of Race Mode. However just to see what Rain Mode did whilst in one town we selected it. We can say the bike didn’t feel as smooth in this setting, with the engine ‘hunting’ on low throttle openings. Also an observation with prolonged town riding is that when the bike gets hot the cooling fan dissipates the heat so effectively that the riders legs can become unduly warm, but then this not a bike for the town, but for the open road. Correspondingly so, the brakes are phenomenally powerful, being double disc, 4 piston radial-mounted fixed callipers at the front and single piston floating calliper at the rear. One finer braking is all that is needed to bring the bike to a rapid stop in normal riding; grab a big handful of brake and you will provoke the ABS to cut in, but this does not induce severe front fork dive.  Mirrors on sports bike can border on useless; however the mirrors on the S 1000 RR are good and provide an excellent view of the road fast disappearing behind you. Due to the raked nature of the screen there is no way on a bike of this design that you are not going to experience the rush of air coming over the top of the screen, however such is the superb aerodynamic design of the screen that it provides a nice clean air stream with no buffeting at all. So what is the bike really like to ride, apart from the awesome performance? Well it feels like you are actually plugged into the bike, we can’t really explain it, how at one with the bike you instantly feel. It is such a dynamically good package! Although this sounds clichéd, it goes round corners like it is on rails. You would think with a bike this powerful you would have to put in lots of rider input, but no, the bike truly feels like it is part of you and responds instantly to your every command. No doubt in no large part helped by the upside down 46mm forks with 10 stage rebound and compression and a rear shock also with 10 stage adjustable rebound and compression damping, which even seemed to make poorly surfaced roads easy to ride. The sticky Conti SportAttack’s rubber meant you could put the power on the road, knowing the grip levels matched the bikes performance and the dry weight of only 183kg aids the bikes considerable handling prowess.  Combined with the rasp from the standard high grade steel 4 into 1, BMW fitted exhaust; the S 1000 RR truly is a sports bike you must ride. The power delivery is astonishingly smooth and linear; there are no discernable peaks or troughs in power anywhere in the rev range, that we could responsibly explore on the road. Surprisingly also, this all new in-line 4 cylinder engine produces a useful amount of engine breaking when shutting the throttle off and this helps in making the S 1000 RR very much easier to ride.We did experience the merest hint of vibration through the foot pegs at very low revs, but in the bikes defence the model we were riding had barely done 500 miles and as such wasn’t really run in. The slick shifter or as BMW call it ‘gear shift assist’ makes for relatively smooth gear changing, but we still think that whilst the BMW gearbox overall is far smoother than on many other BMW models we have ridden, the leading Japanese manufacturers still just have the edge on producing the smoothest gearboxes. With the amount of power available gear changing is somewhat optional, however we did on a few occasions change down to forth gear for a few very quick overtakes. Changing down to second gear and applying a large throttle opening can result in you arms feeling like they are being wrenched from their sockets, such are the accelerative forces. Looks are obviously a matter of personal taste, but there is no doubting that the asymmetric headlights and the Motorsport, white, blue and red paintwork on our test bike certainly turns heads as did the polished box section alloy rear swing arm. But will this offering be enough to turn sports bike fans in to BMW riders, we think most definitely yes. BMW have as others have already said, set a new bench mark for sports bikes and if you fancy a pussycat for the week end ride with the performance of a tiger the BMW S 1000 RR is the sports bike to ride for now. Article and Photos by Jon Booth – http://www.inter-bike.co.uk – The UK Biker Site Note all performance figures, weights and technical specifications are as claimed by the manufacturer Thanks to the BMW North Oxford dealership for the loan of the BMW S 1000 RR  Specifications New price *: £13, 060 Engine: 4 stroke DOHC in line engine Engine Size: 999 cm³ Power: 193 HP Transmission: 6 speed synchromesh gearbox Weight (Dry): 183kg * Suggested On Road Retail Price for base model with no factory fit options
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