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Riding The S1000 RR
Great news! There is a two-week international dealer meeting currently being held in Spain to showcase the European version of the new BMW S1000 RR. Lucky for them, the EC-spec bikes are already in production and will be delivered to European dealers pretty soon.
Unfortunately for us, the U.S. dealer meeting won’t be until the end of January with pre-sell bikes distribution immediately after. While we wait and twiddle our thumbs, here are some first-hand recount from dealers about their exciting test ride!
The original links are included where you can ask questions of the riders or leave your comments and feedback. As they say….patience is a virtue and we’ll get our chance to test out the awesome S1000 RR soon enough!
From the K-Bike Site at www.bmwk1200s.com at http://www.bmwk1200s.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=12400#p84740
“OK Guys!!
I just got back from Spain and Yes I am a Sales rep for BMW, and also Kawi,suzuki,yamaha,triumph,aprilia,ktm,motoguzzi. This Bike is frickin awesome, I have owned everything from RC51’s,Gsxr750k6,CBR929,CBR900RR,Gsxr1000k5,K1300S and have riddin all the litre bikes mentioned above. There is nothing that will touch this bike, to give you an idea this bike stock has more HP then a Canadian R1 factory superbikes!!!
The bike is supersmooth, DTC/Race ABS amazing, quickshifter works very well and sounds even better, slipper clutch is stunning. they had us do a training session on polished pavement, for the DTC and Race ABS, and the bike never kicked out under full accelleration and never budged under hard braking (remember polished pavement). and on the track….OMG, unbelievable…talk about an adreneline rush, very easy to manage and riding position is good.
I tried three out of the four DTC modes and there is a notable difference between rain,sport and race. I never tried the slick mode cause i was needing the DTC to bring the wheel back down after 2 sec. third gear pulls hard and quick shifting full lean full throttle in third-fouth gear did not upset the bike atoll. I was super immpressed and anyone who has a deposit down is going to love the bike, and anyone who doesnt have a deposit down….DO IT. before it’s too late.
I am not sure about the US but Canada is a distributer for Alpha racing parts, which are very high end aftermarket accessories like, race arrow exhaust and everthing from rockers to race cams to forged wheels to carbon fiber everything in cluding carbon fibre frame and swingarm gaurds including a full race wiring system for the 2D dash.
Sorry for all the Spelling mistakes my adreniline was still pumping while writing this…. I will post pics as soon as i can, of the track, meeting, alpha racing S1000RR/parts/HP parts.
Favorite Colour for me:
1:Motorsports colour – a must have
2:Thunder Grey – super sleek
3:Acid Green – gorgeous in the sun
4:Mineral Silver – very conservative.”
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From the www.bmwsr.org forum at http://bmwsr.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33223
“I have just got back from riding the new S1000RR on the Parc Motor Castillioli circuit in Spain and as promised I will give you my first impressions.
Like most of you I have been into bikes since I was 16, (30 years ago for me!), and because of my job I have been lucky enough to ride almost all of the modern superbikes. I can honestly tell you that nothing has impressed me like this new bike – ever.
It has obviously got incredible power at 193bhp, but the way it is delivered is so impressive. The bike has 4 modes: Rain mode which reduces power to 150bhp and electronically flattens the torque curve to give a softer throttle response, then Sport, Race and Slick modes that give you the full monty 193bhp with each mode giving you a faster throttle response. The suspension can be adjusted for preload, compression and rebound damping separately and even ride height of the bike at the rear can be adjusted.
The adjustments are simple to do as your ignition key has been designed to use as the adjuster, and there are just 10 clearly defined “clicks” for each area of adjustment. However, if like me you very rarely mess about with your suspension don’t worry as the manual gives very clear and simple guidance on how to set it to an optimum “average” setting.
The brakes are utterly incredible with or without ABS, and stopped the bike from high speed with such power and control it really was amazing. However with the Race ABS and DTC (Dynamic Traction Control) options fitted, it took things to a new level. The instructors took us to a strip of smooth concrete about 100 metres long. They switched the ABS and DTC off and gave the bike full power. You can imagine what happened next! The rear tyre just lit up and he was able to change up through the box until he hit 4th gear with the rear wheel just spinning and smoking.
Then with the DTC and ABS activated the same test – what a difference! Even if you have experienced BMW’s ASC (Anti-Skid Control) option this system is so much more sophisticated. It reacts so fast to changes in grip you are able to keep the throttle open and it constantly compensates and adjusts many times per second so that you get maximum drive with no scary moments. It even offers different levels of traction depending what mode the bike is in – for example in “RAIN” mode you get maximum reduction in wheelspin and stops wheelies completely. In “RACE” mode it allows a certain amount of drift and wheelie capability when exiting corners!
One of the instructors was able to show us this in practice by simulating entering a hairpin bend or roundabout, leaning the bike over until his knee was on the ground and then in first gear giving it a big handful. Normally this would result in a huge highside or at the very least the back end would simply spin out and throw the rider off. The DTC simply allowed the rear tyre to grip and as we all stood there open-mouthed he was able to exit the corner in total safety. Imagine having this confidence on the road to exit a wet roundabout with no scary moments!
This level of sophistication has only previously been seen on full on racing machines and whilst I personally am no track riding expert I can see how this transforms into probably the biggest advance in safety for a road rider since the introduction of BMW’s first ABS system over 20 years ago.
Even if you ignore the power, the handling, the race ABS, the DTC and all the clever electronics, the bike just looks utterly gorgeous. They had all the competitor bikes there, the GSXR, ZX10, Fireblade, and R1 and the S1000RR made all of them look 10 years old. The display bike they had there had all the optional carbon fibre panels and the stubby little Akrapovic silencer which looks fantastic.
Alpha Racing who run the BMW World Superbike team were there and for those of you who don’t feel 193 bhp is enough, Alpha have a range of genuine race parts such as suspension units, forged wheels, discs and a full titanium exhaust system that weighed 3.4 kilos including the end can!
BMW confirmed to us that the bike will be launched in the UK with two other benefits in the areas of finance and insurance. Firstly there will be a special finance package on our BMW Select finance, which results in a monthly payment of £193 over 23 months with a £3500 deposit. Regarding insurance, the underwriters at Devitt who are BMW Insurance in the UK have agreed to put the bike in the same group as the K1300S, which will mean much cheaper premiums than the Japanese superbikes.
The press get their hands on it in November at Portamao circuit in Portugal, and the first roadtests should appear in the December / January issues of all the bike mags. The bike will be on show at the Milan bike show and the NEC (uk) show in late November, then launched at dealers 5th December.
When you work with motorcycles everyday it is difficult sometimes to get excited about a new model. All I can say It’s been a long time since a bike has had me whooping and cheering whilst riding it, and if a fat 40-something with little track experience like me can end up pulling third gear power wheelies with total confidence then it’s got to be a bit special.
I will keep you updated with any new information as we get it.”
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