S1000RR

by Fraser Addecott from https://www.mirror.co.uk Fraser puts the German firm’s hugely popular thousand to the test – just before the lockdown kicked in – and finds he runs out of superbike superlatives As someone who grew up riding Japanese sportsbikes, I still find it a little surprising that the definitive model for the past few years has not derived from the Land of the Rising Sun. No, it’s German manufacturer BMW Motorrad which has, arguably, dominated the supersports market – in the form of its S1000RR. The bike was first introduced in 2009, when just 1,000 were produced in order to meet homologation requirements for the firm’s new World Superbike Championship machine. Since then, it has racked up successes in that series, the Superstock 100 competition and the Macau Grand Prix – not to mention multiple Isle of Man TT wins. The S1000RR was given updates in 2012 and again in 2015. This latest version I am testing here came out last year and represents a major overhaul. Claudio De Martino, BMW’s vehicle technology team leader, told Mirror Motorcycling: “Our brief was to take the predecessor model – which has been a dominating force in all disciplines for 10 years – and significantly improve on its performance. “This we translated into straightforward targets – one second faster on the track, more than 10kg lighter and easier to control. “These targets were taken as the basis for every decision.” Claudio and has team were true to their brief – the new engine produces a whopping 207bhp, an increase of 8bhp on its predecessor and the bike has dropped from 208kg to 197kg. It is also more controllable with an enhanced ride due to a redesigned main frame, even better suspension and improved technology, such as traction and wheelie control. The red […]