Dollar for dollar, there’s no cheaper way to go insanely fast than on a motorcycle, and we’re ready to cash out what’s left of our 401(k) for the new BMW S 1000 RR. With 193 horsepower in a package that weighs 455 pounds ready to ride, this sexy beast is quick enough to compress your eyeballs.
BMW unveiled the bike at the famed Autodramo Nationale Monza - and oh, how we’d love to take it through the Variante della Roggia - in Italy, which we can’t help but suspect was a shot across the bow of Ducati. The boys in Bologna (and Japan, for that matter) should be worried, because BMW is promising best-in-class performance.
Beyond arm-snapping acceleration - zero to 62 in 2.9 seconds - the RR sports some sweet tech that includes traction control and ABS.
Did we mention is produces 193 horsepower at 13,000 rpm?
That’s a stunning amount of power for anything on two wheels, let alone a machine that weight 403.5 pounds before you put any gas in the tank. For the sake of comparison, the awesome Ducati 1098 R produces 180 horsepower and weighs 364 pounds dry, so the two bikes have a similar power-to-weight ratio. The Yamaha R1 has 180 horsepower on tap in a bike that weighs 454 pounds when fueled.
BMW is competing in the World Superbike Championship, and the RR provides the foundation for the production-based race bikes ridden by roy Corser and Ruben Xaus.
Its water-cooled, four-cylinder 999cc engine has a 13.0:1 compression ratio and sits in an aluminum frame. It’s got 82.5 pound-feet of torque at 9,750 rpm. Electronic assistance comes from race-spec ABS and dynamic traction control. The rider can chose from four modes - rain, sport, race and slick - to control how much nannying the bike provides. You can also bypass it entirely if you’re in the mood for burnouts. BMW claims the RR is the lightest superbike with ABS, and the bike also comes with an optional “HP Gearshift Assistant” for perfect clutchless shifting.
The RR rides on a 46-millimeter inverted fork - no Telelever here - and an aluminum swingarm. BMW says the aluminum fuel tank is no wider than those on 600 superbikes, “giving the rider the assurance of excellent control and handling at all times.”
The bike rolls into showrooms early next year. As for price, Pieter de Waal, vice president of BMW Motorrad USA, recently told Dealernews, “people will be in for quite a surprise. We intend to take the four Japanese head-on. We did not intend to build a motorcycle like Ducati does or KTM does. We want to build a mainstream motorcycle.”
BMW is aiming the bike squarely at riders who would otherwise ride home on an R1 or Suzuki GSX-R1000 - both of which cost a hair less than $13,000 - and de Waal told Dealernews, “We’re going right for the fat part of the market with this, and I think it’s going to change a lot of people’s opinions about the brand.”
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Topic: BMW Decides Too Much Is Just Enough (Read 1522 times)