SLEEKER SHARPER FASTER BMW S 1000 R (2019)

 

IN THE PAST BMW WERE KNOWN TO MAKE
only touring and adventure motorcycles with boxer
twin-cylinder engines. In April 2008, BMW surprised
the world when they showcased the very first litre-class
super sport motorcycle, the S 1000 RR. The S1000RR
set a new benchmark in the litre-class with its power,

handling, and, most of all, the electronics

At that time, BMW were the first to offer rider aids such as
traction control even though they were not participating in
MotoGP like most of the other litre-class superbike
manufacturers. At the time of its launch, the S1000RR was the
most powerful superbike and it took years for others to catch up.

BMW have moved away from the asymmetrical design to a
symmetrical one for the S1000RR of 2019. The reason for the
asymmetrical design was that, at that time, the projector
headlights were very heavy and, in order to save weight, they
decided to fit one round headlight. Now that the new LED
weigh almost nothing, they have fitted the new bike with twin
headlamps. The narrow petrol tank and slim fairing make the
bike look sleeker and sharper than before; as a matter of fact, it
looks more like a 600 than a litre-class superbike

The first ride on the S1000RR was held at the Estoril
racetrack on the outskirts of Lisbon. The bike was the red,white, and blue M performance version; now the HP4
moniker has been done away with for the performance range
and replaced by the M range which is used for all the BMW
performance cars. The S1000RR will only come in the
traditional red, white, and blue M performance version; now the HP4
moniker has been done away with for the performance range
and replaced by the M range which is used for all the BMW
performance cars. The S1000RR will only come in the
traditional red, white, and blue colours and the bike looks
stunning and ready to race.

If you look carefully, you can see that the nose fairing is
made of three pieces and there are a lot of child parts in the
fairing, thus making it cheap to replace in case of a crash. You
would need to replace only the part that is damaged and not
the whole nose cone or the complete side-panel.

The in-line four engine has a lighter crankshaft and the
motor has shed four kilograms. The big change is in the intake
camshaft that has variable lift and timing. BMW call it
ShiftCam. Instead of a one-piece camshaft with fixed cam
lobes, they have made a shaft and lobes with splines and this makes it easy to change the cam lobes without having to
change the whole camshaft. There are two cam lobes: one has
the regular lift and smaller timing for better low-end and mid
range power and torque and the second lobe has a much
higher lift and a longer open duration for high-rpm power.
The transition from the lower cam to the high-lift cam
happens at 9,000 rpm and the shift is actuated by two shifting
gates. This is done two electromechanical actuators. This has
helped increase the torque significantly between 4,300 and
8,000 rpm.

The other trick components include hollow bored-out
titanium valves and speed-resistant rocker arms. The motor
pushes out a massive 207 PS of peak power at 13,500 rpm and
13 Nm of torque at 10,500 rpm.

The power is transmitted to the six-speed gearbox via a
wet multi-plate clutch. The six-speed gearbox has a power
shifter for both up- and downshifts, which has now become
a norm for most litre-class superbikes. It means that the
power shifter
clutch is redounded once you are on the move thanks to the
The new chassis is lighter and uses the engine as a
stressed member. It is not as rigid as the
previous one. The Sachs suspension is replaced by semi-active Marzocchi suspension.
While the 45-mm upside down front forks are
adjustable for compression, rebound, and
preload damping, the rear suspension set
up has an all-new single-section swing
arm with a Marzocchi rear monoshock
unit that has a new-generation electronic
damper control known as DDC
(Dynamic Damper Control). The rear
unit is also adjustable for preload
compression and rebound.

The new wheels have shed
1.6 kg, thus reducing
unsprung weight and
gyroscopic forces. Along with the
wheels, the 320mm disc rotors
have also shed half a kilo. The
Brembo radial calipers have been
replaced by Hayes four-piston fixed
radially mounted calipers. The
braking at the rear is taken care of by a
single-piston floating caliper grabbing a
220mm disc rotor.


   Braking is assisted by
ABS Pro that offers cornering ABS.

Turn on the ignition and the 6.5-inch TFT screen
comes to life. You can set it to four different displays plus you
get all the information about the motorcycle and the riding
modes. There are seven riding modes starting with rain, road,
dynamic and race and the race mode has three: race pro,
race pro 2, race pro 3. In the race pro modes, you can select the
braking combination. wheelie control, throttle response,
traction control, and suspension set-up: in fact, you can tailor
the bike individually. The amount of information on the
displays is countless

The first thing that strikes you is how slim the bike feels
between your legs compared to the outgoing model. The new
narrower and taller tank gives you the feeling of Sitting on the
bike rather than sitting on top of the bike.

We were very lucky with the weather. It was bright and
sunny in contrast to the previous days which were wet and
cold. In fact, the weather was perfect for riding with the
ambient temperature being 14 to 16 degrees Celsius.

After a five-minute session following the BMW lead rider
in road mode, it was time to select the race mode but with the wheelie mode so set that the front wheel would
not come up more than six inches off the
ground. The S1000RR was never short on
top-end performance; in fact, it was a bit of
a screamer and what she lacked was the
bottom and mid-range. Now that has
been taken care of by the ShiftCam
system and there is plenty of drive from
4,000 rpm. You can be in first or second
gear in the slow chicane or the reverse
corkscrew and the bike gives a strong drive.
Even if you overcook your braking point, you
can still tip the bike into a comer without having

to worry about losing the front end thanks to the
cornering ABS Pro.
Exiting the last corner in third gear with your knee on the
deck, powering hard, the gear shift light starts flashing as you
near the red line and the bike is literally flying down the main
straight as you shift up through the gears, using the
quickshifter, just as you glance at the digital speedo flashing
285 km/h. You hit the anchors. The Hayes brakes haul the
bike to 120 km/h for the second-gear right-hander. The new
Hayes brakes are up to the mark and they have a more

progressive bite compared to the old Brembos.

The new S1000RR feels like a 600 race bike and has the
power characteristics of a V4. BMW have set a new
benchmark in the litre-class.