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There may be little more to be say, but here are some of our own experiences so far at Wolf BMW. Ian had an opportunity to ride the new BMW S1000RR in the final days of Ocober:
The occasion was the international
Sales Training Program; not the usual bling-filled product introduction event but a working trip with the
target audience not dealership owners but the sales staff. In our case, yours truly serves both functions (along
with many less glamorous jobs) so was the attendee selected. Seminars and presentations detailed on the bike’s
features and operation as well as the business of entering a new market and enticing customers that are of, er, a
less traditional demographic for BMW. Remarkably, to me at least, a good deal of effort was also expended just on
convincing our own group that a high-performance sport bike might be something we would like to be involved with.
Later meeting some of the other participants I could say that there might indeed be skeptics among us.
The highlight, of course, was the riding. As befits a fully-homologated World Superbike competition motorcycle, we rode exclusively on a racetrack. The track of choice was the Parcmotor Castelloli near Barcelona, Spain. Castelloli does not see WSBK or MotoGP racing, but is close to being a world-class track in my humble opinion. Certainly the equal of Canada’s beloved Mosport, it is fast and challenging. It’s hilly, with a hairpin, a double-apex corner, a long off-camber sweeper, and a blind corner. Great grip, lots of runoff area, and smoooth…. Ah, to race in a country with no asphalt-busting frost!
Riders were grouped by skill level. With a little resume-polishing (raced in four different organizations, 16 years experience, yadda yadda) I had talked myself into the Fast Group. I left out that most of my time has been spent on bikes with less than a third of the power of the double-R. What, me worry? Well, yeah, a bit. Let me explain: One of a racer’s big dreads is the “highside” crash: Roll on the power too soon while still leaned over in a corner and the rear tire spins and loses grip. Tire slides, bike starts to pivot around the front wheel, rider closes throttle, tire grips again. Newton’s laws being what they are, a major earth-over-sky incident results with the rider being thrown an impressive distance into the air. Laugh if you will, but street riders are not immune and neither are those on weakling vintage race bikes. It comes as no surprise that powerful bikes are more highside-prone. With 190 horsepower on tap, discretion with the throttle seems advisable.
The good news: the BMW S1000RR is the first production Superbike to offer traction control to the public. Traction control is legal in World Superbike competition and widely employed. The bad news: the bikes used for the track sessions are very early production examples and do not have the Dynamic Traction control and its companion Race ABS installed. Instructors (the track session is run much like a Wolf BMW A.R.T. school) do a good job of keeping things sane but we are told there have been a number of good highside demonstrations in earlier groups.
More bad news: this bike makes everything I own seem broken. It’s so easy to ride this bike it’s ridiculous. If it was a video game it would be Rockstar: Superbike Hero. True story: I am cruising along quite comfortably following our instructor thinking, “yeah, if we pick up the pace I’ll start to hang off a bit but I don’t want to look like a poser sticking a knee on the warmup laps I’ll just shift my butt to the inside a bit for now.” Bzzzt… my knee slider touches down along with the side of my boot from calf to toe. It seems we are going at a fairly good pace after all!
The half-day track session passed quickly and really seemed completely uneventful; no effort required. Not unmemorable, though. On the same street tires the bikes will be dressed with for customers, we tried three of the power delivery modes: Rain, Sport and Race, (Slick being locked out). That setting is for riding on treadless “slick” racing tires, not slick pavement, by the way. I was ever-so-careful rolling on the throttle as the bike straightened up exiting turns and the difference in throttle response is noticeable. Rain also restricts the power output, but even Race is quite manageable. The torque is amazing; this four-banger has more torque than any Twin and in a huge rev range. This makes a lot of gear changes unnecessary; a shame because pro-quality upshifts with the Shift Assistant and downshifts using the slipper clutch are a breeze. The Double R is compact, as it must be, but the riding position is not cramped and plenty roomy for my 6’2” frame. I would pack my gear in a tankbag and tailpack and leave for a long-weekend ride on one of these in a hearbeat.
Postscript: Race ABS and DTC. Half a dozen late-production bikes to full Canadian specification with Race ABS, Dynamic Traction Control and Shift Assistant (all included at $17,300) were set aside in a skid-pad area for us to try. Well, this goes against the grain: crack the throttle wide open in first gear on the polished surface and keep it pinned for about 100 yards, then GRAB the brake lever as hard as you can. There is as little grip as on a rain-soaked pavement marking and it even feels slippery to walk on but again: ho hum. The bike just accelerates, audibly modulating the throttle as the tire squawks and wiggles a bit and the stops also look and feel like Troy Corser himself is at the controls.
In Canada the S1000RR comes fully equipped with Race ABS, Dynamic Traction Control, and Electronic Gearshift Assistant.
The only extra-cost option is an antitheft alarm system. A slipper clutch "anit-hopping"), 4-mode E-gas power mapping,
multi-function dashboard with lap timing and shift light, and fully adjustable suspension with high- and low-speed rear
compression damping and ride height adjustments are all included.
Available accessories include:
| Engine |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Transverse, load-bearing 4-cylinder | |
| Valves | 4 per cylinder, titanium | |
| Displacement | 999 ccm | |
| Bore x Stroke | 80.0 x 49.7 mm | |
| Horsepower | 193 hp @ 13000 RPM | |
| Torque | 83 ft.lbs. @ 9750 RPM | |
| Compression ratio | 13.0:1 | |
| Cooling system | liquid cooling, separate oil cooler | |
| Valve actuation | chain-driven dual overhead camshafts | |
| Fuel induction | sequential fuel injection | |
| Catalytic converter | 3-way converter with dual oxygen sensors | |
| Clutch | wet multiplate slipper clutch | |
| Gearbox | 6-speed | |
| Primary transmission ratio | 1.552 | |
| Gear ratios | I 2.65; II 2.09; III 1.73; IV 1.50; V 1.36; VI 1.26 | |
| Final drive ratio | 1.259 | |
| Electrical/electronic system | ||
| Engine Management | BMW BMS-KP, E-gas and variable intake length | |
| Generator | 3-phase alternator 12V 434W | |
| Battery | 12V/12Ah | |
| Headlamp | dual H7 | |
| Testing/diagnostics | mobile diagnostic computer - GT1 | |
| Dimensions and Weights | ||
| Fuel tank capacity | 17.5 litre | |
| Seat height @ curb weight | 820 mm(32.3 in) | |
| Wet weight with full fuel | 206.5 kg (456 lbs) including Race ABS | |
| Performance and fuel consumption | ||
| Top Speed | over 200 km/h (124 mph) | |
| Acceleration 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) | 2.9 seconds | |
| Fuel consumption constant 90 km/h | 5.7 l/100km (50 mpg Imperial) | |
| Fuel consumption constant 120 km/h | 5.9 l/100km (48 mpg Imperial) | |
| Fuel requirements | premium unleaded | |
| Chassis | ||
| Frame | Aluminum bridge with loadbearing engine | |
| Front wheel suspension | 46 mm inverted cartridge fork | |
| Rear wheel suspension | Aluminum swingarm, fully adjustable shock | |
| Final drive | O-ring chain | |
| Front brake | 4-piston Brembo radially-mounted calipers with floating 320 mm discs | |
| Rear Brake | single-piston floating caliper with 220 mm disc | |
| Wheels | Aluminum pressure-cast 3.50 x17 front; 6.00 x 17 rear | |
| Front tire | 120/70ZR17 tubeless radial | |
| Rear tire | 190/55ZR17 tubeless radial |
30 January 2010
Copyright © Wolf Motorcycles Limited
