EXCWSIVE 200 AMAZING MILES ON HONDA'SV~s + VFR1200F ...

EXCWSIVE 200 AMAZING MILES ON
HONDA'SV~s + VFR1200F VERDICT

FRONT
Words Simon Hargreaves Photography Paul Bryant
'Sayhello to the most
powerful praduction
bike in the world'
Bike lays its hands on the first BMW S1000RR
in the country and puts it through its first ever
dyno run. Initially there's disbelief, then it dawns
- here'S the moment that everything changed
As the redlined screams of a 1000cc inline four fade into a damp,
mid-winter night, the number on a grubby computer monitor in
a small, dimly-lit dyno room in the middle of nowhere bears
testament to the birth of a new era in sportsbikes.
The computer display shows 183.7bhp at 13,200rpm.I'1i say that again:
183.7 brake horsepower. Mein Gott.
Fingers poke at the screen, collective jaws hit the floor. Grown men who
should be above this sort of thing grin like naughty schoolboys.
This is a huge number. It towers over Aprilia's RSV4 Factory and Ducati's
1198S by more than 30bhp. It's 18php up on the ZX-10R, Japan's most powerful
litre sportsbike. And it's 3.7bhp better than Suzuki's Hayabusa, previously the
most potent stock engine Bike has ever tested. And all this from an engine with
only 400 miles on its bores, so a few more bhp may emerge as it loosens up.
As welcomes go, it doesn't get much better than this. Sportsbike UK, say hello
to the most powerful production bike in the world, the BMW S1000RR.
200 ..., Power, b hp
Torque, fb.ft
18 0
160 . BMW 51000RR
FULL POWER
183.7bhp @13,200rpm
140 ..,. .. BMW S1000RR
RAIN MODE
139.3bhP @ 12,900rpm
120
10 0
80
60
-'
40 J: :-(~ ~
20
!:T - "" "' ;"'- ~
-'''-.-~ .':~/ ~ .; . -: - - - ~ - ---- - ~ -... - --
"
"
BMWS1000RR
dynograph
The SlOOORR has four
engine maps: Rain,
Sport, Race and Slick
At full throttle, the last
three modes make
identical peak power,
so the line is exactly the
same for all three. Rain
mode matches the
other three up to
7000rpm but power is
then held back to peak
at 'only' 139.3bhp See
how the BMW matches
up to its rivals on the
next page.
RPM
o +l~~~~~--~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
n 4k 6 k 8k 12k 10k 14k
6

FRONT
184BHP
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR US?
There's a new kid in town. Here's how the S1000RR stacks up against its rivals ...
2001 Power. bhp :
Torque. Ib It :
180 . ...•.•.:.
160
1Rl
140 .156.3bhp
120 ...· ·
6k Bk 12k 10k 14k
14k
The Bike team gather in the dyno room as the numbers are revealed
'Let's check that one more time'
In fifth at 62mph on the dyno
Kawasaki ZX-10R
With its 165.3bhp peak, the
ZX-10 R is the most powerful of
the current litre sportsbikes,
matching the SlOOORR up to
9000rpm. But from there to the
l3,200rpm peak (some lOOOrpm
higher than the ZX-10R) the
BMW romps off. When asked
to comment. aKawasaki
spokesman said, 'What do
you expect us to say?'
YamahaR1
The point of the crossplane crank
design is that it puts driveability
in front of peak performance.
Yamaha would point to Leon
Camier's BSB domination on a
bike that wasn't the most
powerful (although critics might
point to his very special
electronic package). Trouble is,
the 8M has the power ... and the
electronics. On a road bike ...
200 , Power, bhp .
TorCjue,lbft
180 .... ·
160 ~ GSX-R
160.1bhp
140 ...•·
leo1~~~~~~.~~ ~t
IBO
160
140 ..··
2001~~~~~.~~jt
180
160 j · RSV4
152.9bhp
140
200 1Power, bhp
180 .T~:~~~: ! ~ : f t ·
160~ ' 1198S
154 9bhp
140'"
120
120 ... ·
120
ICO
BO
. ~ .~..
6 0J. ,'>, -
· ~ -· ; ::i".- ~- - ·-· ' , ~
40
·l· ·
20
o 1
:RPM
a 0 • • ~ ~ ~
4k 6K 8k 12k 10k
"PM

184BHP
WHY DID BMW DO IT?
In January 2005, at the launch the R1200RT, ex-BMW
Motorrad boss Dr Herbert Diess told a small group of
journalists that BMW were changing. His bosses had
decided they needed to sell more bikes and increase
their market share. Dr Diess told us BMW needed to
bring the brand values of their cars to their bikes: quality,
luxury, technology and - specifically - performance. The
inference was clear and Bike reported it in the R1200RT
launch report: 'In short, BMW want to build sportsbikes.'
This may only be five years ago, but how quickly we
forget that BMW in 2005 were not like BMW in 2010.
While their cars had long been associated with quality,
luxury, technology and performance, their bikes could
only tick one, maybe two, of those boxes.
BMW were at the cutting edge of something but
it wasn't performance and it wasn't technology, the
quality didn't extend to their gearboxes and the luxury
amounted to heated grips, big fairings and decent tank
ranges. While the Japanese built bikes people wanted,
BMW built bikes they thought people should want.
Their particular brand of 'we're right, the rest of the
world is wrong' was exemplified by their use of
unconventional indicator switchgear. It was this kind
of design obstinacy that put people off buying BMWs
when they went for a ten-minute test ride.
Five years later, BMW are a very different company,
with the S1000RR reflecting the strengths of BMW cars.
And it even has push-to-cancel indicators on the left bar.
Not reinventing the
wheel has allowed
BMW to leapfrog rivals
184BHP
HOW DID BMW DO IT?
By choosing to build a Japanese-style 16 valve, watercooled
in line four housed in a conventional twin spar
aluminium frame, BMW selected a design with a clear,
linear development history. Thus it was easier to play
catch up - or leapfrog - when designing their own
engine, rather than expend a lot of development time
and cost pursuing a new direction (as, perhaps, Aprilia
have with their V4-powered RSV4). BMW could study a
very obvious Japanese development cycle - anyone
familiar with the recent history ofGSX-Rs, ZX-10Rs, R1s
D 'The Suzuki GSX-Rl000KS was the
best litre sportsbike - and it still is. It
is the bike we used as a benchmark'
and Blades would have no trouble predicting future
power increases with a fair degree ofaccuracy - and
pitch their engine's spec a few years ahead of its rivals.
BMW acknowledge as much: 'The principle of
combining a straight-four power unit with an aluminium
bridge frame has been consistently developed and has
become the dominating technical concept, particularly
in the supers ports segment. The reason, quite simply, is
that a motorcycle of this kind offers significant benefits
in terms of riding dynamics, long-distance endurance
and straightforward production.'
This is backed up by BMW's Stefan Zeit, project
leader for the S1000RR, who recently spoke to Bike
about the role the opposition litre sportsbikes played
in the development of the S1000RR.
'We tested the competition: he said. 'I was
particularly impressed by the Fireblade. But I don't
understand why Yamaha have used the crossplane
crank in a road bike. I feel it is not a nice engine to use.'
But Zeit reserved his greatest praise not for a current
sportsbike, but a five-year-old model: 'Early, while we
were developing the S1000RR,at the time the Suzuki
GSX-R1000K5 (see p 116) was the best litre sportsbikeand
I think it still is. It is the bike we used as a benchmark
for the S1000RR; we bought ten of them and pulled
them apart. In engineering terms it is so light. and so
simple. I cannot understand why Suzuki went away
from this design and made the K7 and the K9.'
At the recent Milan show, when the S1000RR was
debuted to the public for the first time, BMW staff were
amused by the sight of Japanese gentlemen with tape
measures noting down various dimensions of the bike.
'We also had a lot of questions from Aprilia too, about
our traction control system!' noted Zeit with a smile.
Zeit added. 'We know, for certain, that all the
Japanese manufacturers have advanced traction
control systems on a shelf, ready to be used. But they
have not used them. It seems very strange.'
One thing's for sure: expect a Japanese response in
2011. Traction-controlled, 200bhp Blade, anyone?
9

184BHP
WHAT ABOUT RACING?
The BMW's power means a road-going litre sports bike
- warranty and all - is just Sbhp down on the engine that
dominated British Superbike last year. Fitting a race
exhaust, a thinner head gasket and tweaking the
fuelling should see the power match Leon Camier's
2009 BSB winning Yamaha Rl - which recently made
192bhp on the same dyno Bike tested the SlOOORR on.
And it's fair to assume that even the most powerful BSB
bikes were, at most, only 20bhp up on that figure.
BMW don't plan to race in BSB until 2011, but they are
looking at a deal to run in the British Superstock
~ At Superstock level, the S1000RR's
184bhp is already up to the class best. With
an exhaust, fuelling adjustment and head
gasket, the BMW will be on for 190bhp
championship, with Team Co-Ordit, which could be
very unfortunate for other British Superstock teams.
The SlOOORR's lS4bhp is already up to the class best
(the 2007 Superstock-winning Rl engine has been
measured at 1S0bhp) and modifications allowed in
Superstock would take it to around 190bhp.
Naturally, Team Co-Ordit rider Richard Cooper is
looking forward to the season. Cooper, who knows the
bike because he stood in for injured factory rider Ruben
Xaus at the German WSB round last year, thinks it will
be capable of challenging at the front from the start.
'I'm confident I can win races on it: he says. 'The bike
is so fast - but so easy to ride. There's no substitute for
bhp, as long as it handles, and it handles ali right.'
But the SlOOORR also has traction control, if it's
allowed in Superstock. The bike is currently undergoing
homologation by the FIM, bike racing's world governing
body. A decision was imminent as Bike went to press ­
but nothing existed in the rules to outlaw it.
>First UKroad test on p78
Bike's big escalator of power
Litre sportsbikes from Blade to the SlOOORR in ten easy steps
1992112bhp
Honda FireBlade
1994125bhp
Kawasaki ZX-9R
1996 131bhp
Yamaha Thunderace
1998138bhp
YamahaRl
2001 140bhp
Suzuki GSX-Rl000
2004 154bhp
MV Agusta F41000
2005 159bhp
Suzuki GSX-Rl000
2006 165bhp
Kawasaki ZX-l0R
2008168bhp
Kawasaki ZX-l0R
2010 183bhp
BMWS1000RR
10