BMW’s flagship sportbike has arrived in India with just a slight bump up in the pricing. To add to the mix, the 2019 BMW S 1000 RR now becomes the first bike to come with the ‘M’ performance badge. We got a chance to find out what the new bike, in the top Pro M-Sport guise (know what it packs extra here), is capable of at the Buddh International Circuit. The review will go up shortly, and in the meanwhile you can feast your eyes on our detailed image gallery of this flagship road-legal track tamer.
BMW showcased the new generation of the S 1000 RR at the 2018 EICMA, with teasers prior to the unveil already suggesting a new look for the BMW superbike.
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Gone are the iconic asymmetrical headlamps and in its place come new LED units. While the response to the styling is polarising, the front scowl is pleasing to look at.
It looks particularly delicious in the traditional BMW blue, white and red colour combination.
The tail unit is sleeker than before with the side-slung exhaust not as large previous editions and the tail light integrated into the turn indicators.
Even though the seat height has gone up to 824mm (9mm more) and the clip-on ‘bars have been lowered further, the track-focused riding posture is on the friendlier side.
Like other big BMWs, you get the same colour TFT screen with multiple layouts to choose from.
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The top-spec Pro M-Sport trim we rode, gets Dynamic Damping Control (DDC). The DDC takes care of the rebound damping on the go, but one still needs to manually tune the preload settings.
As BMW wanted full control over the development of the electronic suite of the S 1000 RR, it chose to go with Marzocchi for the suspension bits. The two companies jointly developed the suspension components so as to tune them to the Bavarian manufacturer’s liking.
The same goes for the brakes. You don’t find any fancy Brembos here or the old Bosch ABS system. The calipers are made by Hayes and a Continental ABS unit has been used as it is a few hundred grams lighter than the previous Bosch unit.
BMW has sharpened the steering head for lightning quick tip ins. Once leaned over, the slight increase in wheelbase helps it remain stable once leaned over.
The M-Sport kit includes carbon fibre wheels. You might think that carbon wheels on our roads is a recipe for disaster but BMW claims that it has found a solution to prevent frequent ruptures.
While one cannot call it a brand new motor from the ground-up, the 999cc inline four engine is radically different from its predecessor. For starters, it gets ShiftCam which is BMW’s term for variable valve timing. The motor is now 4kg lighter than the outgoing one, and at 207PS, makes 6.1PS more too.
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In terms of electronic aids, the S 1000 RR gets a bi-directional quickshifter, Dynamic Traction Control (DTC), ABS Pro, BMW Motorrad Integral ABS (which is basically cornering ABS), Hill Start Control and four riding modes. The Pro and the Pro M-Sport get three additional Race riding modes, DDC, cruise control, pit-lane limiter, launch control, wheelie control - slide control, HSC Pro, Dynamic Brake Control and engine braking control.
The 2019 S 1000 RR is calmer and friendlier too. While that is great for a beginner, more experienced riders will appreciate the levels of customisation for the riding experience it offers.
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Source: zigwheels.com
