BMW S1000RR Expected this Summer
Planned for general release this summer, the production BMW S1000R has some changes from the racebike prototype everyone’s raving about.
Ron Lieback
AllAboutBikes.com Staff Writer
Wanting to grab an edge in World Championship racing, BMW did things differently. The Bavarian manufacture didn’t produce a bike like usual, one with a peculiar engine design and quirky set ups, but rather a conventional sportbike, the S1000RR. The carbon racebike is planned for general release to the public this summer, with slight changes from the prototype that has every motorcycle content venue raving.
The S1000RR utilizes a 999cc inline-four, but without a radically canted cylinder bank. The cylinder head is reported to have a unique valve-closing system, but further details are non-existent at this time. The Akrapovic exhaust system appearing on the prototype racebike is reported to be replaced by a belly-mounted silencer, and the discs are said to be mounted directly to the wheels without a separate carrier like the one that’s featured on the prototype racebike, but the Brembo radial-mount calipers remain. The S1000RR has a twin-spar aluminum frame, and a standard twin-sided “gull-wing” style swingarm.
Nothing unusual for modern sportbikes, the S1000RR is expected to have an ABS system with four modes of operation, and ride-by-wire throttle and traction control. It will be available in (metallic) Mineral Silver, Acid Green and Thunder Metal, and also in the BMW Motorrad racing colors of Alpine White, Magma Red and Lupine Blue. In Germany, sales prices are reported to be about $19,400 US dollars, which is actually not as expensive as some thought.
Performance numbers have yet to be released, but with a stout technological and engineering background due to BMW’s auto racing heritage, they’re most likely impressive.
