After an announcement in late 2013 that Michael Dunlop would be forced to sit out the 2014 road racing season, rumors are flying that he has pitched a tent in the BMW paddock.
Although no official statement has been made yet, MCN and Bennetts are both reporting the seven-time TT winner will be signing a deal to ride an BMW S1000RR for BMW Motorrad in the Superbike TT classes, along with a BMW HP4 that he will be riding for his own team, Michael Dunlop Racing, in Superstock TT race.
While we remain firm in our opinion that the BMW R nineT is the most important model to come from BMW Motorrad in a long while (which is saying something, since the liquid-cooled BMW R1200GS was a major step for the iconic and well-selling motorcycle), perhaps the most exciting model to come from Bavaria for the 2014 model year is the BMW S1000R.
Long-expected, the S1000R is the scandalously clad sibling to the venerable S1000RR superbike. Building the streetfighter model, the Germans went an interesting route with the BMW S1000R, instead of dropping mega horsepower, to compete with the Aprilia Tuono V4 R APRC ABS and KTM 1290 SuperDuke R, the Motorraders built a bike with a serious midrange.
True to form though, BMW is aggressively pricing the S1000R for the US market, with the base price set at $13,150. Of course will all things BMW, you have to pay to play with all the goodies.
Just two months shy of the start of the 2014 FIM Endurance World Championship, and BMW Motorrad has announced that it will not be continuing support of Team Thevent, the Belgian racing outfit that has in the past run BMW’s EWC effort.
Despite finishing a disappointing 12th in the 2013 season, Team Prinicipal Michael Bartholemy said the decision from BMW came as a shock given they had been involved in ongoing negotiations with BMW Motorrad for the 2014 season.
“We were asked by BMW Motorrad at Le Mans if we would continue in 2014, to which our answer was a definite yes,” he said. “Since then we have been negotiating in good faith, with BMW, with riders and with Pirelli, while BMW clarified internally some technical issues with the bike we would race in 2014.”
“Finally the budget was agreed with BMW, but just 24 hours later we got a call from them saying that they were sorry, but there was no budget and they weren’t going racing.”
The “BMW rider” is almost its own class of rider in the United States. You know the type: usually white, male, greying or white hair, maybe a pair of glasses and a sweet $1,000 Schuberth flip-up helmet to top it off. Ah, and don’t forget the well-worn-in Roadcrafter in blue with fluorescent yellow accents. As for the bike, it has got to the venerable GS.
Of course we are speaking generalities here, but as it turns out, that stereotypical demographic is also BMW’s most lucrative. The latest sales statistics from BMW Motorrad USA show the BMW R1200GS to be the company’s best selling motorbike in the states with over 2,000 sold.
With BMW Motorrad USA selling 14,100 motorcycles in total for 2013), the R1200GS has thus unseated the S1000RR as the best selling BMW motorcycle in the USA.
Last week we reported that 2013 was BMW’s best sales year ever, and now here comes the Bavarian Motorrad division’s biggest rival, KTM, with a sales report that ups the ante by 8,644 bikes.
For 2013, KTM’s worldwide sales reached 123,859 bikes (BMW’s record was 115,215). This is a 15.6% increase over the previous year, with an expected 17.0% increase in revenue as well.
Just days after issuing a North American recall for 50,000+ of their motorcycles, BMW Motorrad issued a press release to talk about its successful sales sales volumes. For 2013, BMW achieved its third all-time sales high of 115,215 vehicles, an 8.3% increase over the previous year. Of that total, 14,100 were sold in the United States.
BMW Motorrad North America announced yesterday it will be recalling 50,184 motorcycles ranging from 2005-2012 due to potential fuel leaks. The models affected are the 2005-2011 R-models, 2005-2012 K-models, 2010-2011 S1000RR models, and 2006-2010 HP2 models.
According to BMW, the reason for the recall is the fuel pump flange and auxiliary fuel pump flange may develop cracks and leak, which may result in fires.
The first of the new BMW R nineT motorcycles rolled off its assembly line today, a fact that is only newsworthy because so many motorcycle publications are struggling for content in these coming winter doldrums.
It was only a month ago that we were overwhelmed with stories of new bikes debuting in Milan, and now we motorcycle journalists must scrounge around for anything lurid that is at least tangentially related to motorcycles. I hear there is a law student in Italy selling nude photos of herself so she can buy a new scooter. Juicy.
Who doesn’t like a good tit story, right? But instead I offer to you perhaps the biggest development in motorcycling this year — a story that no one else has thought to discuss, until now — and it is about the BMW R nineT itself, and what it represents not only for BMW Motorrad, but also for motorcycling as a whole.
A big announcement at EICMA that we have seen coming down the pipe since the latest generation of the BMW R1200GS broke cover, the 2014 BMW R1200RT is the next logical step of progression in BMW Motorrad’s push to bring a “precision-cooled” water-cooled boxer-twin to its R-series of motorbike.
The new BMW R1200RT uses a basic formula for its philosophy: take BMW’s already proven touring package, and update it with the company’s latest technologies, while giving a mild facelift in the process. In many ways the 2014 BMW R1200RT feels like previous generations, and in many ways it is not.
As expected, BMW Motorrad took the wraps off a completely new motorcycle today at the EICMA show, the BMW S1000R. A streetfighter version of the venerable BMW S1000RR superbike, the S1000R drops an “R” from its name along with roughly 30hp, with the naked bike sporting a 160hp peak figure — primarily due to a redline that is 2,000 rpm less than the S1000RR.
Build the 999cc inline-four motor for low-end and mid-range torque, rather the maximum peak horsepower, BMW says that the S1000R makes 7 lbs•ft more torque than the S1000RR, all the way up to 7,500 rpm.
With a peak torque figure of 83 lbs•ft at 9,250 rpm, the BMW S1000R is now slouch, though with it tipping the scales at 456 lbs (207kg) — the 2014 BMW S1000R is few pounds heavier than its predecessor.
Our friends at Oliepeil.nl have some serious “lef” going on, because through some “enhanced journalism” those crazy Dutch moto-enthusiasts have managed to grab a couple photos of the BMW S1000R as it waits in the BMW Motorrad exhibit, ahead of its official EICMA debut tomorrow.
A streetfighter version of the venerable BMW S1000RR, the BMW S1000R drops an “R” from its predecessors name, but still features the same inline-four engine as it superbike counterpart –though the motor has likely been detuned to a more sane level.
Unfortunately, we don’t have word on specs or features for the 2014 BMW S1000R, but we do have an idea now of what its finished form looks like. Photos after the jump, but be sure to see more photos and watch the the walk-around video on Oliepeil.nl…just don’t eat the mayo while you’re there.