Unsurprisingly, BMW Motorrad debuted an updated BMW S1000RR superbike at INTERMOT — building upon the company’s already stout package.
Revising the frame geometry for better handling, massaging the engine for an additional 6hp (peak power is now 199hp, while torque is at 83 lbs•ft), and reducing weight by 9 lbs (449.7 lbs with a full tank of fuel and ABS), the Germans hope that the 2015 BMW S1000RR remains the superbike to beat in the coming years.
Despite being five years old, the BMW S1000RR remains one of the best sport bikes you can buy on the market. This is do largely to BMW bringing a bevy of European top-tier features to the superbike, but pricing it inline with its Japanese counterparts, thus creating tremendous bang for the buck for sport bike enthusiasts.
For the 2013 model year, the Bavarians raised their game with its more exclusive BMW HP4 offering, which brought semi-active suspension into liter-bike mix. Now with the Bosch MSC cornering ABS module, BMW continues to raise the game in what was once a segment that lived solely in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Now for 2015, it seems that BMW is set to update the S1000RR, as a revised version of the bike has been spotted in Germany, sporting noticeably different bodywork and other features.
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.
BMW Motorrad has been working on its next generation of suspension innovations, and at the 2011 BMW Motorrad Innovation Day the Bavarian company debuted its new Dynamic Damping Control (DDC) technology. An evolution on BMW’s electronic suspension adjustment system (ESA & ESA II), BMW Motorrad’s Dynamic Damping Control goes beyond merely allowing the rider to adjust suspension compression, rebound, and spring settings on the fly, and adds a computer-controlled automatic tuning element to the suspension components that adapts to the road conditions on-the-fly.
For some background, BMW’s ESA II is the forefather for copycat systems found on other manufacturer’s machines, perhaps most notable of which is the Ducati Multistrada 1200, which boasts a “four bikes in one” tagline with its different riding modes that use different engine mapping and suspension settings to tailor the bike to the rider’s needs. DDC takes this idea a step further, as it goes beyond just changing settings in different riding modes (as seen on the Ducati), and instead ties in the suspension system to BMW’s ABS and traction control systems (DTC), allowing the suspension to react when a rider accelerates, brakes, swerves, and fords the river Oregon Trail style (you’ll likely lose all your oxen doing this).