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The Gigantic Sales Flop That Was the BMW HP4 Race

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Just picture it. You are BMW, and you made the S1000RR superbike, the machine that completely changed the game in the liter-bike market.  And now, you are about to crank things to 11, with an all carbon fiber version of this wickedly popular motorcycle.

Perhaps the best track bike ever created, the BMW HP4 Race makes an honest 212hp at the crank, weighs 378 lbs...fully fueled at the curb, and it has all the top-shelf components you can dream of, all of which are bolted onto the carbon fiber frame, carbon fiber swingarm, and carbon fiber fairings.

A thoroughbred. A true race bike, by DNA. The astounding thing about the BMW HP4 Race is that it is more than the sum of its parts, which is saying something because the parts are simply the best that the motorcycle industry has to offer.

I know this because I got to spend a lucky five laps on the BMW HP4 Race at Laguna Seca, courtesy of BMW Motorrad USA, and while that duration is far too short to give any sort of meaningful feedback about this track-only superbike, the BMW HP4 Race is exactly what you think it is:  an S1000RR taken to the next level.

So then, why has the BMW HP4 Race been a colossal failure in the United States? Because it most certainly is.

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News

This Week’s Suzuki Hayabusa Rumor, Part 3

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We know to expect a Suzuki Hayabusa reboot in the coming months, and in a way, that is all that we know. The iconic superbike is in its 20th year of production right now, and an all-new machine is set to take its place, for the 2019 model year.

Will it be turbocharged? Will it have a larger displacement? How about a dual-clutch transmission? That remains to be seen.

Safe bets are that the 2019 Suzuki Hayabusa will have updated electronics, likely powered by an inertial measurement unit (IMU). Euro4 emissions homologation is a must, and Suzuki will presumably be building the new Hayabusa with the Euro5 standard in mind as well.

Beyond these givens though, it seems that every week there is a new rumor regarding the next Hayabusa generation, and this week is no different.

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News

Giovanni Castiglioni Explains MV Agusta’s Superbike Future

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While we are happy to report the rebirth of the Cagiva brand, and the pending launch of MV Agusta’s new Brutale 1000, we do have some bad news to report from Italy, as this will be the last year of the MV Agusta F4 superbike, for quite some time.

While the Italian brand plans to debut three new models from its four-cylinder platform over the next three years, the company’s superbike offering will be the last to be revitalized.

As such, the Brutale 1000 will debut this year as a 2019 machine, a “neo-classical” bike will debut next year as a 2020 machine, and a new “F4” will debut a year after that, as a 2021 model year bike.

This news is about to get worse, before it gets better, so let me explain further.

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News

This Week’s Suzuki Hayabusa Rumor, Redux

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In this installment of “This Week’s Suzuki Hayabusa Rumor,” we again take a look at the motor of this venerable sport bike. The rumor going around the interwebs right now is that the 2019 Suzuki Hayabusa will feature a “semi-automatic” gearbox.

Side-stepping the part where saying a gearbox is semi-automatic is  a lot like saying someone is “semi-pregnant” (you either are, or aren’t), the rumor stems from a patent filed by Suzuki that shows a gear-shifting mechanism with the foot-shifter that doesn’t require a clutch.

If this sounds a lot like an up/down quickshifter system, then you score extra bonus points today for being a rational human being, but you would be very wrong about what this whole rumor should actually be about.

This is where reading the patent is actually really useful, because it turns out that this patent has a lot less to do with some sort of new transmission type, as the internet rumors would suggest, and a lot more to do with repackaging the transmission of a motorcycle (or any engine with an integrated gearbox) into a tighter unit, while retaining a standard manual shift mechanism.

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Rumors

This Week’s Suzuki Hayabusa Rumor

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A new Suzuki Hayabusa is coming, this much we know. What that bike will be, what features it will have, and what it will look like though have been open to much speculation.

Unsurprisingly then, the rumor mill surrounding the Suzuki Hayabusa continues to churn out ideas about what this hyperbike will be, and today’s latest tidbit of gossip comes courtesy of Italy’s Insella publication.

In it, the Italian journos wager that the Suzuki GSX-1300R will in fact become the GSX-1400R for the 2019 model year, with the venerable Suzuki Hayabusa getting a displacement increase to the tune of 1,440cc for its four-cylinder engine.

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Bikes

The Ducati 1299 Superleggera Lands in the USA

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If you were one of the lucky few to plunk down $80,000 on the new Ducati 1299 Superleggera, your wait for this ultrabike is finally over.

This is because the first Ducati 1299 Superleggera just touched down in the United States, at AMS Ducati Dallas, with more to follow soon at dealers around the United States.

Only 500 units of this carbon-fiber-everything superbike were made available by the folks at Bologna, making the Ducati 1299 Superleggera a very exclusive affair. 

This is because the 1299 Superleggera is the first production motorcycle with an all carbon fiber chassis, and it also happens to boasts 215hp (220hp when you put on the Akrapovic exhaust), while tipping the scales at 344 lbs when it’s bone dry.

The machine also has Ducati’s most advanced electronics package, which features an inertial measurement unit, and thus allows for the traction control system to adjust both the slide rate and spin rate of the rear tire.

We hear if you still want one, there are some dealers that have machines that are no longer spoken for, but you better act fast.

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Bikes

Watch the BMW HP4 Race Do Its Thing

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BMW Motorrad is one of the few brands still growing in this motorcycle economy, even in the United States, which is facing another year of doubtful sales increases. That’s no easy task.

Not so easy is also improving upon the BMW S1000RR superbike – a machine that tops the lists of many motorcycle publications, near and far. When you ride the BMW S1000RR, it is easy to see why the Bavarian Bullet is so popular.

The BMW S1000RR is beating the Japanese brands at their own game, offering a 1,000cc inline-four superbike with near-200hp peak horsepower figures, anemic measurements on the scale, and a full-suite of electronics…all with aggressive pricing.

How do you improve on this design? Well, a carbon fiber chassis is certainly one way to start; a WorldSBK-spec 212hp engine certainly helps; and factory-set electronics don’t hurt nothin’ either. In other words, you make the BMW HP4 Race.

There are so many reasons why we should heap praise on BMW Motorrad for building the 2017 BMW HP4 Race, but instead we are just going to let this video from the German brand do the talking.

Does anyone know what the 3asy pricing on the HP4 Race is looking like? What if I use my kidney as a down payment? No, seriously…asking for friend.

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Bikes

Mega Gallery: BMW HP4 Race

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The BMW HP4 Race has finally dropped, the Bavarian brand’s extreme superbike offering that drips in carbon fiber pieces. A track-only liter-bike for true enthusiasts, the BMW HP4 Race sees a potent 212hp engine packed into featherweight 377 lbs wet body.

Of course to hit those weight goals, BMW Motorrad employed extensive use of composite materials to shed weight from the already robust BMW S1000RR superbike. As such, the frame, bodywork, and wheels are made from carbon fiber, including the self-supporting tail section.

BMW doesn’t reveal too much on how it has boosted the power from the 199hp found on the S1000RR’s inline-four power plant, though the result is an increased redline to 14,500 rpm (up from 14,200 rpm).

Keeping inline with its ~$85,000 price tag though (BMW Motorrad hasn’t released pricing figures yet, unfortunately), the BMW HP4 Race comes with top-of-the-line brakes and suspension pieces. It also has a robust electronics package that features the usual suspects of three-letter acronyms.

There is plenty to drool over on the BMW HP4 Race, so we have 64 high-resolution photos of the machine, waiting for you after the jump. Enjoy!

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Bikes

Carbon Fiber BMW HP4 Race Debuts in China

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As we predicted, the BMW HP4 Race carbon fiber superbike debuted today in China, at the Auto Shanghai 2017 expo. This is the production version of the prototype that BMW Motorrad teased at last year’s EIMCA show in Milan.

Details were scarce in Italy, but now BMW is ready to tell us all about its halo bike. The numbers? Only 750 units of the BMW HP4 Race will be produced. Each one will make 212hp, and weigh 377 lbs when fully fueled and ready to ride – which is lighter than BMW’s WorldSBK-spec S1000RR racing machine.

Of course the main feature of the BMW HP4 Race is that it drips in carbon fiber. The bodywork, main frame, and wheels are made of this composite material, with the tail section being a self-supporting carbon fiber unit.

BMW Motorrad has interestingly chosen an aluminum swingarm for the HP4 Race though, a departure from the show bike, likely for rigidity/handling reasons.

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Bikes

Is The 2018 BMW HP4 Race About to Debut in China?

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After this year’s April Fools hijinks, we have a whole new respect for the cunning that resides at BMW Motorrad, and the Germans seem to be honing that trait even further today.

Announcing its plans for the upcoming Auto Shanghai 2017 later this month, BMW lists a number of four-wheeled news items for the Chinese auto show, and then casually slips-in at the end of the press release that we should expect a big unveil from BMW Motorrad.

The statement reads that “the highlight of the BMW Motorrad stand is the world premiere of one of the most exclusive models ever offered by BMW Motorrad,” which is terse, though given what we know about the Bavarian brand, it should be easy to guess what they are hinting at.

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Bikes

XXX: 21 Hi-Res Shots of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera

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Did Santa forget to put a certain carbon fiber superbike under the tree this Christmas? Us too.

Since we aren’t one of the lucky 500 people who will be receiving the Ducati 1299 Superleggera in 2017, we will have to make do with appreciating Ducati’s latest halo bike from a distance.

Ducati officially lists the 1299 Superleggera as making 215hp and weighing 156kg dry, though with the installation of the included race kit that peak horsepower figure pops to 220hp, while the dry weight drops to a near-nothing 150kg. OMGWTFBBQ.

Numbers aside, the truly astounding part of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera is its carbon fiber chassis, a first for a production motorcycle.

Make no mistake, the Bologna firm has been continuously pushing the boundaries of what defines a superbike, and it has been interesting to watch other brands react to their creations.

There might be a lot of talk about the death of sport bikes, but we argue that they have never been more intriguing.

You won’t find any photos of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera at a higher resolution than the ones after the jump. Enjoy!

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