Wheel Wild One
Four wheels good. Two wheels better?
Words | Stephenworthy
Japan’s bike makers should be worried. BMW’s limited edition S1000RR offers superbike thrills at Mini prices
THERE ARE PROBABLY some of you who had no idea that BMW make motorbikes as well as cars. Actually, they’ve been making bikes for 86 years and – like their four-wheeled vehicles – they’re rather good at it.
Ewan McGregor and his biking buddy Charley Boorman chose BMWs for their round-the-world tour TV series, but they used R1200GS dual sport bikes (also known as on-off road bikes). The new S1000RR is very different. It’s a true sports bike.
A version of it will be ridden by Aussie motorcycling great Troy Corser and his Spanish teammate Ruben Xaus as BMW debut in the World Superbikes championship this season. And why is this good for the humble man in the street? Well, in order to take part in World Superbikes, BMW have had to make 1,000 road versions of their race bike. And here it is – the 998cc S1000RR, a motorbike to give the Japanese manufacturers who dominate this sector sleepless nights.
BMW are keeping performance stats under wraps until the bike’s summer launch, but we do know that at an eye-watering 175bhp and weighing just 183kg, it will need an experienced rider to tame it. If they can, top speed should nudge past the 180mph mark and the S1000RR is likely to be able to accelerate to 60mph from a standing start in well under three seconds. That’s Ferrari quick and then some. And if the rumours are to be believed, it’s yours for less than the price of a new Mini One – close to £10,000.
