News 13 Jun 2014

Tested: 2014 BMW S 1000 R

CycleOnline.com.au rides and reviews the awesome BMW S 1000 R.

This bike is five years in the making. Ever since the day the S 1000 RR superbike tidal-waved itself through the bike industry in 2010, riders across the globe have been hankering for the naked version of a bike designed to win World Superbike races.

Up until this year the number one nakedbike in the Bimmer range was the K 1300 R – 1300cc of gargantuan German go-juice jammed into a comfortable, but large chassis. Think of it as the two-wheeled version of its luxo-sportscar, the M5. But this is a bike taken from the sports-touring K 1300 S, not the superbike S 1000 RR, and this new S 1000 R nakedbike makes the K 13 R feel like a truck.

The S 1000 R Dynamic Package gets similar electronics to the superbike (four modes: Rain, Road, Dynamic and Dynamic Pro) and the engine has been tweaked – retuned, according to BMW Australia – which is fair enough because just shoehorning a straight-up superbike donk into a nakedbike is like rocking up to a knife fight with a missile launcher.

Image: Greg Smith/iKapture.

Image: Greg Smith/iKapture.

The nakedbike has more torque in the mid-range but loses a fair bit of power up top compared to the superbike. Not that you notice on public roads, because as a standard bike the S 1000 R is obscenely, devilishly fast.

The Dynamic Package also comes with the Dynamic Damping Control (DDC) suspension that was first pioneered on the HP4 back in 2012. The difference in suspension feel between the standard and dynamic packages is impressive, with the higher spec one giving an almost tangible link between rider and tyre.

Firing the S 1000 R up you get that familiar deep burble from the exhaust that sounds even better when you go scratching through the BMW Motorrad accessories catalogue and pick out an Akarapovic muffler.

Image: Greg Smith/iKapture.

Image: Greg Smith/iKapture.

The one-piece handlebar is set nice and wide and gives great leverage for mid-corner direction changes and it’s here the DDC really shines as it keeps the chassis super stable when you flick it from side to side.

Burying the front deep on the brakes is a chassis strong point – the feel and awesome power from the Brembo calipers is so confidence-inspiring and the brake system is linked to the ratio of about 9:1, so you get a tiny bit of rear brake when you use the front brakes alone.

The S 1000 R’s wheelbase is 22mm longer than the superbikes’s with 5mm more trail, which helps to give the bike that excellent mid-corner and exit stability. But it’ll turn with the best of them and once you load that front end up you can either follow your line or switch on a dime thanks to the poise of the chassis and leverage from the ’bar.

Image: Greg Smith/iKapture.

Image: Greg Smith/iKapture.

The seat is angled slightly forward to help keep your weight further towards the front and after an hour on board I was still pretty comfy.

Interestingly, BMW chose not to fit the S 1000 R with the just-released clutchless downshift system of the R 1200 RT, a system that would surely work well for a bike like this. But you get the quickshifter as standard fitment, which is still one of the best things about BMW bikes.

The sound the exhaust gives off when you crack up the gearbox on wide open throttle with the quickshifter sounds like a whip at a rodeo, never mind the fact that the quickshifter actually makes shifting easier!

Now… that engine! No matter how many times I ride small capacity bikes, there’s no replacement for displacement and the 158 German stallions from the ride-by-wire-throttle controlled, 999cc engine firing themselves at the rear wheel is about as good as life gets for me. There’s so much power all through the rev range; you really have to be careful because this bike will incinerate your licence like a hippy bonfire if you’re not on top if it.

Image: Greg Smith/iKapture.

Image: Greg Smith/iKapture.

Mid-corner throttle response is very good with smooth, strong acceleration. I never got to see just how fast this thing goes because I’d be writing this from Cell Block D next to some monster named Reg with a teardrop tattoo on his face if I did. Needless to say, it goes…

There’s added levels of control thanks to the various engine modes but the S 1000 R will still lift the front wheel in Rain mode. Yes, Rain mode. You’ve got the electronics on your side, though, as the traction system will cut the power almost instantly to bring the front back to terra firma.

Road and Dynamic mode give a very similar feel in terms of throttle response, but the further you get up the mode range the more the electronics back off and by the time you reach Dynamic Pro, the Race ABS system lets you get all Marc Marquez on the brakes and won’t penalise you if the rear wheel comes off the deck. Don’t try that on public roads. The Dynamic Traction Control system will also allow for nice long wheelies – but I wouldn’t know anything about that.

Image: Greg Smith/iKapture.

Image: Greg Smith/iKapture.

The S 1000 R may be one of the fastest road bikes money can buy, but it is also a bike anyone can ride. Those various ECU modes and the corresponding suspension, throttle, traction and ABS settings, means a rider can ride as hard or as slowly as they want and the S 1000 R will happily play along.

It’s an intelligent motorcycle, and there are quite a few motorcycle manufacturers out there who are going to get left behind in the technology race if they don’t catch up. Speaking of which, why don’t more bikes come out with cruise control? If you’ve got ABS and wheel speed sensors, why not fit it? Seems like a no-brainer to me. Thankfully BMW does too and the S 1000 R’s got it.

Couple that with the ABS, heated grips, traction control, electronic suspension and whatever other sparky gizmos are going on in there and you’ve got an electronic tour de force. This is a supreme nakedbike and one that will take a lot of beating.

$18,990 for the standard bike represents very good value but I’d be surprised if I saw very many bikes that were not optioned to Dynamic Pro level during pre-delivery. An extra $1500 for the Dynamic Package is worth every cent, as is the experience of blasting one of these up your favourite back road.

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