All Tests – New BMW S1000R Test: Threatening Species! – Test: small arms abstain!

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New BMW S1000R test: threatening species !

All Tests - New BMW S1000R Test: Threatening Species! - Test: small arms abstain!

Only four years after having blown up the sports motorcycle segment with the S1000RR, BMW fireworks are putting the powder back into the mix by investing the land of hyper-roadsters with an explosive decarenated version: the S1000R. Test.

Test: small arms refrain !

Now that the introductions are done, let’s get started! Press the starter and the 4-in-line snorts with a low purr. A few gas shots in a vacuum reveal that the soundtrack is identical to that of the "RR" and that the electronic ride-by-wire accelerator also seems well calibrated..

The speed with which the tachometer needle goes up and down then reminds us of how sporty this engine is: inertia is not part of its vocabulary! A pressure on the selector and the first engages discreetly and obediently, while a light trickle of gas is enough to make take off the crew.

The mechanical availability allows driving at low, even very low speeds (practically restarting from idle smoothly is possible until 6th), the reports are linked together without forcing, the time to take its bearings. Despite its sporting orientation, the S1000R bends without complaining to exercise, even if its rather firm clutch and its neutral point not easy to find due to the very close positioning of the first and second betray its "racing" ancestry..

Well installed on a saddle that is actually more comfortable than on the S1000RR (and also lower: from 820 to 814 mm), a pilot of 1.75 m puts both feet on the ground and enjoys a "de-radicalized" ergonomics but which remains athletic. And if the footrests have been advanced 14 mm and lowered 23 mm, the tuck of the lower limbs remains pronounced.

Insofar as the ground clearance seemed unfathomable to us, even taking out the big attack a little later, it was perhaps possible to fix the plates a few millimeters lower, even if it means installing adjustable footrests for s’ adapt to each use (r)…

Likewise, bringing the handlebars closer to the bust by opting for a more pronounced bend would not have harmed and would improve comfort by reducing the tension exerted on the arms. This would also promote low-speed maneuvers made difficult by the sensitive braking of the steering damper. And as the bike steers badly, turning around with the S1000R requires an effort that did not suggest the weight announced on its technical sheet (207 kg in running order).

At a more pronounced pace, the front axle becomes lighter but this feeling of relative heaviness never completely disappears, especially during rapid changes of angle. As is often the case with BMW, the cursor has been placed closer to the notion of stability than to agility when defining the characteristics of the S1000R..

Be careful, however, not to draw hasty conclusions from this judgment: the bike is not an anvil! It reacts quickly and is placed precisely on the angle, but does not have the sometimes exacerbated liveliness of some of its competitors. Nuance! So, compared to the K1300R, the German brand’s first sports roadster, the S1000R is a ballerina !

Unperturbed from entering to exiting the bend, the BMW roadster smooths out holes and bumps without deviating from its trajectory, aided by the brilliant semi-active damping system with which our test model was fitted. This "super ESA" adapts continuously to the state of the road and to the driving phases, and acts on the hardness of the suspensions accordingly (read the "Electronics" part of our technical point).

Configurable on three levels, this device allows to link two a priori antagonistic data: comfort (relative) and performance! Admittedly, in "Soft" mode, the trim transfers are not sufficiently retained and some movements of the rear suspension are perceptible when all the cavalry is tumbling down, but it suffices to select the next level ("Normal") for this phenomenon faint. Suffice to say that the last mode ("Hard") is reserved for billiard mat style coverings !

Equipped as standard with a partially coupled ABS, the S1000R takes over the entire braking system of the Superbike. As on the sports car, its operation does not suffer from any defect and its ability to slow down the motorcycle is simply mind-blowing: a finger is enough to bring the crew to a stop and even to cause stops that the electronic assistance allows under certain conditions ( reread our "Electronics" section).

Clad in electronics precisely, the motorcycle tested by MNC was also equipped with the optional DTC traction control derived from the S1000RR which replaces the less sophisticated ASR anti-slip installed as standard. Tremendously efficient, this system sees its action correlated with the driving modes that can be selected on the right stalk. As standard, these modes are two in number: "Rain" and "Road".

With the DTC option, two additional modes are offered: "Dynamic" and "Dynamic Pro", where the electronic assistantship is reduced to a simple safety net placed at such a high level that it becomes practically undetectable for the common people. mortals. But if all these gadgets are an obstacle for you to the simple pleasures of driving a motorcycle, no problem: the ABS as the traction control are disconnectable..

All that remains is to have the necessary skills to tame this extraordinary motorcycle! Because an important, very important factor then comes into play: the devastating blast of the S1000R engine! Up to 3000 rpm, the acceleration is gentle, before experiencing its first peak 1000 rpm higher: from 4000 to 6000 rpm, the landscape suddenly begins to scroll in accelerated fashion !

The pickups become sufficiently consistent so that you no longer have to worry about the gear engaged, while the reassuring mechanical purr gives way to a disturbing hiss with metallic intonations, coupled with a very audible suction noise from the intake..

To avoid spoiling anything, crackles escape from the muffler when the throttle is suddenly cut or a report is switched on the fly thanks to the shifter (optional). Small vibrations then go up from the engine, scrambling the mirror of the mirrors and tickling the buttocks. In short, the engine pulls out its claws and lets it know by plunging the pilot into a particularly exhilarating sensory environment. !

Then comes the 6500 laps milestone … At this point, the 4-legged literally seems to explode in the driver’s face: the S1000R rushes forward with breathtaking vigor, propelling the front wheel into the air without further ado. form of trial if we put full throttle on the second report! On a "normal" motorcycle, you feel pushed when you turn the accelerator. But on the BMW roadster, you have the impression that a colossus is trying to tear the handlebars from your hands. !

At this stage, the rigidity of the chassis and the excellent work of suspensions are appreciated at their fair value: despite this brutal surge of power, the S1000R indeed remains finely controllable and spins perfectly straight. At this precise moment, between two palpitations caused by this engine with inexhaustible resources (no respite is perceptible until the breaker at 12,000 rpm!), BMW engineers are a thousand times blessed to have taken the necessary precautions to river the front axle on the ground !

Verdict: BMW has long teeth

Like its parent with two Rs, the S1000R made a sensational entry into the motorcycle landscape, pushing certain limits to a level unthinkable only a few years ago: powerful motorcycles, MNC has already tested, but also bestial ones, this is not. is not that common !

The competitors of the S1000R

  • Aprilia Tuono V4R : 4-cyl. in V, 999.6cc, 170 hp and 113 Nm, 185 kg dry – € 13,999

  • Ducati Monster 1200 : 2 cyl. in L, 1198.4cc, 135 hp and 118 Nm, 209 kg with 90% of full – € 13,490

  • Honda CB1000R : 4 cyl. online, 998cc, 125 hp and 99 Nm, 217 full facts – € 10,290

  • Kawasaki Z1000 : 4 cyl. online, 1043 cc, 142 hp, 111 Nm, 220 kg all full facts – € 11,999

  • KTM 1290 Superduke R : 2-cyl. in V, 1301cc, 180 hp and 144 Nm, 189 kg (without petrol) – € 15,690

  • MV Agusta Brutale 1090 : 4 cyl. in line, 1078cc, 144 hp and 112 Nm, 183 kg dry – € 14,000

  • Triumph Speed ​​Triple : 3 cyl. in line, 1050cc, 135 hp and 111 Nm, 214 kg all full facts – € 11,390

  • Yamaha FZ1 : 4 cyl. in line, 998cc, 150 hp and 106 Nm, 214 kg all full facts – € 9,999

To succeed in this challenge and allow the greatest number of motorcyclists to derive the substance from it, the Munich engineers have appropriately grafted a whole battery of piloting aids to it, the virtues of which we can only praise since it is possible to adjust their behavior according to their wishes, level and conditions. Even disconnect them, for the more daring of its future owners !

In summary, it is possible to create a custom bike, while keeping in mind that just as electronically constrained as it may be, an S1000R should not be taken lightly: even when selecting the mode " rain ", with all the assistance on alert, the engine still spits 136 hp and 104 Nm.

Admittedly, the thrust is then smoothed to the extreme and the traction control acts much more as a preventive than curative. But beware all the same with overzealousness, because certain laws of physics cannot be provoked with impunity. The S1000R will always remain a "threatening species", if only for the points of the driver’s license !

Finally, the last aspect on which the BMW S1000R is very strong: its competitive price (12,950 €) given its technicality and performance. Almost 13,000 euros for a roadster is not really cheap. But this price is nevertheless particularly contained insofar as the S1000R comes as standard with a Race-ABS, two driving modes and the "basic" anti-skating ASR..

Just take a look at the box opposite to measure all the aggressive pricing of BMW with this S1000R. Obviously, the propeller brand takes great pleasure in sowing trouble in categories where nobody expected it … And quite frankly, who will complain? ?

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