Menus
- Around 220 horses, 172 kilos, nearly 40,000 €, two seconds around a WBSK
- Test of the French Superbike champion machine at the hands of Kenny Foray
- Discovery
- In the saddle
- Engine and transmission
- In town, on motorways and main roads
- On track
- Part-cycle
- Brakes
- Conclusion
Around 220 horses, 172 kilos, nearly 40,000 €, two seconds around a WBSK
Test of the French Superbike champion machine at the hands of Kenny Foray
She dominated the 2017 Championship season of the French Superbike Championship by allowing her rider, Kenny Foray, to be crowned during the event held on the Carole circuit, while there was still one race to go.. The BMW S1000RR of the Tecmas team (a team created in 1990 under the leadership of Michel Augizeau and Joël Blain, who dabbled in all the disciplines of motorcycle sport, since they built their experience in GP 250, GP 500, in the Superbike world championship, but also in Endurance).
Here is the BMW S1000RR champion of France: how is it made, a real racing bike and how does it behave? Here are two questions that we were able to explore with the Tecmas team during a race on the Magny-Cours circuit, organized by the Box23 team and their partner, Pirelli. It was intimidating and informative at the same time.
Discovery
If you already know the S1000RR, don’t tell yourself it’s just a production machine with a few stickers and slick tires..
Because the regulations of the French championship stipulate that many parts of the motorcycle must remain original: the frame, the engine (housings, pistons, connecting rods), the swinging arm, the outer casing of the fork, the brake calipers , the wheels. The electronic box must also remain original, whereas previously they could be made to measure. But BMW has an advantage because the housing of the HP4 version is one of the most advanced and can also be mounted on this bike while the wheels can also come from the HP.
When the machine arrives in the Tecmas team, Guillaume, the mechanic, completely dismantles it to rebuild it with a series of optimized parts. And another disassembly in order, except the engine block, obviously, takes place after each race, just to clean, check, screw, etc..
As we have just said, the regulations require that a large number of original parts be kept. On the other hand, poly trim, rear controls, suspensions (at least its kinematics with regard to the fork), dashboard, all of this is home. All this saves a large ten kilos on the machine: BMW announces a dry weight of 179.5 kilos on the S1000RR and while the regulations impose 170 kilos minimum, the Tecmas team aims to be 172 kilos at the end of a race.
We can then admire the quality of construction, attention to detail and finish of this machine..
In the saddle
The rear controls are machined by Tecmas and correspond to the pilot’s ergonomics and his piloting requirements. Obviously, it’s sporty, but I did not feel any difficulty in squeezing my large carcass although Kenny Foray is a little smaller (in size, but immensely taller in talent). A look at the high bubble, which must be useful in the straight line.
In front of you, a large digital panel which acts as a dashboard. The tachometer is readable, as well as the gear indicator engaged. We also have the speed as needed, which is useless on the track and essential information such as the water temperature, the stopwatch, the levels of assistance..
Even if the track engineer spends some time in the morning with the laptop resting on the tank and cables all over the place, a racing S1000RR isn’t a gas factory either. Once the correct map is loaded, just power it up and start it with the electric starter. Like a normal motorcycle? Yes, but afterwards, do not forget that the gearbox is racing, with the first at the top and the others at the bottom, it will prevent you from ending up in the gravel by increasing a gear under braking.
Engine and transmission
"Power is not the problem, it is not on the engine that we have the most to gain", specifies Romain La Monica, engineer within the Tecmas team. The engine is therefore almost original (it must be by the regulations), however it can undergo metrology, just to be (re) assembled with the most precise dimensions. On the other hand, it is "force-fed" by a K&N racing air filter and an Akrapovic exhaust, the noble Slovenian pipefitter having a close collaboration with BMW. The Tecmas team also justifies the choice of this equipment by the high quality of the exhausts, which has never posed any problems of use on all their racing machines..
And if not, potato question, what is it? We are not going to focus on that, because "without control, power is nothing", said Pirelli, supplier of the discipline. Officially, a strictly production BMW S1000RR gives 199 horsepower at 13,500 rpm, but it is common knowledge that BMW, with this sulphurous machine, is not the type to invent horses that do not exist. In short, a lot of stock S1000RRs were benched and put out just over 200 horsepower. With good metrology, we can consider that we gain 5 horses. The Akra exhaust brings 8 to 10 more, plus those allowed by the racing air filter. Do the accounts: all this is close to 220. Not bad, no ?
Note, of course, the presence of an up & down shifter, as well as a secondary reduction (we do not touch the gear ratios, fixed by the regulations) adapted to each circuit.
In town, on motorways and main roads
Let’s leave these paragraphs to traditional motorcycles, will you and let’s get down to the basics.
On track
We are obviously not going to discuss lap times here, but there are two angles for analyzing a machine on the track: how it behaves and what it gives you like sensations. I have ridden a lot on 1000 sports cars, on the road and on the track, but ultimately very little, even (too) rarely on real racing machines. The first feeling is that of ease. For example, I remember having driven a Honda CBR600 from Supersport, which was then an extremely hard machine in suspension, without any dead travel, hyper tilted on its front axle and which was seriously not easy to take: do of a CBR600 a machine as complex to handle as a Ducati, had to be done. Because there are sports that we live and others that we suffer.
There, during the first laps where we get to know each other, Kenny Foray’s S1000RR is conciliatory. The stake is more to gain confidence in myself than to have confidence in her. The pace therefore increases gradually: do not make a ball, think of the reverse gearbox, traffic management because we drove in a normal one-day track session, therefore with people of different levels; the advantage is that it was easy to overtake when accelerating !
Acceleration, the word is used: solid, hearty, consistent. It takes a bit of time before you dare to accelerate fully, but the confidence comes from the fact that all the operation of the machine is transparent, in the sense that the feeling delivered by each element of the bike constantly informs you, with a beautiful frankness, on the operation of the whole.
Thus, the strength of the BMW is to have an electronic box which allows a multitude of adjustments, of course, but also to make "turn by turn", thanks to an appropriate programming module. Throttle response level, traction control, traction control and engine brake level are thus fully configurable on each section of the circuit. And even for a leek, that makes sense: in the pit straight, the bike rises when accelerating in second and third, but the pitch-up rate remains minimal, the machine is stable and the "pilot" can stay open gases. In the fast section, after Estoril, we remain fully united in fourth, fifth and sixth with a feeling of just incredible traction. In any case, this is the first time that I find that my Arai QV-Pro helmet suffers from high speed turbulence, even though I have already ridden with a KTM 1290 Super Duke R on the long straight line of the Qatar circuit. without having felt this phenomenon. Over two 20-minute sessions, I just had two shifter failures on the upshift, but that’s most likely because I wasn’t quite as “full” as Kenny (and luckily for him, in do !). On downshifting, on the other hand, the operation of this shifter is just flawless.
How to speak decently about braking when you have to exert on the lever a tenth of the pressure inflicted on it by its holder? Quite simply by noting that the bite is obviously powerful, but the feeling is exceptional and we are far from the violence and the caution imposed by a production Ducati Superbike. The work of the fork is remarkable in terms of progressiveness and precision.
Part-cycle
The rear shock is a TTX 36 from Ohlins and the fork retains its original appearance, but incorporates a NIX30 cartridge kit, still from Ohlins. This allows a wide range of adjustments, in particular through the valves. Springs and oils are also free and match the needs. You should know that the machine has specific suspension settings for each circuit.
What is interesting is that the NIX30 / TTX36 combination is also offered on upgraded versions of sports machines, on a Ducati 1299 Panigale R. One can therefore be French Superbike Champion with standard equipment….
Brakes
If the calipers and the master cylinder must remain original, the racing pads come from CL Brakes and the hoses are braided directly by Tecmas. Here, we enter an interesting field because anyone who knows the braking performance of a production S1000RR will readily admit that this machine can give trapping lessons. Nevertheless and this illustrates to what extent the pilots are not people like the others, the regulations were modified during the season, with the arrival of fast circuits, so that the pilots can gain in braking..
Conclusion
A racing motorcycle is made to win races: beyond this truth, testing the S1000RR Tecmas by Kenny Foray allows you to pinpoint a truth and the extent of its spectrum. The truth is the cost of performance. The Tecmas team estimates the price of this machine at around 40,000 €. Expensive, not expensive? Rather not, because it rolls between 2 and 2.5 seconds slower than a WorldSBK machine, itself being 2 seconds from a MotoGP. The closer we get to the grail, the more exponential the price of a tenth of a second is.
Let’s take the problem backwards: between the Tecmas team bike and a fully production S1000RR, the lap gap is 2 seconds in Carole and just over 3 seconds on a large circuit. This shows, if need be, the already exceptional level of performance of a series machine at 18,000 euros. Moral of the story: run to your dealership, bunch of lucky guys !
In the meantime, this test has made it possible to measure the exceptional level of performance of a real racing motorcycle, but also and above all, to realize the extraordinary feedback provided by quality peripherals and fine tuning. We find, of course, the fundamentals of a production S1000RR: this clinical, Germanic approach to performance. Power, stability, security; the Tecmas cocktail adds frankness, transparency in its operation, accuracy and immense precision in the feedback it provides you. A little enchanted parenthesis in a modest tester’s experience.
Strong points
- Power in towers !
- Complete electronics
- Balance and feeling of the suspensions
- Braking power
- Stability
Weak points
- Some minor shifter failures when gearing up
- Not having the level of piloting to be able to fully exploit it
- A bit physical in slow turns
The technical sheet of the BMW S1000RR
Test conditions
- Itinerary: two 20-minute sessions on the Magny-Cours circuit, during a run organized by Box 23 and Pirelli
- Motorcycle mileage: a season in the legs
- Problem encountered: it’s short, two sessions on the handlebars of such a machine !
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