Bike India – August 2019

anotherfirstfora productionmotorcycle,thetitaniumvalvesthemselvesarehollow-
bored,reducingtheirweightby 10 percent.Inabsolutetermsthesetwoelements
barelysavea fewgrams,butreducingthemassandinertiaofthesesmall,fast-moving
partstranslatesintoanenginethatcanrevhigherandfaster.Consequently,thered-line
hasbeenraisedfrom14,200to14,600rpmandthesilky-smoothmotorrevsoutand
hitsthelimiterevenmorerapidlythanbefore.
Sizzlingtop-endperformanceis whatyouexpectfromin-
linefourmotors,buttheyaren’tparticularlyknownforgreat
bottomendandmid-rangepower.Tocombatthis,andgivethe
ridera meatytorquebandtoplaywith,BMWhave
incorporateda variablevalvecontrolsystemthattheyarecalling
ShiftCam.Thistechnologyincorporatesa camshaftwithtwo
lobesforeachoftheeightintakevalves,onefora shorter
durationpartialliftat lowerrevsandoneformaximumliftover
a longerdurationabove9,000rpm.Thesystemworks
seamlesslyandtheriderreapsthebenefitsof 100 Nmoftorque
ontapfromasearlyas5,000rpm,withpeaktorqueof 113 Nm
comingaboutat 11,000rpmanda healthy 207 hpofpeak
powerat 13,500rpm.
GettingaroundthethirdcornerandontotheBuddh
InternationalCircuit’smainstraight,I windthethrottleopento
unleashallthosehorsesandwatchthebar-typetachorush
towards14,000rpmat analarmingpace.Mychinbaris down
onthetank,thehummingfromtheairboxis resonatingwithin
myhelmetandI havesoonsnickedpastthirdgearwiththe
speedometershowingwellupwardsof 200 km/h,andthe

numbersarestillclimbingeffortlessly.However,I’mnotonebitbothered.TheS 1000

RRcontinuesaccelerating,butina verylinearmannercomparedtotherelatively

slowerbuild-upoftorquefollowedbythesudden,arm-wrenchingtopendthatthe

olderbikewasknownfor.Thisbikepullsharderallthroughtherev-range,withthe

frontwheelthreateningtotakeflightovereverylittlebumpandirregularityinthe

track’ssurface,butstillmanagestofeelcompletelysafeandcomposedat sillyspeeds.I

sawanindicated 294 km/hbeforegettingonthebrakesforthenextcorner,somewhat

confusedastohowthe 207 hpundermefeltsounintimidating.

Theengineis incorporatedasa stressedmemberwithinthenewframe,whichitself

is 1.3kilogramslighterthantheframeontheoutgoingbike.BMWarecallingit the

“FlexFrame”,sinceit is designedtoflexandtwistina controlledmannerunder

corneringforces,inanattempttomakethenewS 1000RReasierandmoreforgiving

toride.Thealuminiumswing-armgetsanunderslungbracing,commonlyseenonrace

bikes;it’sanotherfirstfora productionmachineandis designedtoreducelateralflex

whilekeepingthereartyregluedtotheroadunderhardcornering.BMWhave

increasedthewheelbasebysevenmillimetresina bidtoimprovestability,whilethe

23.1-degreerakeis 0.4degreessteeperthanbeforeforsharperturnin.

Rollingoutofpit-laneandontothetrackforthefirsttime,I startweavingthebike

RIGHT:

Theclutter-free

basiclayoutofthe

TFTdisplayiseasy

toreadata glance

I saw an indicated 294 km/h before getting on the brakes

for the next corner, somewhat confused as to how

the 207 hp under me felt so unintimidating

60 Bike India^ August 2019 http://www.bikeindia.in