BMW S1000R
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… “Pinning the throttle...”
In case you hadn’t grasped it by now I’m absolutely loving this bike. Wheeling it out of my garage for another spanking is certainly no hardship come rain or shine, of which I had both on a recent blast up to Scotland; my third time up to Moffat this season. The roads up there are nothing short of addictive, and the BMW’s proven to be my perfect partner in crime. Every time I return I feel like I should repent my sins, but I just never get round to it.
One thing I do want to get off my chest is the brilliance of Dunlop’s SportSmart2 Max tyres. I’ve had them on my Beemer for a few months now and it’s made the riding experience so much better, not just because the grip levels in the wet are off the scale, but because the profiles of the tyres really complement the handling of the BMW. This bike never had any issues in the agility department, but the Dunlops have made the flickability of the S1000R so much sharper. They’re awesome and especially so on track. Yes, I’ve finally had chance to take the BMW on a track day and it really didn’t disappoint. I booked onto an MSVT trackday at Brands Hatch, which was a circuit I’d never ridden before.
As much as I try to open the bike up on the roads, it’s not always easy to do so without constantly checking over my shoulder, but there was none of that nonsense at Brands, where it was a case of getting the hammer down from the word go. Well, as soon as I’d figured out which way the corners went and all that. That trackday gave me a great chance to get a further grasp of what’s on tap within the BMW’s arsenal, and I was honestly very happy with what I found. The bike never seemed to lack in oomph, but it wasn’t overwhelmingly quick, either. The throttle connection was nice to the touch and the way the BMW settled into corners was nothing short of brilliant.
I genuinely found the bike very easy to enjoy without any particular concerns. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Rossi, so maybe if the pace was cranked by a faster rider there might have been a few areas of concern, but that wasn’t the case for me. I had a great time and I felt suitably protected having kitted the bike out with R&G Racing’s crash protectors, swingarm protectors and engine cases before the big event. They’re great pieces of kit, all proved easy to fit and have given me real peace of mind. Okay, this bike doesn’t belong to me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to look after it. So much so, in fact, that I took it to my local 3M centre to get clear protection fitted to areas on the tank and tail unit to save those zones from being scratched by the BMW luggage I’ve acquired for the bike. As I’m using the BMW as my everyday bike, the tank and tail packs have really opened up its usability. They’re of the highest quality construction, they attach in seconds and allow me to lug around bucket loads of kit wherever I go. It’s really hard to fault them, especially so as they’re unlike normal after-market units that require a shed load of strapping and faffing. I’m really impressed with them and I reckon they’ll make life so much easier on my European blast I’ve got planned next month. But more about that in due course.