2020 BMW S 1000 RR M SPORT
When BMW released this S 1000 RR last year it took the sportsbike world by storm, annihilating the opposition in Fast Bikes’ USB 2019 test. And with the addition of a few new and a few updated models for 2020, we couldn’t wait to get everything back to back and see if the Beemer had what it takes to defend the USB crown. Could it really be as good as we remembered? Well, in a word: yes.
As soon as I threw a leg over the S Thou’ it all came flooding back to me – sat on one of these bikes is a really good place to be. It’s comfortable and spacious and everything is in the right place. The seat is a little firm, but not enough to cry about.
Sliding the key into the ignition barrel and turning it isn’t the slickest operation; it’s got a bit of a stiff, plasticky feeling action, almost as though there was something stopping the key from turning. I don’t think there was anything stopping it turning, I think that’s just the way it is. The steering damper, too, felt a little stiff but luckily it’s just an old-fashioned one that can be easily softened up. I did this immediately.
Key successfully turned, the big dash sparkles into life. It’s a very smart-looking affair, with all the info laid out nice and big and organised really well. It didn’t take me long to reacquaint myself with the Beemer’s settings and modes using the multi-control wheel on the left-hand switch gear, which is a brilliant way to easily scroll through not only the modes, but all the info that’s available on the dash. The user interface on the Beemer is probably one of the easiest and most user-friendly going.
In all honesty, the left switchgear does look a bit clumpy for a sportsbike, but with so much electronic stuff to play with, it kind of needs to be. Cruise control, heated grips, you name it, the Beemer’s got it – it’s as if the RR has forgotten it’s supposed to be a sportsbike; I mean, cruise control, for crying out loud! That said, no matter what bike you find yourself on, if you are on the motorway you’d be glad of cruise control. In the same way that you’d be glad of heated grips, should you find yourself riding your bike through the bleak midwinter. They might seem like peculiar rider aids to find on a superbike, but you won’t hear me complaining about either of them.
Before we managed to open the Beemer up, I was reminded of its sublime manners through town and when ridden gently. The throttle pickup is smooth and rarely jerky, but when you do get out of town and decide to open it up and ask for some more, you are never left wanting.
BMW introduced ShiftCam technology to this model when it was released last year to maximise the power and torque that the engine can make, and I’m glad they did. That motor is a real peach, with smooth, linear power all the way up the rev range. In fact,
the delivery is so linear that you could almost be persuaded that you’re riding a model with an electric motor rather than a conventional, inline-four cylinder, internal combustion engine. Well maybe if you were deaf and you couldn’t hear the raucous scream of the engine.
Luckily, I’m not deaf, and so I was able to bask in the sound of the bike’s bonkers bark. Like the other inline fours in this test, there is something spine-shiveringly good about the sound of the engine spinning at 14,000-odd revs per minute, and I honestly couldn’t get enough of it.
When you’re really giving the Beemer some, you do get a reasonable amount of vibes through the bars that after a while causes a bit of a tingling sensation in the fingers – I figured that’s maybe why BMW put cruise control on the bike; so you can let go of the bars every now and then and wiggle them around a little bit. Your fingers, not the bars.
For rider modes, there are Rain, Road, Sport and Dynamic plus three ‘Pro’ modes, exclusive to the M Sport. For most of our test ride we had the RR set in Dynamic mode, which is difficult to fault for fast-paced road riding. There were a few occasions when the traction control made itself known, but it wasn’t too intrusive and I never felt like it slowed me down too much or caused a problem. Likewise with the ABS, which only made itself known when we were taking liberties with the anchors. If either of those things bother you though, TC and ABS can be binned off altogether. Which is nice.
While we are on the subject of brakes, it’s worth pointing out that despite its lack of Brembos (the BMW and the Yamaha were the only two models in USB 2020 not sporting Brembo calipers), the BMW was capable of decelerating at a seriously decent rate. The Hayes calipers might not be as fashionable as Brembos, but they do a smashing job and are more than capable of everything we asked of them on the road.
And when you’ve got all your braking done and you want to fire the thing into a corner, I don’t think you could ask for a better package. One ride on an M-Sport, experiencing the way it turns into corners, is probably the best advert for carbon fibre wheels I can think of – I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but the RR genuinely felt more like a 600, the way it would change direction and gobble up any apex I asked of it. It was seriously impressive.
The S 1000 RR is as close to perfect as I can ever imagine being possible (although I’m sure it’ll be outdone one day), as far as a sportsbike for the road goes. It just does everything you want it to, and it does it well. That, coupled with the fact that at £19,995 it’s the second-cheapest 1000cc bike in this test (only the Suzuki is cheaper), it looks like BMW have, for the time being, retained the Fast Bikes magazine Ultimate Sportsbike crown.
THE WAY IT WOULD CHANGE DIRECTION AND GOBBLE UP ANY APEX I ASKED OF IT WAS SERIOUSLY IMPRESSIVE