HP phwoar
BMW HP4 Race Carbon-fibre frame 212bhp £68,000
IT CAN’T BE ridden on the road, costs a whopping £68,000, produces 212bhp and, at 171.4kg with a full tank, is lighter than a works superbike racer. Most people will never see one, let alone ride one. But far from being an irrelevant piece of exotica, BMW’S HP4 Race could be the most significant bike for years.
That’s because the carbon-fibre frame and wheels that give the HP4 Race its weight advantage are like no others. Instead of being laboriously and expensively hand-built, like carbon components in the past, it’s mechanically produced in a couple of hours, using a process called Resin Transfer Moulding, developed for BMW’S i3 electric car.
Given Rtm-produced carbon’s advantage not just in weight but also strength, corrosion resistance and precisely computer-controlled rigidity levels, this stuff could take over from aluminium – much as aluminium did from steel with models including Suzuki’s GSX-R750 in the mid-eighties. And its use might not be confined to sportsbikes like the S1000RR.
Riding the HP4 Race alongside the standard RR at the Estoril track in Portugal confirmed it’s as fast and brilliant as the spec sheet suggests. On the straights, its ferocious-yet-refined engine gave massive acceleration backedup by cutting-edge electronics. But the biggest advantage was in bends, due not only to its low weight but also to its factory-level Öhlins FGR300 forks and TTX36 GP shock, plus similarly exotic Brembo GP4-PR brake calipers.
The HP4 Race is a fantastic bike for trackdays, or even the Senior TT. But just as the original HP4 of five years ago pioneered the semi-active suspension now featured on models from the S1000XR to the R1200RT, this bike will be remembered not for its performance but as the forerunner of a new generation of massproduced carbon-framed machines.