BMW HP4 CARBON
Two years after it was launched, people were still coming to terms with the new order established by the BMW S1000RR which reset all previously held understandings of what a modern superbike is.
It’s been said 100 times, but the S1000RR was one of those bikes that comes along and blows us away, so it was even more impressive when the first people to make the S1000RR look average were… BMW.
The HP4 was introduced in 2012 effectively as a homologation special of the S1000RR that lasted until the third generation Euro4 spec S1000RR came along in 2015 and made it obsolete.
The term homologation special is probably a bit strong to use to describe the HP4, certainly in comparison to homologation specials such as the Yamaha R7 or similar. The HP4 – HP for ‘High Performance’, 4 for four cylinder – got a very trick full lightweight titanium exhaust system, some lightweight forged alloy wheels that save 2.4kg and a world first of electronically controlled suspension front and rear as standard. The same suspension could be had on the S1000RR, but only as an optional extra, which to be fair was specc’d on probably 95% of S1000RRs sold. Everything else was largely the same as the RRs, such as the engine, chassis and electronics package, save for the additional 15 levels of traction and launch control too.
There’s no question the HP4 is a properly special bike, after all, in terms of performance, the S1000RR was head and shoulders above anything else out there, and the HP4 was a level above that by virtue mainly of being lighter. At the time, the HP4 was the best version of the best bike money could buy.
IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT OUT ON THE ROAD THE HP4 FEELS THE LESS DATED.
They also made a ‘Carbon’ version which is not to be mistaken with the track-only carbon framed HP4 Race which came later. The HP4 Carbon, which we sourced for this test, was an HP4 but wrapped up in a carbon fairing of the very highest quality, plus a few other nice details also in carbon such as the exhaust hanger and mudguards, which formed part of what BMW called the competition package and included a datalogger, fold-up levers and rearsets. The end result is a bike that as well as still looking fresh and sharp, also feels like it could be from the modern era, which is no big surprise really when you think about it in basic terms. 199kg and the thick end of 190bhp are the sort of numbers that are comparable to most of today’s superbikes, so it’s no surprise that out on the road the HP4 feels the less dated of the group, and the most familiar. If the Ducati is the bike that’s approaching the end of its life cycle, soon to be replaced by the Panigale, the BMW is the bike that represents the future and is the first of the new breed that today has become our ‘normal’.
That said, there are little clues here and there that do allude to the HP4’s age, like the fact it has a quickshifter but no blipper. Today the two go together, and it’s easy to forget that there was a time when that was not the case; the HP is from that time.
At the time, the HP4 Carbon sold for £19,350 (£16,700 for the base HP4) which today seems impossible to believe, but the years have been kind to the HP4, not only in terms of how its spec stacks up in the modern era, but also how much they’re changing hands for today – you’ll pick up a decent one for £15k. If you bought one at the time it was introduced, the HP4 is the bike that just keeps giving. Build quality is also such that the HP4 that we have on test has weathered the past decade and 10,000 miles
THE ELECTRONIC RIDER AIDS SERVE AS A REAL REMINDER OF JUST HOW FAR WE’VE COME IN A VERY SHORT SPACE OF TIME.
fantastically, with literally zero evidence of wear and tear.
On the road, the whole package feels sharp, tight, massively powerful and every bit the modern superbike. The lack of blipper and analogue rev counter are probably the only things which hint that you’re not riding a brand new bike. For all the world you could be riding a current S1000RR 90% of the time, which is a very good thing. It’s easy to understand, it’s easy to predict what it’s going to do, it’s just… easy. The power delivery is monstrous, mostly due to being deceptively strong low down in the revs thanks to the immaculate fuel injection and easy throttle connection, but also the undeniable fact that the amount of power on tap at the top end of the rev range is vast.
The genius of how the HP4/S1000RR manages to blend the best of two worlds without compromising on either carries on with how it handles and how it feels to ride.
The handling is pin sharp, and how it drops into a corner with just the right amount of resistance from the handle bars – then holds on to its line with very little input, then lets you pick it back up with the throttle – is devastatingly easy. Yet unlike the MV, the HP4 manages to be an extraordinary quick-handling bike without having a riding position akin to a torture device. The seat is big, thick and easy to spend all day sat on, while the handlebars aren’t located down by the front wheel spindle and the footpegs found somewhere in the vicinity of your lungs. Just how a bike can be so armchairlike in its riding position and comfort levels yet be so sharp handling is one of life’s great mysteries.
The electronic rider aids serve as a real reminder of just how far we’ve come in a very short space of time. I’ve been around long enough to remember vividly just how revolutionary in particular the traction