BMW S1000R Sport
‘Covering ground like the lovechild of a hovercraft and a guided missile’
Festooned in tech and the most powerful here, the S1000R should trounce its rivals. Doesn’t quite work out like that though…
Make no bones about it, the S1000R is a fast motorcycle – with a claimed 160bhp it’s the most powerful of our quartet on paper. But here’s the thing: ride it after hopping off any of the others and it doesn’t feel that rapid. Not straight away, anyway.
The first reason for this is the sublime quality of the BM’S semi-active suspension. This is standard with the Sport model we’re riding and a £1160 option on the base bike.
The way it softens just enough to let you clatter along bumpy straights in comfort without a sniff of instability, yet firms up so both ends feel taut and racey as you alternately brake and gas it down a twirling B-road is borderline magical. It’s so cleverly done that at the time you don’t even notice what’s happening – it’s only when you ride another bike with all the usual compromises that you appreciate the BM’S sophistication.
‘That suspension is brilliant,’ says Bike contributor Rupert Paul after a hectic blatt. ‘It’s a cut above – the way it’s got so much stability at high speed and then when you slow down it goes soft… all very clever. The steering and handling are lovely too.’
The knock-on effect of this electronic witchcraft and the bike’s lack of mass – at a claimed 199kg, it’s 11kg lighter than its nearest rival here – is that you need to go ludicrously fast to feel like you’re pressing on. Push hard and the Honda will wallow, the Suzuki will shimmy and the Yamaha will wheelie its head off, but the BMW has no truck with any of that. It just goes, covering ground like the lovechild of a hovercraft and a guided missile.
It’s clinical, efficient and when you look down at the telly – sorry clocks – it always seems to be going 20mph faster than you thought it was, despite the lack of wind protection.
The second reason for its speed deception is the engine, which has the gentlest midrange here. Ridden in isolation, ‘gentle’ is not the word you’d use to describe it because there’s certainly enough to be going on with, but compared with the others it feels surprisingly puny. ‘I’m actually disappointed with the engine,’ says Rupe. ‘I rode the old model round the Isle of Man a few years back and loved it, but in this company it feels like you have to chase the power – you’re waiting for it to come alive. It goes “not enough, not enough” and then “far too much”. For this kind of motorcycle with no fairing, I’d happily sacrifice a bit at the top for more in the middle. The engine feels like it’s designed for a magical trackday which occurs once in your life when you’ll appreciate the topend power.’
Perhaps a tad harsh – the BMW is a great road bike – but Rupe has a point. At 6000rpm you’re accelerating briskly on the S1000R while the MT-10 and GSX-S1000 are already trying to pull your arms off. If you’re a road rider who lives in the midrange – ie, most of us – you’ll wonder why your supernaked mates are clearing off.
A knock-on effect of the power curve is that the contrast between the midrange and top-end is greater on the S1000R than the others. Hit 8500rpm and the S1000R changes character and the sensible German goes ballistic, with the electronics putting in a shift to try and keep the front wheel somewhere near Tarmac. If you’re in the mood it’s a very satisfying bike to thrash – imagine a 350LC that’s been dropped in a vat of steroids.
The S1000R has plenty of everyday appeal too. There’s cruise control, heated grips and a TFT screen mercifully bereft of look-at-me graphics that get in the way of reading the information you need. And the quickshifter is wondrous – more like a switch than a shifter that just needs a delicate tap. It’s even better than the Honda’s and Suzuki’s, which is saying something because they’re brilliant. And the level of finish feels stratospheric – Rupe and I peer at the bike for minutes trying to find something tatty and then give up. It’s immaculate.
‘The S1000R is an engineering masterpiece in lots of ways – the packaging, the low weight, the electronic suspension,’ says Rupe, ‘but the engine just isn’t as good as the Yamaha’s.’