Bye-bye bonkers Beemer
Ben reflects on his year of neck and arm muscle training with the M1000R
The BMW M1000R isn’t the first 200bhp✚ longterm test bike I’ve run; I was custodian of a Kawasaki ZX-10R in 2021. When I gave that bike back, the overriding feeling was one of relief, as though I’d got away with something. But despite the BMW’s blistering performance, as I watched it being loaded onto the courier’s van to go back to BMW, I only felt one thing: sadness.
So why was that? Twisting the throttle on the M is every bit as tempting as it was on the ZX-10R, if not more so, as the gearing and ShiftCam engine make the payoff almost instant when you give in. Three-figure speeds are just as attainable and the exhaust note, quickshifter and race mode dash all conspire to egg you on and listen to the devil on your shoulder, rather than the angel (who fell off before the limiter in first). But while the Kawasaki gave me sleepless nights, the BMW didn’t. In fact, I usually couldn’t wait to get back on it for another go!
Sit up straight
The most obvious difference between the two is that the M1000R is a super-naked and the Kwak was a superbike. This may be obvious, but I still think it’s the crux of the issue. The speedo may be working just as hard on the Kawasaki as it does on the M1000R, but you really feel it on the BMW because you’re sitting in the ‘wrong’ position.
A glance at the dash is never surprising on a naked bike because you are painfully aware of your speed thanks to the wind noise and having to cling on for dear life. Your hands are slightly too far apart and higher-up than they should be and it feels as though it wants to throw you off backwards and wheelie all the time (even though the electronics would prevent that from actually happening).
The gearing helps as well with an extra tooth on the rear sprocket compared to the RR version giving more urgency at realworld speeds. The
BMW’s performance is infinitely more usable on the road when compared to the triple-digit first gear top speed of the ZX-10R. That means you can have fun and feel like you’re getting more from the bike without the night sweats afterwards.
End of an era?
Let’s not get alarmist, petrolpowered superbikes and supernakeds aren’t going anywhere overnight and even if they did, we’ve got plenty of rolling stock to keep the used market going for decades. Yet I can’t help but feel BMW’s latest M-model splurge (M1000RR, M1000R, M1000XR and if the leak is to be believed an M1300GS in the future) is more last hoorah than an attempt at setting a new benchmark.
Because whatever you believe the next step in biking should be – battery electric, hydrogen electric, hydrogen combustion, synthetic/ bio fuel, emerging tech – something is certainly coming down the pipeline. The GSX-R1000 has disappeared, as has the R1 (for the road in Europe) and the odds of any manufacturer reaching for a blank piece of paper in the way Ducati did with the V4 Panigale back in 2018 feel longer than ever. Are Honda likely to unveil a V4 Fireblade or Yamaha a supercharged R1 in the near future? I just can’t see it.
All of this slightly depressing preamble is leading somewhere (I promise) and that is to say that watching the M1000R leave felt more like the end of an era than it usually does when handing back
a longterm test bike. It feels like waving goodbye to an age of petrolpowered decadence in the new bike market and – even if it is the right thing to do – it’s a shame.
Would I buy one?
No… but also yes. This is a question I asked myself last year when I rode the M back-to-back with the S1000R. Back then, the answer then was no. On paper and for the type of riding I do, the S is plenty and it’s impossible to look past the difference in price. If, however, we’re taking money out of the equation and this is a ‘lottery-win’ situation, then I’d absolutely buy one. It’s my favourite super-naked and I defy anyone to have a go on one and not enjoy themselves.
LIKES
Speed, grip, handling
DISLIKES
Giving it back to BMW