Tuesday, June 3, 2014

BMW S1000RR (and S1000R)

So I did Keith Code Superbike School again last Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park.  It was a blast, and I learned a lot, again.

Just as importantly, I remembered that I need to buy a BMW.  Not the S1000RR like I rode at the track, but the S1000R.


Love this review of the bike:
"BMW S1000R Naked Review"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee0DuTz-q3o
My thoughts on BMW's new naked S1000R.
and no... im not naked.

Back to the S1000RR for a moment, though.

What's the S1000RR like at the track?  Turn 5 at Barber, sharp left hander, track is every so slightly tilting away from you, slight uphill rise in the track.  Everyone powers out of that turn, track is rippled a bit.  Point is: It's a slow point in the track but you see more crashes there (at normal track days) simply because people twist the throttle too much.  Not to worry on the BMW.  You just crank the throttle.  Handlebars get loose, front wheel comes up.  And that's it.  It only dials in enough power to just let the front wheel just skim the pavement.  It makes you, the rider, look like a damn superhero.  Like I'm the one controlling the throttle so precisely that I'm skipping the front wheel along the pavement.  Amazing feeling.

And then there's the front straight.  Get a good drive out of the last two turns, see the shift lights in third, bang it into fourth, throttle pinned the whole time.  Then when it gets into the power band in fourth, it's like this, at 2:41 of this video:

"Adywans Star Wars Revisited - Tatooine Escape"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwevTdKL-tk