BMW S1000RR Test Ride

Had the test ride in a terrible week. Was much needed rest from some absolute bullshit we’re facing with estate agents after moving earlier last week.

Short and sweet summary


Loved it, lots of fun, but I’m not convinced.

Full Thoughts


The Good

It was the first supersport I’ve ever ridden. I knew that supersport bikes are hard on your wrists and core strength, and aren’t for comfort, but despite expecting that I was surprised by how much the bars dug into my hands and as to how high my feet/knees were!

However, 30 mins into the ride I felt confident on the bike. Man the engine is smooth as butter. Was a delight. No gaps in power delivery, no fucking around with winding the bike up or balancing the clutch when I’m between the lower gears on my MT-07.

The other thing I loved was how precise the handling felt. It was as if the bike read my mind as to where I wanted to go. Such a precision instrument, and for me this gave so much fun and confidence in the corners. I’ve never felt so sure that a bike was going to grip in my life, especially at super high speeds. Was just amazing.

Not to mention, when you get the revs up it sounds amazing and when you let go of the accelerator at the lower end of the revs the exhaust pops, bangs and grumbles. Lovely.

Also I loved the TFT and dash design. Gorgeous.

The Bad

Sadly though, it’s too much for me I think. All I wanted to do was fly, for two reasons.

First, the handle bars kinda dig into my palms. Above 40 mph this isn’t really a problem because the wind resistance supports you. In towns/cities I was gripping the tank with my legs or using my core to take some pressure of my hands and give them a break. But the most comfortable way to give my hands a break was to get the speed up and use the wind. You could also use the cruise control (which was really, really cool), but not so practical in traffic, obviously.

Second, it’s just downright fun. By habit I was rinsing the fuck out of any open gap I had. What a feeling, but too easy to break the speed limit.

All Put Together

I’m kinda sad that I don’t want it more because it’s so gorgeous and so fun. But for now, I only have money and time for one bike, and it turns out that it probably needs to be a bit more comfy and encouraging of keeping under the speed limit haha.

That £18k gets you tonnes of fun above 50mph, but below that it’s not really that fun. As much as I love the way it looks and sounds.

In the future, I can definitely see myself having a supersport in my roster.

Alternative


When I got back I talked over my thoughts with Aldo. We took a walk around the showroom and picked out the S1000XR, the tourer with the same engine as the S1000RR. He gave me a go on that for a while too. What an amazing ride that was.

Super fast, sounded just like the RR, but really, really comfy. Unreal to be sat so comfortably but to be able to accelerate like that. Just a shame it’s ugly…

So are supersports off menu now?


Well I want to try out the Panigale still. Just for the fun of it. It’s not that I hated the S1000RR or my supersport experience, I just don’t think I’ll get my money’s worth without getting on the track more or spending more time on open, twisty roads.

But… yeh, I think they’re off menu.

So what you gonna buy?


I’ve found a new appreciation for my MT-07 by test riding the S1000RR and the S1000XR.
The MT-07 is the only bike I’ve ever rode for more than 1 hour, so before then I didn’t really understand what it was good for. It’s pretty comfy, pretty fast, agile and gives me confidence when handling lots of traffic and filtering.

But I still want to replace it. The 1000cc engine was so, so easy. I loved that I didn’t have to wind it up, drop gears, or balance the clutch at low speeds. I also loved the crazy acceleration and the handling of the XR and RR, which was better than my MT-07. The fairing on the RR and XR was also a welcome experience. Needless to say I’m smacked all over the place on dual carriageway ways by the wind on my MT-07. Lastly, I think my MT-07 is pretty ugly… and I want to love the way my bike looks.

My struggle is that I now have competing priorities:

  • Must be comfortable at lower speeds
  • Must be gorgeous and provide excitement aesthetically
  • Must deliver faster acceleration than the MT-07
  • Must give excitement in the corners that reaches towards the likes of a sports bike

Other additions I’m interested in post test ride:

  • Interested in the bike having some decent fairing after experiencing what a non-naked bike is like on fast roads
  • Quick shifter – never used one before, must have for me now
  • Luggage. I’ve been using my bike a bit more in the city with my parter and panniers would be handy to store our helmets in

I can’t think of many bikes that are rapid, super fun in corners, beautiful, yet comfortable and hold some sense of practicality. Rapid makes me think sport (not comfy at slower speeds). Corner fun also makes me thing sport bike (not comfy at slower speeds). Comfort makes me think adventure bike (not many are good looking).

I think I’d like to give the Multistrada a try, since I think that doesn’t look too bad. And I think the MT-09 or MT-10 would be very interesting for me, but although I think they look cool, I’m not 100% sold on their style. Street Triple might be worth a shout also… (cc @nivag)

I think I’m going to spend a few days riding between several dealers, talking to them, getting a load of test rides.

Basically, back to the drawing board and open to anything suiting those criteria!

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