REDEFINING THE SUPERBIKE

BY BRETT

Buying new bikes is a big investment these days, and not a decision to take lightly. Luckily, there are some amazing machines to throw your money at. BMW’s new S 1000 RR falls comfortably into the amazing category, leaving little to be desired.

Back in 2020, I spent a day on the S 1000 RR in Portugal, when BMW introduced some big changes for that model update. They made important strides in that year, and it was easy to see their development team knew what was missing previously. The 2020 model came out 24 lb lighter and with an improved swingarm, both steps in the right direction for the bike’s handling.

In the past 15 years peak power has never been questioned in regards to BMW, nor has the electronics package. The chassis step made in 2020 put them at the sharp end of that conversation in my opinion, and now they’ve refined those details even further to make the 2023 version a serious weapon. Winglets are standard this year, so BMW has stepped up to the plate even with the aerodynamics package.

With the chassis puzzle solved on the previous model, and having seen the success come from that, there was no need for major surgery in this year’s updates. The mentionable chassis changes made in 2023 are steering head angle and offset, which they implemented from the 2022 M model after finding it to perform better. These small updates are reduced offset by 3 mm and lowered steering head angle by 0.5 degrees. The frame recesses were modified to add some lateral flex, and now the adjustable swingarm pivot that was only available on the M model previously is standard on all the S 1000 RR models. The weight loss program the last model went through is sticking around for 2023, and the bike weighs in at a respectable 197 kg (434 lb).

We’ve all seen model updates from manufacturers that make you shake your head because they take a step forward in a certain piece of the bike, only to jump back a couple steps in another aspect. I’m glad to say BMW didn’t make this mistake with the new for 2023 S 1000 RR.

The new bike encompasses the S 1000 RR legacy with a fast appearance and hard lines – it’s always been easy to pick out on the street and track. I appreciate that BMW put their own flavour into the look of their superbike from the beginning and stuck with it. The sleek look of the bike isn’t just for show, the new winglets add functional downforce to the front wheel.

The cockpit of the BMW is a welcoming place for most riders, they seem to have found a mix that accommodates tall riders like myself and doesn’t hinder the vertically challenged. First impression for me was how skinny the tank feels, and proper spacing on the bars, seat and pegs. No surprise as this was the exact same feeling I had on the previous model. The big TFT dash staring right back at you is well done, and gives the factory bike feel in stock trim. This part of the electronics has come so far in the last decade, no surprise BMW’s design is hitting the mark and pushing limits.

I was excited for the location we were brought to in southern Spain, hard to beat the weather and it was a circuit I’ve never ridden.

Almeria is a proper race track and has everything you require to really test a bike’s personality. Sixth gear straight, some switchback sections, some long radius corners, some fast, some slow, cambered, off camber – literally puts the bike into every situation. This is an ideal landscape to test the bike, but on the same note, not an easy place to get a setup that works on all parts of the track.

I would expect the bike to like some sections and struggle in others on a track like this, but this wasn’t the case. Stable chassis that didn’t pitch on acceleration or braking, light feel in change of direction, and solid feedback everywhere is something worth praising. We were treated to the M carbon wheels for the test, which is such a treat for quick direction changes. There was a first gear chicane and a couple second gear switchbacks that you could put the bike where you wanted with confidence and very little effort.

Front end confidence is everything on a superbike, and the small changes BMW made to this year’s chassis have resulted in a proper race track carving weapon. I was able to put the front tire wherever I wanted all day, no matter the speed or lean angle, corner entry or mid-corner. Stock trim and the telemetry was reading 57 degrees of lean angle on both sides of the tire, without having any big moments – this is crazy stuff. I tried my best to get the bike out of its comfort zone, but couldn’t get it done. I had a couple front end slides during the day, but nothing that even got my heart rate up because solid feel was still there. Even on worn out tires at the end of the day there was no lack of feedback or ability to get the bike turned in every part of the turn.

The bike is really stable in off camber scenarios as well, which isn’t easy to achieve no matter the setup. There were two technical sections where the track fell away a bit while you’re charging downhill, perfect scenario for a bike to start pumping and feel unsettled – but the BMW kept planted without any drama.

The one fast left hander was third gear over a crest, and by the end of the day I had the confidence to trust the slide control fully. Third gear, knee just off the ground, cresting a hill off camber, and I could go from partial to full throttle without a worry – the slide control would engage and no matter how much I turned the throttle it was only giving me back the right amount of power to lock in a small slide and keep driving forward. The slide control is a new feature, and impressed me how well it worked – no ironing out needed.

That leads us into the electronics package, one of the big focuses of this model for BMW. The new electronics have adjustable engine brake, engine power mode, riding mode, traction control, wheelie control, slide control and ABS with brake slide control.

New this year are the slide controls. The updated feature comes from a steering angle sensor addition that allows the electronics to measure your slide, and keep the rear wheel locked in place at a certain amount of slide. You can turn this feature off, but I didn’t find it negatively affecting drive out of the corners enough to consider running without it.

The engine brake control has three modes again, all big enough steps to notice the changes instantly. The engine power mode has two options, and is more of a throttle ride by wire delivery setting – one option holds back from your input a little bit, and the other option is direct 1:1 throttle to power input. I ran it on both settings, and both options give you a different throttle feel which is nice to choose your poison on.

Riding modes change the engine characteristic so you can tailor the power to the conditions you’re riding in, along with your ability. Traction control still has 14 steps and works unreal, along with three modes for wheelie control depending on how much you want the front wheel off the ground. Combine the new winglets adding up to 17 kg of downforce at 300 km/h, and you get some assistance in planting the front wheel to the pavement.

The riding modes can be customized, so you’re not limited to pre-set modes for Rain, Road, Dynamic and Race. Build your own riding modes so you can test out different electronics mid-session, or if you’re sharing a bike with a buddy this is perfect. I used it to change up settings and test out the electronic differences during the sessions, something that used to require a laptop hookup. Still impresses me how far things have come in the last decade with electronics. Two mentionable options if you’re looking for more luxury are heated grips and cruise control – heated grips on cold mornings is something to dream about.

An interesting part of testing the BMW was that I started to mess around with the electronics and find ways the different settings could change the way the bike was handling. I was turning the engine braking up to help the bike get turned mid-corner in some of the slower long radius parts of the track, but this engine braking in the faster sections buried the front more and took away some of the feel I had with less engine braking. Pieces of the setup you can mess with at the push of a button, and get instant feedback to know which window of the suspension you’re riding in.

ABS is updated on the new model, it even has a piece that works alongside the engine braking and slide control, allowing you to control the rear wheel backing in under braking. This feature would take some time to get used to, I messed around with it a bit in the afternoon sessions and it worked well, but I wasn’t comfortable enough to be doing it every lap on repeat. I found the ABS settings were a huge improvement over the previous model, and something I didn’t mind leaving turned on because I could barely notice it intervening. Awesome feature for added safety on the road and track, and it also comes with a “stoppie” feature that allows you to execute controlled stoppies without going over the bars.

Beyond ABS improvements, the brake hardware gets my stamp of approval – and I’m hard on brakes. We rode bikes equipped with the M brakes, and for the 2023 this is Nissin front calipers and Brembo rear.

The front brakes have enough power you can use one finger to pull the lever, and I didn’t run into any brake fade during our sessions – something most stock superbikes struggle with. It was only around 15 degrees and overcast, so temperatures were on our side, but we were still riding hard and putting stopping power to the test.

The bikes were equipped with optional M rearsets as well, which are well worth having because you get two adjustments on the brake pedal position depending on your foot size, as well as really cool footpeg position adjustability with one bolt.

Electronic suspension adjustment makes clickers easy to tweak during sessions, and the base setup BMW had was really solid. I didn’t mess with the chassis settings through the electronic suspension a ton, just a few clicker changes to see the differences and make sure they were noticeable. You definitely get some adjustability in the stock suspension, and once again at the push of a button.

CSBK champ Ben Young and I were pushing these stock bikes pretty hard, and didn’t really get to a point where we were talking about the need for aftermarket suspension. Keep in mind we weren’t hoping to explain hauling our bikes out of any of the gravel traps, but I think Ben got within four to five seconds of the World Endurance factory BMW team testing – not too shabby on a 1:40ish total lap time.

When it comes to getting the BMW moving, we know it has one of the strongest engines in the superbike lineup. The engine on the new machine was optimized with some small changes stolen from the previous M version, producing 205 hp and over 80 ft-lb of torque. Sixth gear on the back straight at Almeria, and I got to see 290 km/h on the dash before having to trust the brakes to get slowed down. The quick shifter works seamless for upshifts and downshifts, which is easy to rely on to click back gears from sixth to second under hard braking.

Not only was the top speed of the bike impressive, I couldn’t get over how even the power curve on this bike is. I kept getting into the rev limiter because I didn’t notice the power dropping off hinting me to shift, it just doesn’t stop pulling. Another aspect from last year’s M model now standard is a 46-tooth rear sprocket to add some acceleration, up one tooth from last year. If you find yourself on the 2023 S 1000 RR, you won’t be searching for more power that’s for sure.

No surprise this bike is a popular choice for Superstock classes when all you have to do is roll it out of the showroom and toss numbers on it to be competitive. IM