First, I should probably explain why BMW Motorrad, the motorcycle outfit, is celebrating 50 years of BMW M GmbH, a subsidiary of BMW AG known for turning awesome BMWs into even cooler, faster cars. Well, BMW M isn’t just limited to cars anymore. BMW Motorrad first started offering an M package for the S 1000 RR at the end of 2018. And in 2020, BMW released the M 1000 RR. BMW offers a quick recap on the beginnings of BMW M:
The BMW 3.0 CSL made its debut in the European Touring Car Championship in the 1973 season, and with it a racing team’s uniform appearance in the three BMW Motorsport colours of blue, violet and red on a snow-white background that is still defining to this day. This colour scheme in the updated version Blue – Dark Blue – Red determines the appearance of the BMW M logo and the BMW M vehicles until today. The marque goes on to note that the BMW Motorsport colors haven’t been limited to cars, and you can find them adorned on its motorcycles going back several decades. This year, BMW Motorrad announced its own celebrations for BMW M, first with the M 1000 RR ‘50 Years M’. Now, Motorrad has announced the M 1000 RR homologation special and M 1000 R roadster. We’ll begin with the roadster. It starts with the S 1000 R. This is a naked bike meant for the road and for the track. It weighs 438 pounds and can be dropped to 427 pounds with the optional M package. Normally, the 999cc inline four makes 165 HP. But opt for the full M 1000 R, and things get nutty. Power jumps to 205 HP while weight remains the same 438-pounds as the regular S 1000 R. The engine hits that power figure at 13,500 RPM with a redline at 14,600 RPM.
And the M version is more than just more power. The highlight here, I think, are the changes to the aerodynamics. Motorrad added winglets to the front of the motorcycle. The idea here is to help lap times and high-speed stability with downforce. BMW says that at 136 mph, they provide 22 pounds of downforce to the front wheel. Winglets have actually been in use in MotoGP for a while, fighting the aerodynamic drag that causes weight to lift off of a motorcycle’s front wheel.
Other goodies on the M 1000 R include bar-end mirrors, an adjustable steering damper, and perhaps one of my favorites, a 5 Ah, 2.8-pound battery. Of course, you can also get your M 1000 R with the M Competition Package, which adorns the motorcycle with carbon fiber parts, including wheels. The M Competition Package also gets you a passenger seat, a GPS Laptrigger, and a billet footrest. Moving to the M 1000 RR, it’s clear that BMW Motorrad is quite happy with this one. M 1000 RR Project Manager Christian Gonschor says:
It starts with the S 1000 RR and this machine is even more extreme than the M 1000 R. The output remains unchanged from the S 1000 RR at 205 HP. It’s also unchanged from the M 1000 R. The engine here gets there at 13,000 RPM and tops out at 15,100 RPM. Also extreme is the downforce. The M 1000 RR’s winglets make 22 pounds of downforce at 125 mph. And at 186 mph, the front end is getting 49.8 pounds of downforce. The base S 1000 RR is noted to get up to 22 pounds of downforce.
Speaking of speed, the M 1000 R’s top speed is 174 mph, while this will race on to over 189 mph. And BMW did think about stopping from those high speeds. Both motorcycles get what BMW calls M Brakes, which are brakes that Motorrad says were developed from experience in the Superbike World Championship. You can option the motorcycle with more road-friendly pads or pads for the track. On the M 1000 RR, you get a carbon fiber brake cooling duct said to reduce brake temps by 50 degrees during track use.
If the horsepower figures seem odd to you, it may be because you’re not in America. Global versions of the M 1000 R are rated for 210 HP while the M 1000 RR gets 212 HP. It’s unclear why the U.S. versions will have less power. Either way, both of these sound like some serious fun. And of course, you get a myriad of control systems, including wheelie control, so you can be a hooligan if you want. The M 1000 R starts at $21,345 while the M 1000 RR starts at $32,995. Their base models cost $13,945 and $17,895, respectively. Both have a $695 Destination charge that you can tack onto the price. And expect to see them hitting the road in January 2023. It still blows my mind that today you can buy something for well less than 50 large that will get you knocking on the door of or past 200 mph. I’d love to try one of these out one day. (Photo Credits: BMW Motorrad) [Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly quoted the horsepower figure as “295 HP” in the title. The real figure is 205 HP as indicated in the story body. The error has been corrected and I regret the error.] It’s actually kinda weird that zero isn’t right next to one since it’s less than one. Keyboards are weird I guess. Its bragging rights, my old Yamaha with 100HP was plenty quick and fast Torch was right, this place does really slow down on weekends. I hope they’re enjoying getting all greasy wrenching or apple picking or pickling newts or whatever they all do weekends. I saw a motorcycle on a track and clicked without reading the title. Again, I apologize for such a blunder of a mistake. It has been corrected! I doubt there’s much in common between the two. I had a very short infatuation with sport bikes in the 90’s. Being a 6’5” man, I didn’t fit on them but still loved them. After one session on Casers Head SC, on a borrowed ZX-7r, where I pushed my limits, I knew I could never handle it. I was done. Full stop. It’s scary to think anybody with a down payment and decent credit can get ahold of these bikes. Yeesh.
