After many months of waiting, fans and customers of the BMW S1000RR finally got the chance to see the new superbike 'in the metal' at their local BMW Motorrad dealership on December 5.

Across Europe last Saturday, motorcyclists forgot about their Christmas shopping promises, important sports matches and other family commitments, and instead headed down to their nearest BMW Motorrad dealership to finally be able to try the 193 hp superbike for size.

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Although the 1000cc S1000RR has been on display at various international motorcycle shows, and has been seen in action during demonstration laps at selected motorcycle racing events, this was the first time that European bikers have truly been able to try it for themselves at their local dealerships.

Furthermore, the S1000RR has been lavished with praise, following its recent press launch, where journalists had the chance to try it on the world-famous Portimao circuit in Portugal. Having tried the RR on the same circuit that hosted the Superbike World Championship final round in October, journalists have been universal in their praise of BMW Motorrad's most powerful production machine to date, and a quick search on the internet soon produces a pile of glowing reviews from all over the world.

All this has helped to build on the anticipation and excitement of the bike's launch and played its part in bringing many potential new customers to BMW Motorrad dealerships across Europe. In Munich, the flagship BMW Motorcycle Centre celebrated the arrival of the S1000RR in a big way. The BMW AG-owned dealership prepared both the inside and outside of the 9,000 square metres building so that no one could miss what many are calling on of the most important product launches in the company's 85 year history.

The dealership - which stretches over several floors and sells new and used BMW motorcycles, as well as displaying the biggest selection of BMW rider equipment in the world - enjoys a great location in Munich. Because it benefits from lots of passing traffic from cars, motorcycles, pedestrians and cyclists, huge billboard-sized S1000RR banners were put up outside the showroom, and a 'wheelieing' S1000RR was even placed up high on the roof of the building.

Inside, various depictions of images from the 'welcome to Planet Power' marketing campaign were reproduced and displayed in the showroom, and a selection of S1000RR machines were available for customers to try for size. As well as the popular motorsport colour scheme, a special version, equipped with all of the carbon-fibre parts and accessories, had been created to show potential customers how to personalise their machine.

For Michael Sommer, Director of the BMW Motorcycle Centre in Munich, the response to the new machine was phenomenal: "It was an incredibly busy weekend with around 800 customers passing through our doors between 9am and 4pm," he said. "What was particularly interesting for us was that there were many new faces among the guests, including riders of Yamaha, Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki and Ducati machines. This was exactly what we wanted and hoped would happen, and we were also able to offer short test rides of the new S1000RR to those who wanted to experience the new superbike for themselves."

With trained staff on hand to deal with a multitude of enquiries, as well as many screens showing films such as BMW Motorrad Motorsport's inaugural Superbike World Championship campaign, an official film of the new bike's development behind the scenes, and various 'making of' films concerning the recent art shootings, existing and potential customers were kept entertained all day. A live band was another highlight of the launch event, and a special offer for personalised S1000RR caps meant that fans could have them embroidered with the message of their choice.

"We did a lot of preparation for the event, and it paid off for us," said Michael. "Outside the showroom, our 8 metres by 4 metres banner couldn't be missed by anyone passing by, and we got lots of great comments about the bike on the roof too - it's going to stay there all next year! Inside, a huge 24 metres by 4 metres poster was complemented by illuminated posters, a big 8 metres by 1.5 metres banner from the Planet Power campaign, as well as 10 smaller banners featuring a variety of images from the new brochure, as well as five from the recent themed photo-shoots.

"We also had ten S1000 RRbikes on display, including a factory World Superbike machine, and one of the safety bikes that has been seen in action at this year's MotoGP World Championship. All in all, it was a tiring, but extremely positive and productive day - a big thank you goes to the colleagues from Marketing Strategy and Communication, especially to Martin Bölt, because without their great help it would not have been possible to make this great POS appearance happen!"

The S1000RR exposition will be available for customers to see at the BMW Motorrad Zentrum in Munich until March 2010.

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SEE THE JANUARY BMW OWNERS NEWS FOR FULL COVERAGE AND REVIEWS OF THE S1000RR, AND AN EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE BMW MOA!