100 miles on S1000RR

All I can say is "Holy Carp Batman"

Stopped in at Bentonville BMW today, and was drooling over the new Demo on the showroom floor. Bob came over and said you want to take it for a demo ride?
My response was, Bob, there is no way I can afford to buy that. He said that it was there for demo rides and that BMW would not even let him sell it -it was strictly a demo bike. At that point my arm began to hurt from him twisting it behind my back, and my knees were getting weak. Finally I relented and agreed to ride it. Bob pushed it outside, and went over the controls (new designs) with me, and told me that it really didn't hit it's powerband until about 11 grand, and that it was redlined at 18, but ran out of steam at about 17 so there was no point pushing it past 17,000. OK.......He insisted that I try it past 11 however, to feel the afterburners kick in.

The Bike is absoutly the finest machine I've ever driven, including Ferrari's, Cobras, BMW's, MBZ, Massaratti's and Audi's. It pulls like a tractor from 2,000 rpm in any gear, reminisent of the K-bikes, but geezus! From 11K-17K you better be holding on! I passed a car running about 50 in 2nd gear and just hammered it.
I didn't even realize I was carrying the front wheel until it set back down!

I got really lost twice on the backroad twistie road-map that Bob had given me, and wound up being gone 2 hours, and about 3 times the distance of the test route. I never entered a corner that felt uncomfortable, even at about double the speed that I would have attempted on my R11RS. All it takes is some throttle to pull you around any corner. I remember thinking "I didn't realize I could ride this good!"

I've never been more glad to get off of a motorcycle in my life. It is definatly not a touring machine, and there seems to be no way to sit comfortably for anything over about 20 minutes. I was sore, my knees hurt, my wrists hurt from holding my weight up, and my heart was pounding like a war drum.

My God, what a sweet machine! I'm buying more tickets!

460

My RR was delivered in February, in the snow, and I now have 1000 miles on it, with one pretty good day of 275 miles in the WV mountains.

I've been riding bikes for 30 years, and raced cars for 15. All I can say about the RR is this: awesome. Great acceleration, great brakes, and the traction control is simply amazing.

[IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LrrHrU8m-Bk/S6PPHWeFHlI/AAAAAAAACpg/TaB9u4fobuo/s800/DSCN1466.JPG[/IMG]

I sat on the S in the dealer showroom and am uncertain that I could stay on it for many miles. What is your experience? - fatigue, restful - what?

With just R90 experience for several years now, I didn't know what 100+ HP meant until I rode a Triumph Sprint ST all afternoon this week. Impressive. I'm sure the S1000 RR is just phenomenal.

At 75 MPH in third gear at 2/3 of redline (on the Triumph) - what do you do with those three extra top gears?

[QUOTE=bobh41;573201]

At 75 MPH in third gear at 2/3 of redline (on the Triumph) - what do you do with those three extra top gears?[/QUOTE]

This is exactly what I asked the salesman after one day of riding - what the heck is 4th, 5th, and 6th for? :) You can hit 85 in first gear on the RR and be below redline.

As for comfort, it's not good but it's not bad either. I have an RT for traveling so most likely the RR will just be for day trips. Sargent is working on a new seat for the RR and has been very proactive about seeking input from a number of RR owners.

I'm sure that the bike would take some "getting used to", or training your body to a new riding position just as the R11RS did for me. Leaning forward in a sportbike position is a very different riding position than most are accostomed to.

I'm 6' even, and the riding position seemed somewhat cramped as my knees were definatly hurting after an hour. (but I'm 59 years old too)

At highway speeds, the wind hitting your upper body will help hold you upright.
On my RS, it was very uncomfortable for me to ride for the first couple of weeks.
Changing the windshield from a large Parabellum to a smaller one, and allowing more wind to hit me helped tremendously in the fatigue department.

I'm still just in awe at the brakes, cornering and acceleration of the bike! Knowing myself, if I owned one, I'd kill myself inside of 6 months because I just could not stay out of it on the road!

460

460:

Don't worry, fear will keep you "out of it". I'm sure most of us have run every bike we've ever owned to it's limit, but those limits didn't approach 200+ mph. Also, we used to be immortal - ya know? I'm no longer immortal

You would have to go west of Salina, KS, to even open up the bike to it's limit, and then you would likely be subdued by the west winds.

Anybody know what it will do on the dragstrip?

Bob,

LOL...definate agreement to the immortal comment! Goes hand in hand with:
"If I would have known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself".

I too wondered about the dragstrip. I'll bet it would be wickid! This summer should tell.

460

I rode mine yesterday for about 200mi and I'm getting more and more use to the riding position(only had it a week). I am 54 and 6'1". It is without a doubt the most incredible bike I've ever been on! It is an adrenal rush x10 and I haven't been out of rain mode!!! I've run it up to 90+ several times and did 100 once so far. I can't imagine 150 or more. I talked with Eric Pinson(AMA Superbike racer) at the Road Atlanta race Sat and he said "it was tapped at 186 on the back straight." He rides a S1 for Blue Moon BMW out of Atlanta.

[URL="http://www.woodcraft-cfm.com/Scripts/default.asp"]http://www.woodcraft-cfm.com/Scripts/default.asp[/URL]
These guys are developing some cool stuff for those gear head track day/raceday guys.
I like their products for the quality and durability from my own, "testing" experience.
:blush

BMW Durham (Ajax Ontario) had their Demo Rides today and I was booked on the 1000RR for the 1st ride at 10:15 & am I ever glad I signed up.
I had sat on them at the shows and thought it'd be too uncomfortable, however at just over 6' tall it was OK. I could rest my elbows on my knees and move around quite a bit. I'm sure it'd more comfortable as time wore on.
I did need to use my legs to lessen the bumps in the rode, but it tracked well and wasn't twitchy.
Rode for the 1st 20 minutes in Sport mode then swithched to Race for the last 25. Wow! The torque was unbelievable and as I was with the tail ride for the last half, I was able to slingshot up to the pack AMAP to get into the powerband.
I've ridden the Kawi 1000RR, 600RR and ZX14, along with Aprillias, Ducatis and KTMs, but this blows them away.
This is a 600cc sized bike with 200HP with shift assist, traction control, ABS and brakes that stop ... RIGHT NOW!
I'm amazed at the civility in town as it'll stay at the speed limit without problems.
What a piece of technology for a great price.
My K1200GTseemed anemic on the ride home, but I realized that it's still very quick when I glanced at the speedo and had to rein it in.
If I did more track days, I would definitely want this bike.
You guys that own these really make me jealous, now I know what you're talking about.
Have fun with the fastest bike on the market. Riding is believing.

RR is quite a ride aint she Ken?

I haven't even taken a demo ride yet... I'm afraid. I bought a K1300S last fall, I don't want to be lusting after another so soon... ;)

........be afraid. Be VERY afraid.

460

Rode my (free) RR from the SF Bay Area to Yosemite and back a couple weeks ago and had a BALL! Over 475 miles for the day. Added a tank bag (Famsa/KTM) and the BMW Tail bag. Did have to take a few breaks and still could move this old 65 year old body the next morning.
What a wonderful bike.

Good to hear!!

Really glad you are happy with it! If I could afford one, it would be in my stable too!

460