A regular Saturday turned out to be ‘Special‘ when Ankit confirmed that Navnit Motors – the BMW dealer in Bangalore had agreed to give us a chance to ride their flagship super-sport – The S1000RR.
So I met Ankit and Sukesh at the showroom along with my brother.
To test my patience further, Shashank (the guy for motorcycles at Navnit) took us to the basement for session on BMW’s other offerings in India (R1200 GS, K1600 GTL, F650 GS, K1300, F800GS etc), finally the S1000RR was taken out by Shashank to finish some formalities before we could ride.
In fact most of showroom staff came out to get a glimpse of the 1:12 scale -down version 😀
Conditions, Conditions and Conditions :p
- We were told by the BMW guys to stay within a 3 kms radius around the showroom – this being a TC motorcycle and was insured within the specific radius.
- The BMW guys had restricted the revs up to 8,000 rpm and any shifts above that wouldn’t be futile (since fuel would not be supplied to the injectors).
First Impressions :
Honestly a 3km loop is a very small distance to write a detailed report – here are my impressions:
The moment I sat on the S1000RR, I realized how compact motorcycle this was, in-fact its smaller than a 600 super-sport, which meant one can weave in and out of the traffic with ease.
Slotted it into 1st Gear and the roll-on was super smooth unlike any liter-class I had ever ridden, revved it all the up-to limiter into the 2nd gear before I ran short of the service road 🙁
Hoped onto to the main road, the sparse traffic on a Saturday afternoon ensured that I was doing 170 clicks in no time, trust me I didn’t realize it till I saw the odo.
And for the Throttle Wide Open junkies, the S1000RR offers clutch-less up-shifts and it is bloody addictive 🙂
Braking:
Having owned a super-sport, braking is one of the critical aspects of a motorcycle, especially the way the motorcycle behaves under normal and hard braking.
The S1000RR comes with Brembo Mono-block calipers and my goodness they offer some very-precise braking. A small touch on the front lever is all it takes to shed the momentum and bring the motorcycle to a halt.
The test ride motorcycle was running on soft-compound Metzelers which meant superb grip on the dry tarmac even under some hard braking(took the rear end into the air).
The motorcycle is so planted even under so much loading, Phenomenonal !!!
Handling:
WOW, how can they design a motorcycle which handles so darn well !!!
I didn’t get a chance to test the handling while cornering, but on the straight road ,under hard braking and the in traffic, it behaves brilliantly.
It is so nimble, that I constantly had to tell myself that it churns out 190+ bhp at the wheel, yet it gives you so much confidence to ride faster, the home territory of the S1000RR is above the 6000 rpm mark.
The 8000 rpm restriction meant I couldn’t ride my balls out 🙁
The S1000RR comes with 4 riding modes:
- Sport
- Rain
- Race
- Slick
I was on the ‘Sport’ mode during my entire test ride and didnt get a chance to try the other modes.
Cock-Pit:
Very legible to read even under the blaring sun and one doesn’t have to reach out to the dial to toggle the readings, all the toggle switches are on the handle-bar.
A Thumbs-Up to BMW for the practicality.
Riding Posture:
Comfortable compared to the R1, which I believe has the most aggressive posture. The BMW is much relaxed, although the a longer ride of at-least 100 kms will reveal the true comfort of the ride posture.
Does it Heat up in traffic?
During the ride I couldn’t ride in the bumper-bumper traffic, but yes a full- faired motorcycle always offers its share of heat to the rider 😛
Is it worth so much?
The model I rode would set me back by about 27 lakhs INR on-road, which made me question the true worth of this motorcycle.
‘YES – IT IS WORTH IT ‘ although I still pray that someday BMW would get this ‘Special ‘ under the 20 lakhs tag.
For whoever select few can afford to spend so much moolah, it wont dissapoint you to bring a smile every-time you crack open the throttle.
Special thanks to Ankit, Vijay, Sukesh and Shashank from Navnit Motors for trusting me with this Bavarian Delight 🙂
Pardon my Ear-to-Ear grin since yesterday 😛
And YES, I am hung-over the S1000RR 😀
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