First Ride: 2010 BMW S1000RR

ormally, pinning the throttle wide-open on a liter-class supersport machine while at or near full lean in a corner would spell certain disaster. Common sense rules out grabbing even half a handful of gas while at the apex of a tight bend. Yet despite survival instincts honed through nearly 30 years of riding and racing experience, I found myself at full throttle with my knee skimming the tarmac and wanting even more from the fuel-injected, dohc, four-cylinder engine that powers BMW’s new-for-2010S1000RR.

Okay, that’s an extreme example of the Bavarian bike maker’s race-developed Dynamic Traction Control in action. But it was nevertheless my experience aboard a production S1000RR during the first of several 20-minute sessions at the world press introduction staged this past November at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal.

Per BMW’s direction, I spent my initial on-track stint in “rain mode,” the tamest of the RR’s four selectable power-delivery modes that can be toggled on the fly via a handlebar-mounted switch. With a full day of warm, sunny track time ahead, I felt no sense of urgency to explore the more potent Sport, Race or Slick settings. I haven’t spent that much time at full twist on a road course since I raced a Kawasaki Ninja 250 back in the day!

A particularly interesting aspect of the DTC strategy is the use of an onboard lean-angle sensor that restricts the ride-by-wire throttle from opening farther when lean angle exceeds a mode-specific maximum bank angle. The lean threshold for rain mode is 38 degrees, which meant it was quite easy to dip into the dead power-delivery zone in dry, grippy conditions. It was a rather odd sensation to experience such a pronounced delay in acceleration until the bike was once again relatively upright at the exit of a corner. I’m anxious to try this mode in actual wet conditions.

Switching to any of the higher-performing modes unleashed in full the engine’s claimed 181 rear-wheel horsepower. Sport tempers initial throttle response, provides greater DTC intervention and a 45-degree max angle for acceleration compared to the one-to-one response and even deeper electronic lean limits of the Race and Slick modes.

The Metzeler RaceTec K3 radials had barely broken a sweat until I put in a series of hard laps in Race. With DTC watching my back, I was able to execute controlled slip-’n'-grip drives out of nearly every corner of the 13-turn circuit with remarkable ease. Apparently, the throttle control and sense for available traction that I’ve carefully honed during the past three decades has been rendered obsolete. Button-mashing video gamers should feel right at home on this new Beemer. And I haven’t even discussed the Race ABS brake system!

One thing is certain: The S1000RR is the real deal. BMW has finally produced a sportbike that performs on par with the current competition from Austria, Italy and Japan. Look for a full riding impression of the S1000RR in an upcoming issue of Cycle World.