askapro Electronics tame big horsepower By Lee Parks #162125
Q: I’ve been think- ing about upgrading
to a more modern sport bike, and the S 1000 RR is sound- ing more and more tempting. How much benefit is there with
all the electronics (TC, ABS, quick- shifter, etc.) that come with the new bikes?
A: Modern sport bikes are indeed technological tours de force these
days, and the S 1000 RR is the bike that first made these technologies available for a reasonable price. In fact, it has been rumored the that ini- tial RRs were subsidized for America to help get market share in a new seg- ment (open supersport) for BMW. One of the marketing strategies was
to sponsor the California Superbike School (CSS), which, at the time, had been dropped by long-standing spon- sor Kawasaki. This was a perfect storm from a marketing perspective as the highly acclaimed CSS provided the ultimate sampling program for BMW’s new pride and joy. It marked the first time a “regular Joe” could ride a 180 hp motorcycle by simply signing up for a class. Keep in mind that two-stroke 500 GP bikes used to make 180 hp, and at that time they were considered difficult and danger- ous to ride for even professional superbike racers. This had a lot to do with their peaky, explosive power delivery. If you had told me back then that there would be production four- strokes making that kind of power and any experienced street rider could take a class on one, I would have thought you mad. Many of us in rider education took
82 BMW OWNERS NEWS October 2015
a deep breath and gritted our teeth when it was announced that CSS would be switch- ing from Kawasaki ZX-6Rs and offering classes on the most powerful production motorcycle ever made. We wondered if crashes and injuries would skyrocket and scare people away from advanced training. Boy, were we wrong. The first year showed crashes in class went down 60 percent! But how could that be? Technology, my dear Watson. It turns out that traction control and ABS were all they were cracked up to be. Count me as one of the pleasantly shocked industry folks who now sing the praises of these technologies. Of course, technology alone does not a perfect bike make. Recently at one of our Total Control
Track Clinics I had the pleasure of riding a 2014 Ducati 1199 Panigale back-to-back with a 2015 BMW S 1000 RR. The Ducati was fast, had great brakes, and handled well but really scared me when I pushed it. Its raw power delivery was difficult to regulate but the traction control kept me from get- ting too out of shape. Still, it was a bike that did not interest me as far as ownership. The BMW, on the other hand, felt a little faster, had ridiculously efficient brakes, and never even hinted at a sweat. I was surprised at how much easier it was to ride than the 1199 and how relaxed I was, even at pretty quick lap times. For bikes whose specs are so sim- ilar on paper, the experiences could not have been more different. Then just last week I went to the New
York Safety Track (NYST) for the first time with a motorcycle club called the Shul Boys out of Cleveland, Ohio. The track is very fast with many blind corners and can intim- idate virtually any rider until it is memo- rized. There, I ran a borrowed 2003 Ducati 999 from a friend but never quite felt com- fortable. The racing compound tires had a profile that didn’t agree with my riding style, and I never had the confidence to
push things, even a little bit. I was so dis- mayed with my poor performance, in fact, that I gave up riding half way through the day, as I feared I might drop my friend’s pretty machine. At that point I decided dis- cretion is the better part of valor and I’d come back another day when I rediscovered my mojo. Seeing dejection all over my face, another
friend offered his stock 2011 S 1000 RR on Dunlop Q3s for me to take out “just for fun.” I reluctantly went back out to lap around my newfound nemesis track only to discover that I was reborn. By the third lap I was already four seconds faster than my best lap on the aging Duc—on street-com- pound tires no less! No matter how hard I pushed, I never got into the ABS or Trac- tion Control even once. The excellent trac- tion provided by NYST certainly helped to be sure, but my confidence was growing faster than the Duggar family’s negative press coverage. Were it not for the lateness of the day and my desire to not risk crash- ing my friend’s bike, I don’t know how much faster I could have gone. I was really surprised at just how comfortable I was able to be on the RR from the first lap. It acceler- ated, stopped and carved so effortlessly as to almost mock my meager attempt to go fast on it. Had it been able to speak to me it might have said, “Is that really all you got? I’m bored with you. Come back another day and next time bring your cajones with you. Beeatch!” Damn, that was a low blow, RR. I thought you were better than that. So what’s all this have to do with elec-
tronics, you ask? There’s no question in my mind that electronics can make a huge dif- ference in safety and confidence, the prod- uct of which is more fun. Keep in mind though that no one can tell you which bike will be the best fit for you. As an example, the same friend who let me borrow his 999 also let me try his new Ducati 899 Panigale for a few fun laps at Wilzig Racing Manor
skills
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