BMW S 1000 RR M Sport
Phillip Island Ride Days
I’ve just spent the most amazing couple of day’s putting myself and the M Sport through our respective paces at Phillip Island. I’m sitting here still buzzing a day later as I try to gather my thoughts into something resembling a coherent stream of words.
What can I say: What an extraordinary machine. There were some aspects of the bike that came as no surprise, having spent a couple of thousand kilometres aboard the M 1000 R last year, the bike that I gave my top honours for 2024. But there were also things that I am still gobsmacked by.
Let’s start with the elements that I was not surprised by, but by no means is that a bad thing.
The engine and gearbox largely shared with the M 1000 R was as familiar as it is awesome. I think I called it an engineering masterpiece when I reviewed the R and that description remains just as accurate now. That 999 cc Shift Cam four delivers its 210 hp and 113 Nm in the most astonishing user-friendly way possible. I’m not sure punters like me will notice the three additional horsepower over the last model, but it’s there.
It is positively a pussy cat at low revs. Exquisitely fuelled and unintimidating. As the revs rise and you wind on the gas you almost feel as though you’re not feeding more fuel in, but are opening the thrust tap instead, just dialling up more warp speed. There is no dip, nor hiccup all the way to the redline. You want more? No problem. It feels almost effortless in its ability to dish out as much power as our tiny minds can manage.
The gearbox too, remains the benchmark. This is the slickest shifting box on any bike I’ve yet to test. Impossibly so. On the track it was a joy to use, but its biggest praise was that it was quickly taken for granted. Not just the shift itself but the smoothness and stability in the transition between gears allowed me to concentrate solely on my lines and inputs.
That smoothness is a theme that I’ll come back to.
What also struck me was how comfortable the bike was in general. While the M Sport spec has rear sets, a slightly raised rear end and an adjustable swing arm pivot, the riding position didn’t feel overly extreme. Not a massive reach to the bars, in fact my hands didn’t feel particularly loaded up. Even the seat itself was relatively comfortable. And narrow enough that the bike felt roomy without being bulky.
Now that has to be taken into context of being on the track. I’m sure an hour on the highway without a lot of corners would tell a slightly different story, but… it felt more comfortable than any of my old racebikes.
I need to take a step back for a second. This review is part one of a two-part story, it’s both a review of the M Sport and a piece about rider training. Much like the recent piece I pulled together about offroad rider training, this one is around road riding skills. Honing your skills via track coaching.
I was on Phillip Island completing the California Superbike School levels, the final instalment of which will come in December when I’m back to complete level four. Part of the crux of that piece is about the question of if it’s ever too late to learn. Or put another way, how much can you learn regardless of your experience or age. Now it’s been over 15 years since I was racing and doing plenty of track time and I have no doubt that my ability to jump on a sportsbike and get the most out of it is not what it once was.
I’m also not too proud to admit that I was equal parts excited and nervous about jumping on a 200-plus sportsbike to hone my skills at what is one of the fastest tracks on the planet. A place where even when you go regularly you still come in after the first session with your eyes the size of dinner plates.
I shouldn’t have been nervous.
Which brings us sharply back to the M Sport and why I’m still blown away by it. It is easily the most user friendly sportsbike I’ve ever ridden. By some margin. While the usable engine and gearbox are one thing, the way this bike tracks and turns is in a whole different league.
It is nothing short of astonishingly stable. I’ve never felt anything like it. I’m not sure if it’s the winglets that produce up to 17 kg of downforce depending how rapidly you’re belting along, or the 10 mm longer swingarm in this version. But the M Sport is absolutely stable and planted. Everywhere.
It’s planted under brakes. It’s planted mid corner. It’s positively stuck to the ground on corner exit. But the real mind bending part of this bike is not just how stable it is, but how stable it is while being so easy to throw into a corner, tighten a line or flick from side to side.
If you know turn 10 at Phillip Island. MG Corner. The tight right hander at the bottom of Lukey Heights. You come out of there on a late apex, hug the right and flick the bike hard from right to left setting yourself up to go under the bridge for turn 11 which is probably my favourite corner on the track. Both 10 and 11 where an absolute joy on the M Sport. A bike that is also just magic through the fast sweeping turns 1, 3 and the hayshed.
There will be a few things at play here. The M Sport has a slightly shorter steering head angle for sharper steering, in fact it’s basically taken the 2022 M 1000 RR chassis and adopted those changes. You also can’t dismiss the effect that those gorgeous carbon wheels will have in reducing gyroscopic effect and helping it change direction.
Also bear in mind that as journo’s we need to keep a bit in reserve. I’m never going to be giving a press bike 10/10ths. I probably started day one at 6/10ths and worked my way up to 8/10ths by the end of day two. But I’m pleased to say that my 8/10ths even after 15 years away from the track is still pretty reasonable after two days of knocking rust off.
Electronics are the other big area that’s copped a major update including some very trick modes designed specifically for track that include not only an exquisite traction control but also slide assist for braking, that lets you do controlled drifts into corners… I somehow managed to resist the temptation to try that out in earnest. Self restraint that I didn’t know I had. Thats for part two in December 🙂
But I will say this. I have always maintained that you’re probably better off on a small to mid size output bike and getting the most out of it because they’re less intimidating and more usable. Which, all things being equal, they are. I’ll admit I’ve had a raised eyebrow ever since I saw the Superbike School were hiring out S 1000 RRs for student and track day punters. A 200 hp superbike? To learn on? I thought that was pretty brave.
Well I’m here to tell you that the S 1000 M Sport is so bloody good now. So usable. So stable. I can understand why they’ve gone down that path. If you as a rider have even a skerrick of self restraint with the throttle, I would no longer rule out suggesting that you learn on a big bike. I can’t believe that’s how far things have come but here we are.
In terms of the Superbike School itself? So valuable. Far more so than I imagined it might be. Not only did I pick up on some things that I’d always been doing not quite right at the Island. The exit of turn two for instance was always a challenge for me because I was always rushing to get on the gas mid-corner, compromising my line and drive on the way out. And for the first time I (we) realised that I’d always previously been looking at the wrong thing when mid corner on that particular turn. Game changer.
But there were also many things that I had also forgotten. Mostly little things, but some bigger ones too. Where I was looking, body movement and position, transitions, the compound effect of all of those added up pretty quickly. Little corrections every session. It would have taken me much longer to pick them all up again without help. And the pace of the learning wasn’t rushed like it can be at a track day when you’re thrown amongst it and just tacking onto the rider that comes past you at a chasable pace.
The days are structured so that you have off track instruction first, explaining the drill you’re going to do next and answer questions beforehand, then head out to put it into practise. On track your instructors follow and observe you, then give you pointers on track.
Great format. Structured in a way to give you enough time to process everything.
Having been an instructor myself in the past, I want to give a shout-out to my on-track instructor Case, who was able to give me at least one really useful observation and correction every single session, often more than one. He gave his students (two in my group on the first day and three on the second) the time to consider and analyse what we were doing and make sure that we understood the reason and impacts of the changes. Fun, engaging, informative. Legend.
If you get the chance for some on track pointers – 100% recommend it.
Can’t wait to get back amongst it again in December for level four.
