BMW S1000XR – The Bahnstormer

All I can say is POWER!!!! This bike does what it says on the tin. I’ve been very excited to experience this bike since I started seeing reviews of it. Baron Von Grumble, who’s Vlogging I enjoy watching, seemed to have a total hoot on the bike. I made a booking with Donford BMW and popped around for a quick 40 minute ride around Stellenbosch and up Helshoogte.

Climbing on the bike it’s nice and high, which is great for me. BMW do offer a lowering kit from the factory, but the standard was very comfortable. Start the bike and it barks into life. It has a nice exhaust tone, and the styling isn’t too bad either. Its obvious competitor is the Ducati Multistrada. These are big, powerful touring bikes with superbike motors modified for more mid-range grunt. Both bikes are jam packed with technology and comfort features.

The motor pulls hard and you’re quickly in speeding fine territory. However, to me the motor lacks emotion compared to the Multistrada's L twin. The BMW motor is stonking, but clinical. I also found the bike buzzing between 4-8k rpm which on the road will become irritating. This bike has serious induction noise and you can hear it while riding. Some people have remarked that this was a huge turn-off of the XR, but it didn’t bother me too much on my short test ride.

Flicking through the gears using the quickshifter (up and down) sounds good with a pop coming from the exhaust, but doesn't feel as "bolt-action" as other bikes. It felt to me like there are too many rubber links in the gear-shifter which takes away from the good mechanical feel. It was the first up and down quickshifter I have used and once I got my head around it, it allowed for more concentration for braking and cornering. Personally I prefer a simpler, more connected gear shift even if this means removing the auto-blipper and downshifter. 

Using the clutch for gear shifts is also not as smooth as it could be. The bike is obviously adjusting for the shift but this results in a jerky change going up and down the gearbox. This almost forces the rider to use the quickshifter as opposed to having the use of it when you want.

The brakes lacked feel which messed with the confidence I had in them. It almost felt like they weren’t consistent. The braking was strong and good although I struggled to judge where to add more or less braking force. The traction control did a god job to keep things in check while bombing into and out of corners. You can really feel the traction control working out of corners. I rode the bike in Dynamic and Pro-Dynamic modes which are the two “faster” settings. Dynamic is for good road conditions (Sport mode), and Pro-Dynamic is for track conditions (Race mode). The bike has wheelie control which gets the front up and hovers it just above the ground. Depending on the rider settings, the front will allow for higher lift.

The bike handles well and has a great electronics package. The suspension on this bike is electronic and it felt more planted that the Multistrada on all road conditions. The switch gear is better on this new BMW, the switches feel like better quality but I still get a bit confused about their layout from time to time. To me this is still not up to standard, but that is my view.

Wind protection and riding position are great on the S1000XR. This is a great road bike, and I have a feeling that most riders would be faster on this bike through a tight mountain pass than on most superbikes. It has plenty low down grunt and pulls smoothly all the way through the rev-range. The high riding position and wide bars make it easy to chuck around.

The issues I had with the bike were once again, lack of space for my feet. This is more my problem than the bike's though. I disliked the finish of the bike. The rear sub-frame, like all the BMW’s, looks like scaffolding which someone has temporarily welded in place. On a R200 000 plus bike I expect more. 

Overall a great experience and a difficult choice between the 2015 Multi and the S1000XR. They both have their own pros and cons. A perfect bike seems to be sitting somewhere in between.