BMW Motorrad has found a fun way to celebrate 50 years of BMW’s M motorsports division, and it’s with a pair of motorcycles that look like some serious tire-shredding machines. The M 1000 R roadster and M 1000 RR homologation special are superbikes with 205 HP of tire-burning performance and winglets for downforce. Yes, winglets!
First, I should probably explain why BMW Motorrad, the motorcycle outfit, is celebrating 50 years of BMW M GmbH, a subsidiary of BMW AG known for turning awesome BMWs into even cooler, faster cars. Well, BMW M isn’t just limited to cars anymore. BMW Motorrad first started offering an M package for the S 1000 RR at the end of 2018. And in 2020, BMW released the M 1000 RR.
BMW offers a quick recap on the beginnings of BMW M:
The BMW Motorsport GmbH was founded in 1972 with the idea of uniting all BMW motorsport activities under one roof and building up high-performance racing vehicles and racing engines for motorracing. The BMW 3.0 CSL (CSL = Coupe Sport Light Construction) made its debut as the first racing car of BMW Motorsport GmbH in 1973 and on the occasion of the foundation of BMW Motorsport GmbH, Robert A. Lutz, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG for Sales in 1972, stated at the time: “A company is like a human being. If it does sports, it stays fit, enthusiastic, more effective and powerful.”
The BMW 3.0 CSL made its debut in the European Touring Car Championship in the 1973 season, and with it a racing team’s uniform appearance in the three BMW Motorsport colours of blue, violet and red on a snow-white background that is still defining to this day. This colour scheme in the updated version Blue – Dark Blue – Red determines the appearance of the BMW M logo and the BMW M vehicles until today.
The marque goes on to note that the BMW Motorsport colors haven’t been limited to cars, and you can find them adorned on its motorcycles going back several decades. This year, BMW Motorrad announced its own celebrations for BMW M, first with the M 1000 RR ‘50 Years M’. Now, Motorrad has announced the M 1000 RR homologation special and M 1000 R roadster.
We’ll begin with the roadster. It starts with the S 1000 R. This is a naked bike meant for the road and for the track. It weighs 438 pounds and can be dropped to 427 pounds with the optional M package. Normally, the 999cc inline four makes 165 HP. But opt for the full M 1000 R, and things get nutty. Power jumps to 205 HP while weight remains the same 438-pounds as the regular S 1000 R. The engine hits that power figure at 13,500 RPM with a redline at 14,600 RPM.
And the M version is more than just more power. The highlight here, I think, are the changes to the aerodynamics. Motorrad added winglets to the front of the motorcycle. The idea here is to help lap times and high-speed stability with downforce. BMW says that at 136 mph, they provide 22 pounds of downforce to the front wheel. Winglets have actually been in use in MotoGP for a while, fighting the aerodynamic drag that causes weight to lift off of a motorcycle’s front wheel.
Other goodies on the M 1000 R include bar-end mirrors, an adjustable steering damper, and perhaps one of my favorites, a 5 Ah, 2.8-pound battery. Of course, you can also get your M 1000 R with the M Competition Package, which adorns the motorcycle with carbon fiber parts, including wheels. The M Competition Package also gets you a passenger seat, a GPS Laptrigger, and a billet footrest.
Moving to the M 1000 RR, it’s clear that BMW Motorrad is quite happy with this one. M 1000 RR Project Manager Christian Gonschor says:
We have achieved an engineering masterpiece in the aerodynamic development of the M RR due to our unwavering ambition, total passion and technical finesse. Thanks to countless hours in the wind tunnel as well as in road tests, we were able to considerably increase the top speed with unchanged engine output and at the same time significantly increase the downforce, also when banking in corners. Our development work will be rewarded with racing success.
It starts with the S 1000 RR and this machine is even more extreme than the M 1000 R. The output remains unchanged from the S 1000 RR at 205 HP. It’s also unchanged from the M 1000 R. The engine here gets there at 13,000 RPM and tops out at 15,100 RPM. Also extreme is the downforce. The M 1000 RR’s winglets make 22 pounds of downforce at 125 mph. And at 186 mph, the front end is getting 49.8 pounds of downforce. The base S 1000 RR is noted to get up to 22 pounds of downforce.
Speaking of speed, the M 1000 R’s top speed is 174 mph, while this will race on to over 189 mph. And BMW did think about stopping from those high speeds. Both motorcycles get what BMW calls M Brakes, which are brakes that Motorrad says were developed from experience in the Superbike World Championship. You can option the motorcycle with more road-friendly pads or pads for the track.
On the M 1000 RR, you get a carbon fiber brake cooling duct said to reduce brake temps by 50 degrees during track use.
If the horsepower figures seem odd to you, it may be because you’re not in America. Global versions of the M 1000 R are rated for 210 HP while the M 1000 RR gets 212 HP. It’s unclear why the U.S. versions will have less power. Either way, both of these sound like some serious fun. And of course, you get a myriad of control systems, including wheelie control, so you can be a hooligan if you want.
The M 1000 R starts at $21,345 while the M 1000 RR starts at $32,995. Their base models cost $13,945 and $17,895, respectively. Both have a $695 Destination charge that you can tack onto the price. And expect to see them hitting the road in January 2023. It still blows my mind that today you can buy something for well less than 50 large that will get you knocking on the door of or past 200 mph. I’d love to try one of these out one day.
(Photo Credits: BMW Motorrad)
[Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly quoted the horsepower figure as “295 HP” in the title. The real figure is 205 HP as indicated in the story body. The error has been corrected and I regret the error.]
Given this is an inline 4, does that mean it is a distant descendent of the original K bike? I ask because I was the owner of a first year run of the K100R that already went like stink! Imagine 152 mph (indicated) on the A-7 autobahn in 1984!
Those K-bikes had the motor sitting longitudinally. Most I-4 bikes, including those in this article, are transverse.
I doubt there’s much in common between the two.
This seems like an entirely respectable way to die. 205hp at that weight is just scary, humans dont have the reaction time to mess with anything like that on public roads.
That’s twice what my car makes, and probably less than a quarter of the weight. Sounds terrifying to me.
You spelt exhilarating wrong,.
“fighting the aerodynamic drag that causes weight to lift off of a motorcycle’s front wheel.”
Sorry no. It’s using aerodynamic downforce to fight the torque from acceleration that lifts the front wheel. I still love you tho.
Yeah that too probably but the wind would absolutely want to lift the front wheel up when you inevitably go way to fast on this thing.
I need the 1000rr to go to starbucks extra fast
Finally, a not-ugly BMW!
Just wondering how you hang on to a naked bike at 174 MPH. Hide behind the gauges and don’t ever lift your head to look I guess?
(Am still of the opinion that anything over 50 HP is a waste.)
I DO think your enthusiast vehicle should give you a little room to learn/grow as a rider/driver, but everything is so ludicrously overpowered now people have a ridiculously overinflated sense of their own abilities, when it’s the computer doing all the work. I watched many,many a squid eat shit with 100 hp, I find it hard to believe that 20 years later they can all magically flog a 180 hp bike. I promise they all still have chicken strips.
You’re spot on.
I had a very short infatuation with sport bikes in the 90’s. Being a 6’5” man, I didn’t fit on them but still loved them.
After one session on Casers Head SC, on a borrowed ZX-7r, where I pushed my limits, I knew I could never handle it. I was done. Full stop.
It’s scary to think anybody with a down payment and decent credit can get ahold of these bikes. Yeesh.
Biscuits!! I apologize for the title error, everyone. I could have sworn that I submitted it to the edit pile with “205 HP” in the title. Even my local draft (that has a slightly different headline) on my computer shows a 0. Maybe I messed it up when I made the last second headline change.
Again, I apologize for such a blunder of a mistake. It has been corrected!
All good, we were all just loving poking a little fun at you. Keep up the good work and looking forward to your next article!
It was pretty obviously a typo, however it was fun to run with and try to extend for humor.
Have a good rest of the weekend.
“Biscuits?” I almost fell out of my chair! When I was young everyone said, “Son of a biscuit eater.” Even grown ups. To see it condensed to one word was hilarious. I will allow your fifty language in exchange for more motorcycle content. Pay back is a biscuit.
This was one of my G’pa favorite expletive/descriptor for anyone who was a bit on the shady side, like the used car dealer that sold him a 1952 Nash. Nuff said!
If I had to guess, I think she is quoting Bandit Heeler from the hit mega-show Bluey
My 20th century was showing.
Still not fixed as of 11:46 EST Saturday.
Torch was right, this place does really slow down on weekends. I hope they’re enjoying getting all greasy wrenching or apple picking or pickling newts or whatever they all do weekends.
I saw a motorcycle on a track and clicked without reading the title.
Have rider aids progressed to the point that your average rider can get anything but bragging rights from these bikes? On one hand, $32K for a turn key track toy isn’t all that outrageous, but I find it hard to believe there are that many riders who are held back by a regular old literbike and would benefit from this added performance. I’m old, but my experience has almost always been that there’s a point where a faster, more powerful vehicle will actually slow you down. 500cc dirt bikes vs. 250s was a perfect example.
Aids help but if you are slow you are slow and will find out quickly if you are on the track
Its bragging rights, my old Yamaha with 100HP was plenty quick and fast
Sooo.. what’s with the 295HP? Clickbait ? Simple mistake?Did i miss something?I cant find any mention of this elsewhere.
Anyways it’s always good to see BMWs halo machines.I’m old enough to remember their strange self-imposed 100HP limit
Just nine and zero being right next to each other. Mercedes obviously didn’t proof the title before posting. I can see myself doing the same thing.
It’s actually kinda weird that zero isn’t right next to one since it’s less than one. Keyboards are weird I guess.
“BMW’s New M 1000 R And RR Superbikes Are 295 HP Wheelie Machines”
I thought they’d sprouted a blower at 295 horses!
Sounds about right, the M edition supercharger package adds 90 hp