Rennie Scaysbrook | August 1, 2016
Introducing our latest Long-Term testbike, the all-capable, all-conquering BMW S 1000 XR.
Big Sur meets the BMW S 1000 XR! It’s views like this that make you glad you ride motorcycles.
We’ve been trying to get a BMW S 1000 XR for a while now, because we were so impressed with it on the North American press launch last year in Canada. The planets have finally aligned to the point we have one in the CN shop for the next couple of months.
Before we start ripping into modifications, it was time to throw some miles at the Beemer. So we saddled up for a four-day blast up to Monterey and Laguna Seca for the latest round of the World Superbike Championship. Our route took us up through Ojaj, Taft and then back across to San Luis Obispo on day one, before I had to leg it up to the track for Friday qualifying. That meant I missed the riding through Big Sur, a total bummer as I’d still yet to ride through that iconic playground since relocating to America.
This wrong was righted however on the return trip, and aside from being one of the most spectacular roads in America, it is absolutely made for big, fast tourers like the S 1000 XR.
With full panniers, GPS, heated grips, Gear Shift Assist Pro that allows for clutchless up and down shifts and a retuned superbike engine at its beckon call, the Beemer and I had an absolute blast carving up the roads, the salt air from the Cali coastline filling my lungs and the Beemer’s cylinders.
Gear Shift Assist Pro is a feature every bike should have!
From that 1000 mile round trip, two things have so far stood out that require fixing.
The first is the vibrations that come through the handlebars. I said in my launch report that I was starting to get a bit of a numb hand after a while on constant throttle due to the vibes. Well, this is something that must be stopped. The vibes are pretty bloody annoying. A colleague of mine alerted me to Krauser Engine Bars from Wunderlich that are technically crash protection but apparently stop the vibrations going through the frame and thus to your hands and feet. So this is something we’ll be investigating. Hopefully I’ll have an answer to the vibes BMW S 1000 XR owners complain about.
The second is something that did not come up in the launch. The screen height in its high setting deflects the wind right into my brain and makes for an ungodly racket. On the launch near Lake Muskoka in Canada, we didn’t really get up to much high-speed riding – thus the wind deflection issue didn’t really come to the fore. I actually said in the video I thought the screen height was the correct one — how wrong I was. Riding the Beemer on California’s highways, however, has highlighted this plight. So I’ll be hunting around for either a taller screen. Or I may just take it off all together.
We also have some new Pirelli Rosso 3 tires coming and I’m hoping to see 5000 miles out a set. Fingers crossed!
We’ll check back in a few weeks and hopefully we’ll have killed the buzz that’s the nemesis of 1000 XR riders the globe over.
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