BMW wheels out its very biggest guns to the Aussie press in an epic trip to take on Tassie’s challenging tarmac
How do you test four different bikes at once? Easy. Deploy them all to Tasmania. In Australian terms Tasmania is motorcycling heaven. Endless good-quality roads, enough twisties to keep you amused for days, and amazing scenery. It seems BMW agrees, recently holding a press launch of four new models there.
In the platoon of bikes to test were the 1000cc triplets of the S 1000 XR, S 1000 R, and the insane S 1000 RR. Added into that mix was the sergeant major of touring bikes, the K 1600 GT. BMW provided the option to ride the old model as a direct comparison to the new model. All the new models included the addition of a Euro 4 Emission-class engine, a few more horsepower and Dynamic Traction Control (DTC). In the case of the S 1000 XR, this is all that differed from the old model — well that and a new colour scheme.
Now while these upgrades are actually significant changes, they might be easily overlooked — that is unless you put the old model and the new model side by side. So that is exactly what they did. This was going to require a planned strategy. First ride the old, then hop straight over to the new. Well, that was the plan anyway.
It’s no secret that I’m not a knee down sports bike rider, so when I found myself first up on the S 1000 RR, I have to admit my heart skipped a beat. I had been hoping to ease myself into the two days of testing on the S 1000 XR, but hey, when you’re presented with the opportunity to ride a “double R” you take it, right?
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Esta historia es de la edición July 2017 de Australian Road Rider.
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