Peter Hickman Speaks To Alan Cathcart On The 2019 S1000RR

“Just what we’ve been asking for!”

- Alan Cathcart

Britain’s Peter Hickman, 31, is the undisputed King of the Roads, and the outgoing BMW S1000RR was the bike which allowed him to win three Macau GPs and, in 2018, both the Superstock TT in the Isle of Man, and the ultra-prestigious Senior TT. In that, he set the current outright lap record for the 37.73-mile TT Course of 135.452 mph (217.989 km/h) on the final lap, to win the six-lap 226-mile race on his Smiths BMW by just 2.06 sec. from Kawasakimounted Dean Harrison.

Peter has been one of BMW’s point men in developing the new version of the S1000RR, so who better to ask in assessing the difference between the two. As the rain beat down on the Estoril track – too wet even for TT winners to ride in! – we talked about the new S1000RR.

AC: Peter, how much is this bike different and is it any better than the previous model you won two TTs on last year, and the Macau GP?

PH: Wow, where do you even start?! The whole thing’s completely different, from the chassis, the engine, the riding position, to the way that they’ve produced the power all through the engine from the bottom all the way to the top. It’s a far more flexible motor thanks to the ShiftCam Technology. It’s a complete re-design, which mind you I think it was due for - the old bike was essentially 10 years old technically, so it was ready for it. OK, the 2018 bike was still a really strong piece of kit and it’s had revisions over the years, but in general, it was still a 2009 BMW. This is a totally new generation motorcycle.

AC: What was it you specifically asked for in redesigning the bike?