A SPY shot of BMW’s next-generation S1000RR has emerged on the cover of Germany’s Motorrad magazine showing an almost completely new bike.
While the engine appears to be based on the existing four-cylinder – already making 199hp and likely to breach 200hp next year – the chassis and styling are new. Still using a beam frame, it’s even possible that the new bike will adopt the carbon-fibre technology of the HP4 Race, although perhaps only in a high-spec derivative initially. From Motorrad's cover it’s hard to tell the frame’s material, although it’s certainly a carbon shade of black with a bright aluminium section at the swingarm pivot.
Unusually, the bike also adopts a new swing-arm with its bracing underneath rather than above the main arm. It’s a popular layout in racing but rarely used on modern road bikes as the under-braced arm tends to get in the way of the large exhaust collector box. Such a box is visible on the prototype, but it’s shaped to make space for the new swing-arm.
Styling-wise, the prototype is clearly not finished – we doubt that the headlight design is final – but it seems the lights have been moved lower on the nose, below the ridge that deflects wind around the bars. That’s in line with the latest styling trends, with bikes like the Ducati Panigale, Yamaha’s R1 and R6 and Honda’s CBR250RR all sporting similarly low-mounted headlights. We’d still expect to see BMW opting for its signature lopsided look on the finished version.
Motorrad’s sources are also claiming that BMW is prepping a new generation of Boxer twin, presumably to appear in future incarnations of the R1200GS, R1200R and R1200RT. With a 1250cc capacity and variable valve timing, such changes will help the firm remain competitive against the likes of Ducati, which already has VVT on its Multistrada and XDiavel and plans to up the Multistrada’s capacity to 1262cc next year.
