2019 BMW S 1000 RR FIRST REVIEW
FIRST REVIEW
P62
an event I'd been eagerly awaiting
especially after riding the fabulous
carbon-framed BMW HP4 RACE
version of the previous S 1000
RR there two years ago. But one
reason there are so many golf
courses in Portugal is that it rains
there so much except in summer,
and sure enough our early spring
day there proved to be a washout,
with damp patches on the hard-
to-read new tarmac compromis-
ing my first 20-minute session
on treaded Bridgestones, before
increasingly heavy rain then set in.
This deprived us of learning much
about the bike, beyond how effec-
tive the Rain version is of the four
RBW digital riding modes included
in the new BMW's Bosch ECU.
Still, the weather meant Dr. Sch-
ramm could experience rain tires
for the first time ever in a lifetime
of motorcycling—kudos to the new
(since April 2018) boss of BMW
Motorrad for donning his wet suit
and splashing around with the rest
of us, then becoming all excited
about getting his knee down in the
rain for the first time!
But in truth, the rain was doubly
frustrating, because it prevented
me from experiencing the full bene-
This greater sense of being at one with the bike definitely
made it more confidence inspiring out
