IN
THE
WIND
P52
BMW Developing Electric-
Supercharged Superbike
B
MW is forging ahead with
an electric-supercharger
for their S 1000 RR superbike,
patents in Germany reveal.
Unearthed by UK journalist
Ben Purvis at UK website Bike-
social, the electric-supercharger
is a way for BMW to continue to
make class-leading superbike
power without the enormous
revs currently required, which
also leads to increased emis-
sions.
Unlike a traditional super-
charger that runs off the motor
like with Kawasaki's H2/H2R,
BMW's electric supercharger
uses a powerful electric motor to
drive the compressor that can be
charged when full performance
is not needed. It also means that
when the throttle is wide open
and the supercharger is work-
ing at maximum performance, it
won't sap any additional engine
power. And compared to a turbo,
the electric supercharger does
not create any lag (the time delay
from when you open the throttle
and finally get the power).
BMW's system is just a patent
at this stage, but as Purvis notes,
back in 2015 BMW patented the
idea of a carbon-fiber framed S
1000 RR that debuted in produc-
tion 18 months later in the HP
Race, and given the European
Union's ever-tightening emis-
sions laws currently strangling
small capacity/high performance
motors like those found in a
modern superbike, don't bet
against seeing BMW bring the
supercharged S 1000 RR to mar-
ket in the near future. CN
Will we see BMW bring a supercharged S 1000 RR to market? We sure hope so…
