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What's German for "bargain?" BMW S 1000 RR superbike to be priced close to Japanese competition
BMW S 1000 RR - Click above for a high-res image gallery
The street-going version of BMW's upcoming S 1000 RR is scheduled to debut at the World Superbike race on May 29th at Miller Motorsports Park. That's exciting news in and of itself, but we're especially intrigued after hearing that the German manufacturer plans to price the premium machine within spitting distance of its Japanese rivals.
"We intend to take the four Japanese head-on. We did not intend to build a motorcycle like Ducati does or KTM does. We wanted to build a mainstream motorcycle," says Pieter de Waal, Vice President of BMW Motorrad USA. That would put the price of the BMW well under that of other European superbikes like the Ducati 1198 or KTM RC8.
The figure we've been hearing is that the S 1000 RR will be priced within 10% of the Japanese liter bikes, which would put the German machine at around $15,000, but we're not likely to know for certain for at least the next few weeks. Still, consider our interest piqued.
Gallery: BMW S 1000 RR streetbike
Gallery: BMW S 1000 RR race livery
[Source: Dealernews via Asphalt and Rubber]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
martin.hesse 9:49AM (4/19/2009)
You say "Schnäppchen"...
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Stephan 9:42AM (4/19/2009)
OH MY !!!
_IF_ that pricing strategy comes through _AND_ it performs well, they might - JUST MIGHT - have a chance at breaking into the supersport market.
-Stephan
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Beastage 5:48AM (4/20/2009)
I don't think they will break anything, with all due respect to BMW, the Japanese bikes are kings in the segment, BMW have to price theirs accordingly.
BMW are more known with tourers.
R Nair 8:05AM (4/20/2009)
I'm not sure about tourer market either, look at Honda Goldwing and Yamaha FJR 1300. Brilliant vehicles in their segments. Does BMW have anything more than price tags and badges to match these?
RMc 10:25AM (4/19/2009)
I'll believe it when I see it but very promising. It's hard to imagine that BMW could build a machine as cost efficient as the big four from Japan. Of course, this doesn't mean much anymore when Japanese liter bikes now cost $12,500. I can see BMW splitting the difference at around $14-14.5k.
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Jeff Banks 2:23PM (4/19/2009)
For the record, BMW is moving a lot of their engine production to China so they can compete on the same scale as their Japanese counterparts.
Affalterbach 4:03PM (4/19/2009)
@Jeff
High-performance motorbikes like these are speciality-made in very low volumes. Switching their entire assembly/tooling/low volume- parts to China might not be feasible.
But then again, who knows....
IOMTT 7:18PM (4/20/2009)
It may be close in MSRP, but wait until the bills from the shop roll in. All in all, not a bad looking bike.
Soccer Mom 10:31AM (4/19/2009)
Even if it turns out to be not the case, K1300S is still there.
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Gary 10:34AM (4/19/2009)
One thing to keep in mind is that WSBK rules allow extreme modifications for inline 4's while Twins need to run much closer to stock. Unlike the 1098R, the engine of the WSBK version of this bike likely isn't even close to the stock engine.
That, combined with the fact that they are struggling to crack the top 20 in WSBK would make it pretty ballsy for them to charge much more than several thousand dollars over their more successful competition.
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gary 10:37AM (4/19/2009)
oops I meant to say "top 10" not top 20, sorry.
Cynic 2:26PM (4/19/2009)
I think it's way to early to be judging the bike on it's race merits. We've only had 3 races so far and for a new team they're doing pretty well. If at the end of the season they're still struggling to finish in the top 10 then we can start questioning the bikes merits. However even if this is the case... Kawasaki hasn't had a bike in the top 10 in the past couple of years... and people still buy them.
ken_aisin 10:57AM (4/19/2009)
Just marked it down on my retirement gift wish list.
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ken_aisin 11:01AM (4/19/2009)
I'm profoundly grateful that BMW bikes don't come with a Bangle butt and the flame surfacing design.
Metar 11:26AM (4/19/2009)
No no, on the bikes, the rider decides which butt it is. Unless it's Chris Bangle riding. :P
Camicia 1:05PM (4/19/2009)
At least now I know how to say R6 in German....
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Dan 1:06PM (4/19/2009)
Damn. Why couldn't they decide to compete with the Japanese on a bike I actually want, like an 800GS? I'd buy one of those in an instant if it were reasonably priced.
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john 1:42PM (4/19/2009)
European stuff has always been overpriced. Not that it any better than its Japan counterparts. It's about time they're being smart to attract buyers. Hasn't they taken economics 101? Look at the Japanese industry and just copy them. Reliability+Reasonable price = win.
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JeremyClarkson 2:12PM (4/19/2009)
Geez... what a nice looking mobile!
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Gary 2:16PM (4/19/2009)
Dan, I couldn't agree more. One thing the world doesn't need is another inline 4 literbike, but how many light-weight, high performance parallel twins are on the market?
A performance variation of the 800 platform is something I'd like to see on the race-track and in my garage.
The new AMA Daytona Sportbike series would be a perfect format for a bike like that. They'd have to pump the engine up to make it competitive, but I'll bet they could be competitive for a much lower investment than required for WSBK.
The V4 Aprilia really seems to be something. I'd be much more interested in one of those (even for a higher price) than the BMW Superbike, but BMW would get my attention with an 800 race bike.
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