BMW Motorcycles For Racing
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- 18-10-2022
Are you interested in BMW Motorcycles for racing? We look at BMW Motorrad sports motorcycles and the achievements of BMW sports motorcycles in racing competitions.
BMW Bikes for Racing
The name BMW and the word racing often go hand in hand. The company is known for its long line of winners when it comes to car racing. But they have also been a backbone in motorbike racing for some time now as well. BMW regularly enter its motorbikes in the Dakar Rally. The annual car, truck and motorbike race runs through Europe and into Africa. It is a gruelling race that tends to leave most vehicles broken in some part of the desert or another.
The race has featured many famous riders over the years including Simon Pavey and motorcycling celebrity Charley Boorman. Despite the harsh conditions of the race, BMW Motorrad motorcycles have won the Dakar Rally six times. In 2007, BMW Motorrad announced its entry in to the 2009 Superbike World Championship Season. The team were racing the S1000RR. The 2009 team was known as Team Alpha BMW and included Spanish rider Ruben Xaus and Australian rider Troy Corser. In the 2010 season Corser and Xaus where joined on the track by Team Reitwagen BMW riders Andrew Pitt and Roland Resch who were also riding the S1000RR.
The teams in the Superbike World Championship are yet to score a riders championship. But we are sure that the legacy that BMW have created for themselves will land them a victory soon. If they can win in the desert then a track win should only be a matter of time!
BMW'S Motorcycle Racing History
BMWs have competed successfully in World Championships ever since 1924 when the original R32 boxer won its first hill climb. Following that, they secured nine consecutive German Championships.
Since then, BMWs have conquered everything from the Senior TT to the US Superbike Championship via Grands Prix (MotoGP) and the Dakar Rally. BMW's motorcycles are supplied in different models such as Sport, Tour, Roadster, Heritage, Adventure and Urban Mobility.
World's Fastest Motorcyclist
BMW's original champion was Ernst Henne, best known for a sequence of record-breaking runs, earning him the unofficial title of 'World's Fastest Motorcyclist'. Ernst Henne set an incredible 76 world records, starting in 1929 when he recorded a two-way average of 134.6mph across the flying mile on an autobahn near Munich. He won the prestigious Targa Florio road racing over the mountain hairpins of Sicily, and his first record-breaking bike was a 750cc Boxer, that's speed was boosted by a supercharger, half-fairing and by its rider's gear.
Senior TT
The 1939 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy were the last races until 1947 due to the interruption of WWII. German competitor Georg Meier won the Senior TT race on a BMW supercharged 500CC Type 255 motorcycle. The '39 TT actually started disastrously for BMW when one of their riders, Karl Gall, was killed in a practice crash.
But Meier took the lead from the beginning and won comfortably ahead of his British teammate Jock West. When World War II began just three months later, Meier hid his special edition TT-winning bike inside a haystack. He later recovered it and returned to the Island in 1989, half a century after his victory, to ride it in a parade lap.
Island Games
BMW's Helmut Dahne was undeniably the ultimate sports-touring rider of the 70s. Dahne tuned his R90S himself, rode it from Munich to the Island, and finished third in the Production TT. He then rode it back home. Dahne returned for the Production TT in 1976, teamed up with compatriot Hans-Otto Butenuth. Dahne and Butenuth ended up winning the ten-lap 1,000cc Production TT, although the race's handicap system put them fifth overall, behind 250cc bikes that had completed one lap fewer.
The Rennsport
The 1954 BMW Rennsport RS54 was one of the first racing motorcycle designs to leave Germany post World War II, as the FIM had only just re-allowed German machines into their events.
The BMW engineers wasted absolutely no time producing some extraordinary new vehicles with two wheels. The BMW Rennsport RS54 was a 286lb DOHC racing machine that generated an impressive 45hp from its boxer-twin.
The front suspension was assembled under license from Englishman Ernie Earles, whose iconic "Earles fork" design was arguably the most advanced available at the time. It is thought that BMW built only 24 of these bikes between 1953 and 1954, although it isn't known how many RS54s are still in existence today; however, most estimates put the number at somewhere between 15 to 18.
Paris-Dakar
BMWs have been improbably prosperous off-road since BMW Motorrad's designer/racer Rudolph Schleicher rode his new R37 boxer to a Gold Medal in 1926 at the International Six Days Trial. Countless more wins followed, but the results that excelled BMW's reputation most significantly was their four Paris-Dakar victories in the 80s. These wins were magnificent due to the size of the bikes and the Dakar event's new high publicity value.
In 1981, BMW's first winner was Frenchman Hubert Auriol, whose colossal 798cc boxer, based on the recently launched R80 G/S, produced 55bhp and had an impressive 42-litre steel petrol tank. Auriol won again two years later, with a 980cc, 72bhp twin carrying 48 litres of gas.
The 1985 and '86 wins by triple motocross world champion Gaston Rahier were impressive with his 1,015cc GS. BMW quit the Dakar, however, following a disastrous 1986 race during which a helicopter crash killed creator Thierry Sabine. BMW returned some years later with trick RR versions of the F650 single. Frenchman Richard Sainct won in 1999 and again in 2000 when he led a BMW sweep of the top four places.
Superbikes
BMW S1000RR is a racing sportbike built to compete in the 2009 Superbike World Championship. BMW attacking Japan head-on by entering World Superbikes with a 1,000cc transverse four super-sports bike is arguably the most ambitious decision in their history. The S1000RR was created to be the most powerful and lightest bike in the class, with a target of 190bhp and a wet weight of 190kg.
Best BMW Sports Bikes
BMW motorbikes have continued to stand out in the luxury marketplace by offering dynamic experiences while maintaining a high degree of refinement. Products from BMW Motorrad bring equal amounts of sportiness, aptitude and indulgence, with a focus on safety and accessibility. Constant innovation has made them among the most successful in the industry. For example, the innovative HP4 Race, the first stock motorcycle globally to have a complete carbon chassis and rims.
S 1000 RR
This BMW Motorrad bike has unbridled power with a maximum torque of 113 Nm at 11,000 rpm, 152 kW (207 HP) and a torque curve of at least 100 Nm over a range of 5,500 to 14,500. Ten years after the first generation RR, this is the next level with considerably less weight and noticeably higher performance. The S 1000 RR is undoubtedly a high-performance motorcycle. The frame layout has new suspension technology, making the RR lighter and more precise.
R 1250 RS
The BMW R 1250 RS provides a rich 143 Nm torque and 100 kW (136 hp) of the new boxer engine to accelerate riders even faster. The innovative BMW Motorrad ShiftCam technology offers more torque and remarkable elasticity over the complete speed range. The redesigned front gives the full-LED headlight a crisp, sporty appearance and turns aerodynamically into the wind allowing fast and comfortable riding at any time.
M 1000 RR
With exceptional performance, high-tech materials, impeccable quality artistry, the M 1000 RR is the first M model from BMW Motorrad. Its make-up directly derives from professional racing. This bike offers polished racing technology for the highest performance requirements in motorsport.
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