When BMW decided to take on the Japanese in their own back yard, and give it to ’em “right in the chops” with the fabulous S1000RR superbike, did you think they were finished? The 600 class is next.
It is beyond the rumor stage that BMW is readying a supersport class little brother to the S1000RR that could debut as early as this fall. Reportedly, BMW has already hired at least one test rider to work on a supersport racer based on the production machine.
As we pointed out on December 16, the S1000RR bests its nearest competitor on the dyno by nearly 10 percent. Could it do the same in the 600 class? That would be a tougher task, in our opinion, because the rev ceiling for existing 600s is already approaching the limits of normal, commercially viable valve control systems. To get that kind of power out of a 600, BMW would probably need the stock machine to redline at close to 18,000 RPM. Nevertheless, expect BMW to settle for nothing less that best-in-class performance.
It all boils down to BMW’s direction, whether they want to tap into the Supersports market or not.But I think it should be a good opportunity. It’s about time for the Italian marques (Piaggio group, MV Agusta, Benelli) also. Possibly one way for BMW to minimise the investment cost is, to make the Supersport machine virtually identical to the 1000RR on the outside, except the engine displacement. Ducati has been doing that for years.
I thought that the point was that there was not much difference in the cost of making a 600 and a 1000. It’s the same production process with the same number of parts. There’s not much cost savings to having 600-pistons that are a fraction of an inch smaller than 1000-pistons.
Ah! They said that in the release.
i don’t understand, the zx-6r has been available for ages! 😉
BMW officially denies S600RR on the way:
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/New-bikes/2010/April/may0510-bmw-officially-denies-s600rr/