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2010 Superbike Comparo
Motorcycle USA has published their 2010 Superbike Smackdown, pitting the top superbikes head-to-head on the track. for this year, the contenders were:
- HondaCBR1000RR
- Yamaha YZF-R1
- Kawasaki ZX-10R
- Suzuki GSX-R1000
- KTM RC8
- Aprilia RSV4
- BMW S1000RR
- Ducati 1198 S Corse Special Edition
Please make a note of the last bike listed. Ducati didn’t just bring a stock 1198 to the table, they produced the special racing edition ringer, probably in hopes of comparing well to the BMW S1000RR.
Nice try, but, apparently not quite enough, as the CBR1000RR took Second place honors, and the S1000RR edging past for 1st place. Ducati merely took 3rd.
Here are the scoring results:
BMW Is Serious About Sportbikes
BMW recently announced that the new S1000RR superbike would be available for sale to the public in January, at a price that makes it very competitive with Japan’s Big 4. Now, it appears that this was part of an intentional strategy to go after the Japanese market share in liter-bikes. And they’re confident enough in the new bike to predict a 20% increase in sales–even in this shaky economy–and to let the Japanese know that the Bavarians are taking aim at them.
“We are going to take the Japanese head-on,” said Pieter de Waal, vice president of the company’s U.S. motorcycle operations, at an event last week in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
The motorcycle’s introduction puts BMW into a niche — informally known as “crotch rockets” — dominated by Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha Motor Co. and the Kawasaki brand owned by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. The four Japan-based companies have 88 percent of U.S. market share in the superbike category, De Waal said. BMW’s offering will be priced at $13,800, close to the four most popular competing motorcycles.
While it’s always good to see Germans in a buoyantly confident mood, some observers say, “Not so fast”.
“For BMW, which has always had a reputation of being a very high-priced motorcycle, it’s certainly a lot closer to the Japanese bikes in price,” said David Edwards, Cycle World magazine’s editor in chief. “That may be for some people a reason to consider it, especially if its performance lives up to expectations. But I don’t think you are going to see a mass exodus of Japanese sportbike riders going to BMW.”
2010 BMW S1000RR Superbike
Perhaps, but a lot of the liter-bike guys are crazy for motorcycle racing, and if BMWs race version can show up the Japanese bikes on the track, it can’t do anything but help their sales. And releasing the bike for public sale here in the US allows them to meet the homologation rules for AMA Superbike, so I’d bet very good money that we’ll see a BMW race team hitting the tracks next season. If you really want to take on the Japanese–and the Italians, by the way–that’s the way to do it.
Although, having said that, Buell proved a few weeks ago that, while the AMA may have rules about homologation, they aren’t, you know, fanatics about them.