On the Level — Intel & News

Schuberth C3 Helmet System wins "Best of OTL" for 2010.
(3/26/11)
OTL reviewed the Schuberth C3 Helemt System in the January/February issue of On The Level. We liked the helmet. We liked it so much we awarded it the 2010 Product of the year, the "Best of OTL". Schuberth North America was pretty happy about that. You can check it out on their website under "Schuberth News" which quotes editor Will Guyan and Sarah Schilke, Schuberth North America's Marketing and PR Manager. They have also inlucded a link to a reprint of the article. Great Stuff!

Motorcyclist magazine: S1000RR Motorcycle of the year
(10/19/10)
Motorcyclist magazine has proclaimed the S1000RR Motorcycle Of The Year -“the all-new superbike that has turned the status quo upside down”. And, they have named BMW’s General Director, Hendrik von Kuenheim “Motorcyclist Of The Year”. A few years ago, none of this was even thinkable. BMW was an altogether different company. But the new superbike has changed all that forever, winning test after test all year long, and being the first bike to include ground-breaking formula 1 tech that just blows the rest of the market away entirely power-wise. Tech-wise, the integrated 4 part ABS and seamless traction control have changed the game forever. Sneaking up in the podium, the WSBK team is right where they expected to be in their second year, learning all the mystical variables such as how to make a spec tire (everybody uses the same ones) last all race long while not leaving your precious, sticky compound in every corner and having nothing left for the last 3rd of the race, etc.

Motorcycle.com: S1000RR Motorcycle of the year
(10/19/10)
Motorcycle.com Motorcycle of the Year! “After years of incremental increases in performance among sportbikes, along comes a fresh player to shake things up in the liter bike world in a way we haven’t seen for more than a decade when the Yamaha R1 debuted. BMW stepped into the fray against long-established Japanese players which have been building big transverse inline-Fours for decades.But the German brand came out swinging with a stupendous 175-plus horsepower at its rear wheel, blowing its Asian veterans out of the water by resetting a very high bar.The potential of BMW’s RR is best displayed in the World Superstock championship (closer to stock than World Superbike) where it has gone undefeated and has already wrapped up the class title. For fundamentally changing the liter-size sportbike class, BMW’s ferocious yet refined S1000RR deserves our Motorcycle of the Year award.

This leap in power is momentous on its own, but at least as impressive is the S1000RR’s retail price of $13,800, marginally costlier than the Japanese competitors, and much cheaper than anything from Europe.And if you ante up an extra $1,480, the Beemer gets endowed with a sophisticated electronics package that includes traction control, ABS and selectable-on-the-fly engine mapping modes.Its surplus of power and state-of-the-art electronics combine with a sure-footed chassis and enviable brakes to create a mind-bending sporting package that stands out as the most impressive motorcycle of 2010.

(10/19/10)
All your fears about BMW not staying the course were unfounded. Please don’t confuse the errant steps taken trying new (now discontinued) models for a season or two, and deciding not to remain in MotoST racing with the glorious Uber Boxer HP2 Sport with quitting.BMW have a lot more up their engineers’ sleeves that we can even guess in our pedestrian minds.The past year has been a whirlwind for BMW, and they are achieving exactly what they set out to do, take a piece of the superbike (1,000cc) market and dominating it using their considerable experience over the last 85-odd years. Wunderbahr!

As to Von Kuenheim, the guy worked his way up from a sales trainee position in San Fran to orchestrating the most significant change to the company in its history.He flies a helicopter, rides the piste out of the bikes he manufactures (as do all the BMWNA honchos as well), and has his fingers on exactly the info he needs to remain on top, bringing his beloved marque into the forefront of the most serious superbike machinery ever imagined on terra- 1198S, R1, GSXR, et al.  Kudos to BMW. Enough said!

Robert deBoer
(10/19/10)
On a sad note - Robert deBoer - the Swiss gent on the cover of the Dec. ‘09 OTL  died of heart failure in late July. Even though he was 80, this was completely unexpected as he appeared in excellent health, took good care of himself, and his parents were in their 90's when they passed away. He was organizing the Mosel tour. Contributing Editor Bob Stokstad had an e-mail from him the day before he died. We're all in a state of shock. God speed, Robert!
(Bob Stokstad photo)

Michelin Pro Series
(10/19/10)
The Michelin Pro Series was met with near record heat and humidity as the series set out to qualify in the late afternoon at Thunderbolt Raceway in NJ. The air temperature was still at 96°and 60% humidity when the first of four qualifying sessions hit the 2.25 mile-14 turn circuit.

The Superstock pole was all Nate Kern as the BMW of Manhattan Motorcycles rider posted his best lap of 1:25.278 on lap 3 besting the second place qualifier by 7 tenths of a second. The DAS Performance Suzuki 1000 of Shane Narbonne qualified second with a solid 1:26.020 followed by Timothy Bemisderfer of Greencastle PA on another BMW S1000RR. Rounding out the front row it was Bob Michael of Centreville MD on his KTM RC8R.

Dean Lear
(10/19/10)
Congratulations to Dean Lear, somewhere in the wilds of Arizona, for acquiring a most strikingly beautiful Boxer.  Now all Dean’s important motorcycles have red seats!

More awards
(10/19/10)
In its debut year, the BMW S 1000 RR superbike has earned three superlative awards from the U.S. media. Robb Report named the BMW S 1000 RR the best sportbike in its annual “Best of the Best” issue in June. In July, Cycle World followed suit by awarding the BMW S 1000 RR “Best Superbike for 2010”; and in the September issue of Motorcyclist, editors chose the BMW S 1000 RR for its coveted “Motorcycle of the Year” Award.

According to editors of the Robb Report, “the BMW S 1000 RR is perhaps the greatest motorcycle-branding success story of the last 10 years.  From the moment that the S 1000 RR made the leap from the drafting board to the showroom floor, the sportbike transformed existing perceptions of the Bavarian brand, winning over a new generation of enthusiasts.”

Cycle World editors offered similar praise after test riding the bike at Spain’s Aragon racetrack, commenting “On the road in our own little fiesta of speed, we found it almost as refined and comfortable as the established superbike players. And just to rub it in, the base-model BMW is actually a bit cheaper than some of its Japanese equivalents…As both an introductory effort and a portent of that it’s likely unleashed in the marketplace, the BMW’s the most beautiful thing to blow out of Bavaria since Beethoven.”

MotoGP rumors
(10/19/10)
At the Brno round of MotoGP, rumors began circulating that Gresini Honda's Marco Melandri will head to World Superbike in 2011 for one season before returning to MotoGP in 2012 with a prospective BMW team. BMW in MotoGP? They already have a splendid production-based engine – the S1000RR with close to 200 rwhp. The rules for 2012 have changed, allowing BMW to consider this hyper race series, because they already have the almost fully developed, production-based race bike competing in WSB.

BMW Motorrad USA promotion
(10/19/10)
BMW Motorrad USA is launching a promotion to help our active-duty servicemen and women ride more safely. Active military personnel who purchase a new BMW S 1000 RR from August 19, 2010 until December 31, 2010, will receive a free safety package including Race ABS  & Dynamic Traction Control worth $1,480 from BMW Motorrad USA. 

The number of accidents, injuries, and deaths among US military personnel has been an issue of great concern throughout the U.S. armed forces. BMW Motorrad USA’s performance riding training partner the California Superbike School (CSS) is actively involved in providing training to the U.S. Marine Corps to help reduce the number of Marines that are injured and killed in motorcycle accidents. 

This year, CSS switched from rival 600 Supersport motorcycles to the BMW S 1000 RR. Despite having 80 more horsepower, the number of student crashes on track has declined by 58%. While the tracks, training, and students haven’t changed, the safety features of the S 1000 RR have led to a significant reduction in accidents.

To show our gratitude and appreciation to our men and women in uniform for their service to our country BMW now offers them our safety package on the S 1000 RR for free. The result will be safer riders, fewer accidents and greater protection against harm to those who protect us.

Siebenrock dry clutch
(10/19/10)
Long distance and touring riders know it well: all it takes is a few drops of oil to reach the friction disc, and the conventional dry clutch is a goner.BMW specialist Siebenrock and ERB Motorentechnik out of Germany think they’ve solved the dilemma by developing a new dry clutch which reportedly is fully operational even in a bath of oil. “With this Siebenrock innovation installed, the trip can continue safely even with oil in the clutch,” said Jochen Siebenrock, announcing the new product. “Just remember to top up that leak till it is repaired.”

The patented friction disc has been extensively tested on the racetrack and demonstrated that it can transfer much higher torque than original parts, even under extreme stress, claims Siebenrock. Its organic coating enables a soft response and more accurate behavior. When installed with the Siebenrock engine kit, the new clutch offers gains of 2 to 4 hp or more, the company said. “With a normal riding style, our new clutch will often last a full motorcycle lifetime,” Siebenrock stated.  The clutch is available in the United States through Eurotech Motorsports, Chico, Calif.

www.siebenrock.com/en/siebenrock/news/2010-oilresistant-clutch.html

Step away from the Hello Kitty decals!
(10/19/10)
Motorcycle dealers are making a mistake if they try to market to women with pink leathers and other “feminized” products, according to the editor of the U.K.-published CAP Green Book.

Alan Elsworth says the most successful female-friendly dealers focus on safety and practicality rather than fashion, and that research consistently suggests that treating women differently is a mistake that could hold back attempts to grow the female biking fraternity beyond its current estimated 10 to 15 percent of the market.

"A typical example of the desire among women to be treated on an equal footing came from a dealer contact recently who was selling to a married couple who were both starting out as riders. After making sensible bike choices, under the expert guidance of dealer staff, they were then pointed to riding kit and offered professional safety information. But when the dealer suggested the woman check out the "ladies gear" her immediate response was to ask if there was anything available non-pink,” he writes in the latest edition of Green Book.

F800R
(10/19/10
OTL has it on good authority that the F800R -- the standard variant of the F800 platform -- will be available in the U.S. as a 2011 model. The bike shares many of the key design elements of the F800 series, including the liquid-cooled parallel twin engine, conventional forks, and gas tank under the seat (with filler nozzle located conveniently on the seat flanks). The F800R, however, sports standard-style handlebars, a tiny cowling above the instrument panel, chain drive, and 17" cast wheels front and rear. ABS is available, of course. The bike has already achieved some serious competition credentials, being the preferred mount of BMW-sponsored, multi-time world champion freestyle stunt rider Christian Pfeiffer. The F800R has also received some recent accolades in the latest issue of England's Bike magazine, handily winning a comparison test of 750-800cc standards. Bike lauded the F800R's balance of virtues, calling out its powerful and efficient engine for particular praise. Bike's testers strongly preferred the BMW to the Ducati Monster 796, the Kawasaki Z-750, and the Yamaha FZ8 also on test. OTL looks forward to riding the bike, and we'll bring you our impressions as soon as we do.