127 Hours With A BMW S1000XR

What Is The XR? the second generation BMW s1000 XR it's a luxury sports tourer with a comfortable upright riding position and plenty of wind protection but with sporty 17-in alloy wheels like a sport bike and a 1,000 C inline 4- cylinder engine resembling BMW Superbike motor out of the RR so it's trying to be as fast as a super bike and as comfortable as a tourer making it the perfect bike on paper but surely a lot of sacrifices had to be made to engineer such a crossover right so the question is is the XR suffering from an identity crisis or is this the perfect blend well to find out I get to spend the next 127 Hours with this German engineered Marvel thank you to insta 360 for Did I Make The Right Choice? sponsoring this video a while back I was actually shopping for one of these in fact one day there was an XR on auto trader that got so heavily discounted that I drove straight there to buy it but when I got there someone had beaten me to it by just a few minutes so a few days later I bought an R1 instead to stick it to BMW so I also want to know if I made the right choice or not well Immediate Quriks time will tell so this is a 2022 model but currently the XR starts at around 175,000 and this bike was actually lent to me by a friend thanks friend so as always let's start with a few immediate quirks I noticed on my ride home it's silky smooth the engine the suspension the quick shifter everything is buttery the dash is phenomenal the startup screen is just the cutest and it shows you a decent amount of data in a very tidy layout except you do have to go searching for coolant temp the rider seat is strange it's shaped to cup your buttock and I'm not sure I enjoy that level of intimacy the edges also dig into your thighs a bit when your feet are down the famous buzz in the handlebars at legal highway speeds on xov is a real thing so ride faster and finally it has this raspy scream near the rev limiter that is utterly brilliant one of the most fascinating Compromises things about motorcycles is what manufacturers do to them to make them the best they can possibly be at a specific task a bike bred for the racetrack requires a very different approach from one destined for touring so in BMW's efforts to try and blend those two worlds they've had to make some pretty interesting compromises along the way some are very easy decisions to make like the riding position a sportbike position is never comfortable but an upright position can be fast so the XR obviously got traditional handlebars instead of clipons and low foot pegs for comfort the wind screen is also a no-brainer having one is not going to take away from its sportiness but not having one would ruin it as a Touring bike but it also has things like rubber foot pegs that you'd never find on a sport bike a center stand that you'd never find on a sport bike and chain and sprockets that you'd never find on a tourer because you don't want on something you have to lube and adjust every few hundred miles and overall it's a pretty big bike because it's got to be able to cope with two passengers as well as luggage but it's still relatively small compared to a GS for example I can almost flat footed at 5'6 and it's easy enough to move around which was something I struggled with on my GS as you probably expected from BMW the Highway XR does exactly what it says on the tin on the highway it's ridiculously civilized it will happily sit at any speed you ask it to all while the handlebars are wide and comfortable so you don't get tired your legs are extended enough to never cramp and in Road suspension mode it irons out those unpleasant bumps the wind screen does a great job of keeping the wind off you too although this is not the standard screen it is however height adjustable there are two settings that are are very easily change between while riding with this little lever so when the wind starts to tickle the top of your helmet you just flick it into stage two if anything the XR is more comfortable than my desk because it also has heated grips with three settings that heat up within a minute and get uncomfortably hot although maybe that's just here in sunny South Africa and don't forget your bum is always held by that seat to make you feel safe but that can make shifting backwards and forwards a little weird back here it cups me and up front here are those edges that dig in so I really found the middle to be the most comfortable spot but judging by its Corners physical appearance I don't think its Highway performance is surprising at all it's when you get to the twistier stuff that you can engage its magic trick press this button down to click it into Dynamic suspension mode and then prod the Ry mode button to shift it into Dynamic Pro and it becomes a bikee an old man would despise the most important difference between an adventure bike and a sport bike in the corners usually has less to do with the riding position and more to do with suspension and that's where the exr's Adaptive suspension makes this type of crossover possible up front it's got electronic 45 m mazaki upside down forks and in the rear an electronic mazaki shock for such a tall bike it's insanely light on its feet and dances around effortlessly Dynamic suspension mode stiffens up the suspension and instantly makes the bike feel more like the sport bike BMW promised it would be the stiffness gives you the feedback required to enjoy the turns and really appreciate the sport bike derived engine Engine and we definitely need to talk about that engine BMW might enjoy marketing it as the s1000 R engine but it doesn't have shift cam like the RR and it's tuned very differently after all you'd expect it to do something like 60,000 m without any issues whereas you would not expect a Superbike to do that that being said it's no slouch it still makes 165 horsepower and 114 new meters of torque which is monstrous for a sports tourer this bike even has the beautiful acrich silencer with a gaying hole on the end to please your ears and all of the onboard shots you Insta360 see in this video are filmed in gorgeous 8K on the insta 360 X4 have you ever mounted a regular camera to your bike and then when you go back to watch the footage you get bored of the same monotonous angle within a few seconds well 360 cameras fix that issue you mount them once and then can reframe them to get multiple angles or look around in any direction never missing a thing they also save so much time setting them up while out riding because with 360 cameras you just stick them anywhere without worrying where they're pointing they automatically level The Horizon automatically get rid of the pole they were mounted to and you do all the framing after your ride from the comfort of your couch speaking of editing that's usually the worst part right but insta 360 just released new AI editing features to simplify this process in the AI tab it will analyze your footage to find key moments and angles for you and then let you reorder them or edit further if needed before exporting and now there are even presets in PR mode to get fancy camera movements with just a few clicks making editing 360 videos easier and faster than ever before so if you want effortless and awesome shots of your bike too order an X4 through my link down in the description and you'll get a free gift with your camera as well like lens Engine Continued guards being a BMW you get a handful of Ry modes too Like Rain Road Dynamic and dynamic Pro of which Dynamic Pro is the sportiest the only area this engine does ever disappoint is down low it just doesn't have that immediate grunt that low down talk that makes big displacement bikes so much fun around town shooting from light to light it's more like a super sport 600 in the sense that it really wants you to rev it out which is fun too just in a different Town Riding way this combination of nimble powerful and comfortable makes it the perfect commuter too it can run a tad hot around town but it takes care of it in the background with no complaints it's also tall so you can see far ahead in traffic and seems to have a demanding Road presence that cause respect for some reason but those autoc cancelling turn signals are brilliant 50% of the time and dangerous the other 50% the bigger the bike the less sexy it Styling is but the more handsome it becomes but with that being said I do think the XR pulls off the Macho look and even looks rather sleek especially in this triple black color scheme since they say black is slimming after all my favorite feature has got to be its beak sticking out here and the small symmetrical lights with angry running lights look awesome plus its big air intake lets you know it means business I also like that there is a decent amount of engine sticking out for us to look at and this flowing panel just looks cool there's also a little storage compartment here that is just big enough for the key I really like the idea but I wish you could fit a phone in it at the very least but the view you will see most often is this one and it's a great place to be the only thing I hate about modern BMWs is they move towards ditching tail lights alt together and integrating it with the indicators like this and then someone thought it was a good idea to put a keyhole dead center in the back here Whoever thought this was a good way to finish a bike off should be fired since it is on the larger side and Brakes the faster side good brakes are a necessity and BMW didn't skimp here either in the front it has beefy 320 mil floating brake discs on each side they get squeezed by Brembo branded four piston calipers which are radially mounted but look suspiciously like BMW calipers exactly like the one in the rear and then steel lines all around paired with an axial pness and master cylinder which is a bit disappointing for the price a sport bike requires a radial master cylinder for sure but they don't disappoint at all while riding and obviously the stiffer you make the suspension the more feedback you Tech get it's basically BMW's fault that Rider a and Technology came to bikes in the first place so obviously there's no shortage of it on the XR right off the bat it has keyless ignition but yes there is still a physical key ke just for its posterior hole and is it just me who forgets to close the fuel cap when there's no physical key just me okay then it has the TFT Dash and switch gear synonymous with current BMWs for you to engage with all the tech you can press up on this button to cycle through data like fuel range fuel level and tire pressure and if you press down you open up the menu this rotating ring on the left grip that can also be pressed side to side lets you cycle through the submenus to view even more data or change to the dash that shows you lean angle braking forces and how much traction control intervened there's even a dedicated ride mode button here that you can change while riding you just have to close the throttle and obviously cruise control not because it's a Torah but because BMW put it on all of their bikes I found the switch to turn it on a bit sticky but then the set button is really well placed and easy to toggle someone please tell mvia gusta about this there is also this absolute unit of a quick shifter that allows for clutchless downshifts too it is very smooth but occasionally it requires a harder press to downshift than you would expect and if you dive deeper into the menus you can customize traction control wheelie control throttle sensitivity and all the settings you're used to having on your iPhone any intervention from the traction control to the ABS is very un alarming which makes you happy to have it turned on and is safer as a result since it's built for two people I Passenger Amenities made sure to take my girlfriend with me on my longer ride and here are her insightful findings as always and I quote spacious comfortable seat wide and Squishy grab handles in a great location pigs did not induce any cramps and she even complimented the suspension but I assume what she really meant was that I was riding superbly that day but from my perspective the extra weight didn't throw off the balance of the bike by much which is always a good thing but what I did notice is that she would often slide forwards under braking so those brembos must be too good so the Is The XR The Perfect Blend original question was is the XR suffering from an identity crisis or is this the Perfect Blend and I think it's safe to say that this is the best possible blend of two categories that you can buy today is it the perfect Torah no and is it the perfect sport bike no but the fact that it's 90% as good as a Torah and 90% as good as a Superbike is mindblowing these are the two extremes and the fact that it can satisfy you in both areas is remarkable it really is an engineering feat however there were actually two questions that I had about this bike the other other was if I made the right decision buying an R1 instead of an XR and that brings me to the biggest problem with the XR it's kind of too good it's too refined as brilliant as it is all around there's just not much theater it does everything you ask without a fuss but without any theatrics either that probably sounds like a good thing to you and if so then it's the perfect bike for you but even the little burble after a downshift sounds pre-programmed rather than organic don't get me wrong it's still enjoyable but sometimes it's fun trying to tame a beastly bike on the street and that's how you form a bond with a bike whereas the XR is just effortless to ride fast or Scoring far nevertheless 127 hours later my sleepover with the XR is over so let's give it a score out of 60 and see where it lands on the board the XR isn't our first BMW I scored the 1200 GS a while back and it's not the first sports tourer either since I had the MV Turismo vachi as well neither of which scored very well to be honest but the board is slowly starting to take shape and it is entirely subjective but now you can see that if you thought a GS was the best bike ever made and I scored it badly then you probably won't enjoy a 1390 super duuke for example it's pretty clear that I enjoy sporty bikes more than anything else it isn't an R but it is definitely a goodlook bike and I did find myself looking back at it every time I walked away from it 7 out of 10 personally I think this is the peak of practicality smooth wind protection plenty of space for a top box luggage a passenger but still fast and fun 10 out of 10 I would choose this over any other bike to do a long sance on the highway to go and ride twisty roads that's EX L what it's built for but it is lacking torque and is sometimes too smooth around town to misbehave 7 out of 10 BMWs obviously aren't cheap but in this case I think you get what you pay for there's nothing that it's really missing besides maybe a radial master cylinder then again yamaha's Tracer 9 GT is 90% off the bike and it'll come in considerably cheaper once you're finished specking out all the cool features on your XR 6 out of 10 it's really fast in outright speed but is lacking that torque 7 out of 10 those burbles might sound artificial but they still tickle the right place in my monkey brain but in all honesty a throaty inline 4 is very common and it's no V4 or crossplane now is it 8 out of 10 giving the XR 45 out of 60 putting it well above the Turismo vachi which is also a sports Tura and Miles Ahead of a 1200 GS but not quite on the level of a 1390 super puke but anyway let me know if you agree with the xr's position on the scoreboard and if you would have one in your collection and I'll see you on the next ride