I will never claim to be an above-average motorcycle rider. I am an enthusiast, but I’m not dragging knees or setting lap times, and I don’t really care about any of that. Would I notice the 3.74 pound weight reduction of M Performance carbon fiber wheels for the S 1000 RR, a 434 pound motorcycle? I’m inclined to say I highly doubt it. But they sure do look cool.
BMW’s new-for-2019 S 1000 RR superbike has been a lightweight wonder all along, dropping 24 pounds from its predecessor in the pursuit of ultimate performance. That makes sense because it’s billed as a race replica (that’s the RR in the name), and it offers the performance to match with 205 horsepower from a high-strung four-cylinder. Is it a street-legal WSBK racer? Not exactly, but it’s pretty close.
The new M Performance carbon wheels were initially announced back in March, but you can finally order them from your BMW Motorrad dealer to make your already light and fast superbike even more, well, everything. The bike already accelerates from 0-60 in under three seconds, so I wouldn’t expect a slightly lower rotational mass to reduce that by a significant amount, but it should ostensibly improve all aspects of the riding experience incrementally. Acceleration, braking, and suspension performance should all be impacted, but again, you’d have to be a pretty great rider to get the most out of this tiny weight reduction.
You can order the carbon wheels as part of the $3,700 M Package, which also includes a scad of other carbon fiber bodywork components and a compact lithium battery to reduce the bike’s overall weight by an impressive seven pounds, or just shy of two percent of the bike’s overall weight. There’s a very good chance that eating a particularly hefty meatloaf the night before your track day will impact your lap times more than the M Package will, but if you’re addicted to ridiculously cool glossy carbon components, you’d be a fool to skip ticking that box.
And honestly, I can’t seem to find a reason to fault that. If I were in the market for a $17,490 sport bike, I’d have a hard time not ponying up for the extra badass carbon package. Do what makes you happy, even if it doesn’t lower your lap times appreciably.
And if you already have a BMW S 1000 RR and you want to add these wheels to your moto, you should be able to order them separately through your local dealer, though BMW hasn’t released a price for them without a bike attached. I’d expect to pay around three large for the privilege.
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