a Superbike . The seat to footpeg relationship is okay . The pegs are not super high or too far back and my long legs were not too cramped . The pegs , of course , still offer excellent cornering clearance . Likewise , the bars are not too low nor the reach ucomfortable . Having said all that , being under six foot tall would be advantageous for long ride comfort . Conversely , the seat height is a tad higher than before at 824mm , which might be challenging for shorter riders . BMW offers 10mm lower and 15mm higher footpeg sets to help tune the fit . Push the starter button and the inline four , DOHC , 999cc engine bursts into life with a suggestive growl . The engine uses relatively new BMW shiftcam technology , has a heap of titanium valves and produces 206hp at 13,500rpm . The redline is at 14,000rpm , and maximum torque is a very healthy 114Nm at 11,000rpm . Pulling out of a tight spot the poor steering lock will remind you that this is a racetrack-refugee - those u-turns will often prove to be tricky . This model is said to be about 4kg lighter at 175kg dry ( 195kg with a full tank of fuel ) and narrower through the middle . Accelerating away , I started in Road mode and found it to be very smooth and linear . Rain and Dynamic are the other road-going map options . I found myself riding mainly in Dynamic as I preferred the more immediate throttle response , but was not so enamoured with the firm electronic suspension setting that the S1000RR defaults to in this mode . Jolts from our crap roads are transferred to the rider more than I ’ d like . Road mode has slightly softer power and suspension settings . Rain mode is a larger step softer for both . Ideally , I would choose Dynamic power and Road mode suspension settings for general riding - this would offer awesome power and a comfortable , capable ride . At the top extreme is Race mode . To be honest I didn ’ t notice a great deal of power difference from Dynamic mode given the bounds of public roads , but bloody hell did the suspension step up to brutally hard ... this is race track only stuff , I think . As you might expect from a sports bike designed by German engineers , the chassis feels extremely well planted to the deck . Steering turn-in is sharp , accurate and very predictable . The bridge type cast alloy frame has the engine as a stressed-member , which delivers a lot of confidence to press on quickly
46 KIWI RIDER