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R1 vs. S1000RR

53K views 61 replies 32 participants last post by  DarkHorse 
#1 ·
I'm shocked that since 2015 there are only 7 posts in this section and none are against the s1000rr?!

Ok, so here's the story. I love R1s and have owned a few but I'm not a fanboy and every time I get a new bike I do a full eval of it versus the competition. The R1 wasn't always the best, but I liked it the best.

I had a 2005 and felt it was neck and neck w/ the zx-10, and above the rest but I liked Yamaha's better than Kawasaki's back then. The 2009 I think felt fat, wasn't the best, but it looked great, had Yamaha reliability, and sounded MEAN. I think it was pretty stagnant until aroudn 2015.

It's time for a new bike so I'm doing the research all over again. It's either the R1 or the S1000rr. They both have been revamped for 2015 and I've read countless reviews, viewed countless youtube videos and reviews, etc. I've spent so much time researching this it's absolutely ridiculous. The Bimmer seems to almost always take #1 for street riding and the R1 seems to take #1 for track times.

I test rode the BMW and loved the shifting on it and the raw power. The brakes were great, too. It seems every dealer in the world will let you test drive the S1000RR and that makes it nice and easy. They seem very cocky about their bike and have a good reason to be. I didn't like how it rattled a little kind of like an old bike would and strongly disliked the instrumentation cluster.

Despite Yamaha's website searching w/ the filter of "try the Yamaha" every dealer laughed at me for asking if they did test rides and stated how they have been trying to get their name off that feature for years, or laughed at me for asking and how mileage would depreciate the bike despite the fact that Yamaha gives incentives. I get it, I started riding when you'd be laughed at for asking and you bought a bike and then found out how it ran. I know that BMW is pretty much the only one that does it but hey, we're not buying a pair of sneakers and I don't sh*t Tiffany Cufflinks so I was going to keep trying and I figured if they don't allow it, don't advertise it. I finally found one that let me test ride it. I absolutely loved it. I felt it was much more fun than the BMW, electronics were obviously light years ahead, love all the things that come out of the box w/ the Yamaha (lightweight rims, full electronics minus the datalogger and suspension, etc. I liked the BMWs shifter MUCH better and the fact that it could blip down is actually really handy. I can't believe Yamaha didn't add that yet. The BMW can't come near the Yamaha with the sound that it produces, or it's looks, SUCH a turn on!

The Yamaha felt slower, by a long shot. Put it this way, the BMW had 300 miles on it and hadn't been unlocked yet so I was limited to around 8500 rpms and it still felt faster. Yes I know the Yamaha consistently get's faster lap times and while I definitely am bringing it to the track I'm not a pro rider, even though the Yamaha gets better lap times we're looking at 10ths to half a second.

I'm still 100% shocked with how much less power the Yamaha puts out, but the part of me see's how much power is restored by the ECU flashes. It looks like the US Yamahas are putting down around 165 to the ground on average, and in Europe they seem to be much higher. US ECU flashes seem to get around 175+ , does this seem accurate? Overall the ECU and dec-cat exhausts seem to be around 180-183, does that seem right also? With those mods it's still behind the BMW in power but tolerable.

That being said I did put the $$ down on a R1m (I just think it looks SOO much nicer than the regular R1) and an picking it up next week but right now second guessing my decision. Do the numbers seem right? Has anybody else ridden both? I'm not looking for a link to a professional review, more like what unbiased people on here have seen. =]

Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
Yamaha reliability and parts are cheaper. You have the M so the side fairing will probably be about $1,500.

ECU flash and some mods and you'll be more than happy you bought the Yamaha.

I personally don't ever want to own regular inline 4 bike again.

I like bikes with character and sound.
 
#3 ·
That's a good point, I LOVE Yamaha reliability but I've seen quite a bit of reliability issues w/ the R1 (in particular it seems like the shifter is causing quite a few issues). I'm past the tranny recall so I don't consider that an issue. The BMW comes with a ridiculous warranty (3yrs / 36,000 miles) that the Yamaha can't touch. However, correctly me if you see differently, I see the BMW vs. Yamaha almost how I see European cars, great power and engineering, but need maintenance where the Japanese just turn the key and go. You can see that already by simple maintenance things the BMW needs that I've been reading. Valve adjustment for the BMW is 12k if I remember right and the Yamaha is 27k I think.



I also forgot to mention how the BMW handled good, but something about how the Yamaha feels just connected w/ me (I could care less how hard it rides, in fact I like that as I do a lot of hard turns when I'm not at that track and would rather have the stiffer ride). I think I made the right choice but all these dyno charts are pretty damn impressive.

I do think that you're right on the sound, the BMW sounds like crap to me and the Yamaha with the Austin Racing GP1r sounds AMAZING. Believe it or not I like the way it sounds with the Pipe Werx can as well but that's the only thing I like about that exhaust =]


Thanks!
 
#13 · (Edited)
yes there is. but, there are also many of them the other way around. drag races and 1/4 mile times don't mean a whole lot. for one, if you changed the gearing on the r1 but left the bmw stock it would roll right on by the bmw with little effort.

when I was at the track with mine there was a guy on a HP4 and he never passed me until I let off the gas. and I weigh probably 80lbs more than he did. these bikes are matched very closely despite what they feel like or magazines report.

it's nice that the bmw comes uncorked. it's full 184hp without restrictions other than a stock exhaust. the R1@ 167. why yamaha restricts a bike so much is beyond me and it's annoying. and an autoblipper should have been standard.
I like my bike but lets be honest. it's still lagging behind the competition until you spend another few grand on upgrades. why it got such rave reviews last year is surprising. almost like yamaha spent a lot of money to these reviewers...

I have yet still to do any significant upgrading to mine. brake pads and little non performance bits are all i've done. I've yet to see anyone post dyno results that improve the bike without spending $150 per hp. it may sound like a deal but when you finally get it to put out another 20hp to match the bmw you've spent 3k. then dump another $700 for the autoblipper. it's just a waste of money for something I don't compete with. and for what, a bike that is already down to 11k in value. people still sell 3 year old bmw's for 14k
 
#10 ·
I went from a 2015 S1000RR with DDC and auto blipper... I ended up getting an auto blipper for my R1 and an ECU flash/dyno tune and it transformed the bike. It feels fast as hell comparable to my BMW but that's seat of the pants since I never did any tuning on the BMW. However, if you like high speed and agile turns I'd recommend the R1. Once an exhaust is on it just sounds mean as hell and to me looks much better than the BMW. I do miss the cruise control and more comfortable cockpit but to me there isn't a comparison any more unless you're just looking for straight line raw power and comfort but I'd go with a ZX14 or H2 over the BMW if those were my only considerations.

With that being said the fuel range on the R1 is abysmal and whoever tried to outdo Ducati on poor fuel mileage should be drug out into the street and shot.
 
#19 ·
Interesting. Me and a buddy switched bikes. He has a stock RR and it felt strong up top but not any stronger than my R1M (flash & decatted). But under 10 grand, the bmw felt oh so slow-slow-slow.

He got off my R1M and was grinnin' and gigglin'. "That thing makes more sounds than a funny car". Yea, come to think of it, it does! And I love it. It's got character fir sure. I'd be very quickly bored with any inline 4 anymore.
 
#20 ·
same here. I fell in love with the R1 sound when they came out in 09. but it just wasn't in the cards for me to buy one. then I just didn't care for the looks too much. but anyway, I feel the same as you. when I hear normal inline 4's anywhere I go I'm like ehh, it doesn't do it for me anymore.
 
#21 ·
Just like when, I don't know exactly but a Ducati about 10 years ago the sound is just music to my ears. You can't compare those bikes really, rider skills and bike set up maybe way different, look at WSB, GP and so on. Never see beamers up on the podium, My 2 cents.


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#24 ·
After hitting a deer a few weeks ago and totaling my R1, I wanted to try the BMW. Been wanting one since they came out in 2010.
I can't wait to experience all the modern tech, along with heated grips and cruise control.

I've owned several R1s and will get another one in the future. So I'm not jumping ship. :)

 
#28 ·
I've ridden since "72. Stopped riding from '92 to '07. Then proceeded to go crazy, buying nearly every high performance sport bike with the latest technology. I've got a '15 R1M and I've ridden '16 S1000RR's on the track and had the first model year HP4. I started doing track days in '10. I'm intermediate and prefer the BMW for the street (I don't think anyone that's ridden both will disagree on that score) and the track.
 
#40 ·
uhhmm, you do realize sportbike tires are relatively useless at anything below 10 degrees celcius, thats 50 F. :lol

good luck with that one :hammer:
 
#34 · (Edited)
Jap bikes never hold their value compared to a Harley lol. I can pick up a 2012 Crossplane in Australia right now for $9k in immaculate condition, Harleys on the other hand rarely lose anything, 2012 Harleys have lost around $7k off their market value as i'm looking to buy,worst market to consider buying second hand in.

You can pick up a 2015 R1M in Australia for $23,000 so in one year it lost $9k off their retail value here.

You can pick up a 2015 R1 STD for $18,000 compared to the $25,000 so it lost $7k in one year.
 
#35 ·
In the us they are shit in resale !!! There are ten times as many Harley's for sale as Jap bikes. My 02 r1 didn't cost me a thing over the 15 years I've had it between crashing it n fixing it and selling it I got back what I payed for it!!! Yea if you sell anything in a year or two you're going to take a beating ,but if you keep it a few years the jap bike are a way better resale at least in the us now.
 
#36 ·
I'll have to agree with this.

A lot of insurance companies use a "Mitchum" or "Mitcheal" to determine the value of motorcycles. The system searches for all the bikes sold in your area and gets an average price.

Wrecked and claim my bike twice now and BOTH times it was valued over $10,000 and my bike is a 2009. >:)
 
#42 ·
For the street the bimmer is the better bike stock. Has heated grips, up and down shift and gobs of power. The R1 really shines at the track with its better handling and crossplane motor. The bimmer is harder to turn and that motor can scare ya lol. R1 is easier to ride faster imo.


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#56 ·
I hate the cold... and I hate riding in the cold even more. Back when I first started riding, I told myself if it's 40 or higher, I can ride. About 10 years ago that moved to 50 and now recently I find myself not wanting to ride unless it's 60 degrees.
 
#60 ·
I have just acquired a 2016 r1 that has some tasteful mods to add to the stable with my 2016 s1000rr. First impressions are the r1 has a sound that is just iconic. The s1000rr is the 2nd best sounding inline liter bike right after the r1. I haven't had the r1 on track yet but a couple street rides and the bike seems way More nimble than the bmw, but I am curious if this will give me an unstable feeling on the track. I will have the bike at my suspension guys shop Thursday to check out geometry and give a look over to see if anything is out of tune. Until recently the s1000 has been the only 1000 that I have ridden so it is quite different to be sitting on the Yamaha. The r1 has tons of tuning and performance mods so I think it pulls a tad harder than my flashed with full akrapavic bmw, but this might just be my unfamiliarity of the new platform causing it to "feel" faster. End result so far is that both bikes are must haves on my list, now I have my cake and can eat it too.
 
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