Photo: BMW
Getting oneself on top of a 207 hp, 193.5 kg motorized metal monster the likes of the BMW Motorrad S 1000 RR might be a scary experience for beginners, and at times possibly a dangerous one. Yet even noobs at times need to feel the thrills of track racing.
To help out and solve the fears less experienced riders have with handling a motorcycle on a track, BMW Motorrad announced this week the first implementation of a series of autonomous systems in its bikes. Called iRace Kit, the suite of software upgrades will become available on the S 1000 RR in September.
The kit takes inspiration from the self-driving R 1200 GS shown at the BMW Motorrad Techday in France in 2018. iRace, a GPS-supported software unit, has a library of data where it stores all current race tracks in the Superbike world championships, but also the Nürburgring Nordschleife and the Isle of Man circuits.
So no matter where noobs what to go for a ride, the bike has it all covered.
The inner workings of the system are pretty straightforward. The rider mounts the bike, starts it, takes it on the track and begins to race, alone or against similarly noob friends. If at one point the rider does something foolish and loses control of the bike or his wits, he can quickly engage the system and select the Beginner riding mode.
From there, essentially, the S 1000 RR gets foolproof. Once the rider gets scared, or just bored and in the mood to enjoy the scenery, iRace takes over and does the work all by itself.
And it does it so well, that it “enables even those with little or no experience to approach a lap time for the track in question up to a maximum of eight seconds over the current record.”
So get ready for an avalanche of records at tracks across the world being tricked into submission by the Jane and John Does of our day.
The kit takes inspiration from the self-driving R 1200 GS shown at the BMW Motorrad Techday in France in 2018. iRace, a GPS-supported software unit, has a library of data where it stores all current race tracks in the Superbike world championships, but also the Nürburgring Nordschleife and the Isle of Man circuits.
So no matter where noobs what to go for a ride, the bike has it all covered.
The inner workings of the system are pretty straightforward. The rider mounts the bike, starts it, takes it on the track and begins to race, alone or against similarly noob friends. If at one point the rider does something foolish and loses control of the bike or his wits, he can quickly engage the system and select the Beginner riding mode.
From there, essentially, the S 1000 RR gets foolproof. Once the rider gets scared, or just bored and in the mood to enjoy the scenery, iRace takes over and does the work all by itself.
And it does it so well, that it “enables even those with little or no experience to approach a lap time for the track in question up to a maximum of eight seconds over the current record.”
So get ready for an avalanche of records at tracks across the world being tricked into submission by the Jane and John Does of our day.
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