More impressive still was the HP4. BMW has taken its already class-leading S1000RR and made it even better: 9kg lighter, more agile, smoother and even easier to ride fast, with refined electronics, larger brakes, fatter rear tyre, and beefier midrange.
Then, of course, there’s its party piece: semi-active suspension. I lapped within two seconds of my best time set on my S1000RR race bike the previous year in similar conditions – not bad for a bike with lights and mirrors.
Best of all, I never had to adjust the HP4’s suspension to achieve those times – it automatically gave me the optimum settings, so it handled as well as you could ever set-up a standard S1000RR. That’s a huge plus for most of us who don’t know our damping from our preload, but not a massive advantage for those who do.
That’s all well and good on a smooth racetrack, and once you’ve got your suspension set, that’s more or less it anyway – you’re good to go. The real test of semi-active suspension was always going to be on the road, in ever-changing conditions.
Can it cope with UK roads?
So here we are on a late November day, 1500 miles away from Jerez. The day starts off freezing cold and wet, but the gods of speed have granted me a dry, sunny and mild window of opportunity – before it gets dark, cold and damp once more.
If it wasn’t for my jaw being clenched with speed-induced concentration, it would be dragging on the floor – the HP4 has shocked me to the core. With all its power, refinement, light weight and grip, experience tells me to expect a warp-speed ride, like any other superbike – but the semi-active suspension gives me a riding sensation I’ve never experienced before.
Right now I’m on a tried and tested stretch of B-road. It swoops up and down. It wriggles from side to side. It’s bumpy and littered with broken Tarmac.
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