After its initial launch in 2009, BMW Motorrad has updated the S1000RR supersports bike. While there are no changes to the peak power output figures of 193 horsepower, there are quite a few new features to the technical update:

• Optimised torque curve for improved ridability.
• Expansion from two to three performance curves (one each for Rain and Sport modes and an additional one for Race and Slick modes); Rain mode now 120 kW (163 hp).
• Reconfigured throttle for enhanced response (particularly gentle and sensitive acceleration in Rain mode, and immediately direct and spontaneous response in Sport, Race, and Slick modes).
• Reduced twisting force and tighter twistgrip angle.
• Smaller secondary ratio for boosted thrust.
• Refined tuning between Race ABS and Dynamic Traction Control (DTC).
• Enlarged cross sectional area of the intake air guide through the steering head for greater air flow efficiency.
• Better handling, steering accuracy, and feedback.
• Revised spring elements for an even wider range of damping forces.
• Suspension geometry modified with new values for the steering head angle, offset, position of the swing arm pivot, fork projection, and spring strut length.
• New mechanical steering damper adjustable over ten levels.
• Forged and milled fork bridge in a new design and with a smaller offset.
• Revised design with a leaner tail section, redesigned side panels, centre airbox cover with side aperture grilles, and winglets.
• For new colour variants: plain Racing Red with Alpine white, Bluefire, Sapphire black metallic, BMW Motorrad Motorsport colours.
• Revised RR logo.
• New heel plates and leaner stabilisers on the passenger footrests.
• Redesigned LCD engine speed display for better readability and with five dimming levels.
• Instrument cluster with the new functions “Best lap in progress” and “Speedwarning”; deactivation of “Lamp” fault message when headlamp or number plate carrier removed.
• Catalytic converters relocated, so no heat shield necessary.
• Expansion to the optional extras and special equipment ex works.

Look after the jump for a huge photo gallery and a video of the revised S1000RR.
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BMW has rolled out dynamic damper control across nearly all their new cars recently, and now BMW Motorrad is doing the same with their bikes.

Motorrad’s DDC is a semiactive suspension system which reacts automatically to manoeuvres like braking, accelerating, and cornering on various road surfaces and analyses the situational parameters provided by sensors to set the correct level of damping at electrically actuated damping valves.

DDC is linked to the DTC and ABS systems. The system recognises the control activities by the other systems and adapts the damping as the situation requires. The adjustments to damping depend on whether the springs are compressing or rebounding, with each process being controlled separately.

Look after the jump for a full explanation on how the DDC system works.
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A couple of adventure-seeking philanthropists recently traversed Malaysia on BMW Motorrad F 800 GS motorcycles as part of a 20,000 km journey across the Asia-Pacific for a worthy cause.

Morgan Parker and Alan Ng completed the Malaysian-leg of their Wheel2Wheel motorcycle enduro-adventure in aid of the Women’s Aid Organization (WAO), a non-government body set up to prevent violence and discrimination against women.

The duo’s Wheel2Wheel independent non-profit project, which kicked off on March 1, aims to raise funds and awareness of grassroots-level charitable organisations by visiting them as part of the journey, involving 10 charities in 10 countries over 100 days. The project has so far raised USD $180,000 through campaigns over Facebook and Twitter.

Parker and Ng started their travels from Hong Kong before heading across China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and now Malaysia. The next stop is Indonesia, followed by Timor Leste and finally, Parker’s hometown of Brisbane, Australia.

The duo paid a visit to the Auto Bavaria BMW Motorrad dealership in Glenmarie on their custom-fitted F800 GS motorcycles after a four-day riding tour of Malaysia, having travelled over 1,200 km of highways and local trunk roads. The duo was greeted by an entourage from the Malaysian BMW Motorrad Owners Club, before embarking on a short ride to Genting Highlands with stopovers at Batu Caves and the Ulu Yam Lake.

“The journey so far has been quite an interesting challenge with much of the terrain posing difficulties as well as spectacular beauty at the same time. However, the cause has made it all worth it as we have managed to see first hand, the work of the organisations such as the Women’s Aid Organisation in making a difference in the countries they operate in,” Parker said.

He added that the duo have made many friends along their journey. “There’s just something about BMW Motorrad owners, their motorcycles and the spirit of adventure. Throughout my journey, I had the privilege of riding along side a few BMW Motorrad owners as they too journeyed across the terrain.”

All the footage of the Asia-Pacific voyage will be compiled into a special Wheel2Wheel 10-part television series, which will be broadcast on the National Geographic Channel in the second half of 2011. If you’d like to know more about the charitable initiative, find out here.

Six-cylinder engines are pretty rare in the world of bikes, obviously due to packaging issues. If installed inline, it would either be too wide or too long to fit a bike frame properly. So we see V6 and boxer formats for 6 cylinders in bikes more often than an inline installation. Honda has made both boxer-6 and inline-6 bike engines before, installed in the Goldwing and the CBX respectively.

Though the very popular 320i here has a four-pot, BMW cars are very much well-known for their silky smooth inline-6 engines. BMW is now trying to bring inline-6 into bikes in a big way, as according to them it is the packaging issues that have prevented the cylinder format from really going anywhere when installed in a bike, whether in a production model or in motorcycle racing.

BMW claims that the BMW Motorrad Concept 6′s inline-6 engine is approximately 10cm slimmer than any production inline-6 engine coming before it, and it is only a bit wider than a large-capacity inline-4 engine with conventional technology. BMW has used a slightly over-square bore to stroke ratio measurement with a relatively long stroke and small gaps between cylinders. Electrical ancillaries and drive components are situated behind the crank in the open space above the transmission in order to minimize width.

The engine’s construction uses lightweight materials in as many areas as possible in order to keep the engine relatively light. Some weight-reduction techniques include hollow-drilled camshafts and light conrods. The engine’s inline-6 configuration does not require the use of a balance shaft. The block uses dry sump lubrication, helping lower the engine installation position. Like inline-4 installed in the BMW K 1300 series, the engine is tilted forward by 55 degrees for a lower center of gravity and better weight balance. The tilt angle also allows extra space for the aerodynamically-positioned intake manifold.

And now for some numbers. The inline-6 has 1.6 litres of displacement and can produce 130Nm of torque from just 2,000rpm. It revs up to nearly 9,000rpm. Look after the jump for photos of the Concept 6.
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