My S1000RR has stopped but it's only a broken chain.

I know there has been a lack of blogging on my S1000RR recently and that’s because it’s broken, but only a little bit.

On July 18th I was at Silverstone looking after some Bahnstormer BMW customers, when late in the afternoon something hit me on the back as I was charging down the Wellington Straight. At that precise moment I also thought I had hit a false neutral but it turns out the chain had snapped. Unfortunately it also jammed in the gearbox sprocket causing some casing damage along with smashing the seat and left hand indicator lens.

I dropped it off at Pidcock’s but was told it may take some time for BMW UK to authorise repairs. Luckily I’ve had the use of an identical bike belonging to Focused Events to get me through the summer. I’ve been instructing at all the major tracks in the UK but it's only when hard core race bikes show up that the BMW has any real competition.

Kevin Healy, who owns Focused won’t mind me saying he doesn’t spoil anyone with fresh tyres that often so the traction control in ‘race mode’ comes in very handy. The only problem is I am so used to opening the throttle early on corner exits now I need remind myself to ride properly when I jump on anything without TC. The front ABS is equally as impressive and I’m even finding I can use it to find my limit for hard braking.

The bike I ride is completely standard but with stiffer suspension settings (everything on 8) and the normal rear ride height. Using it on track regularly means it soon gets through brake pads but apart from the finding the occasional false neutral when changing down from 6th to 5th it never misses a beat. It’s getting chilly here now I can’t wait to ride the Beemer in down in Almeria soon where the summer last till December.    

By Niall Mackenzie