San Diego BMW-built S 1000 RR tops 224 mph at Bonneville

(August 30, 2013) WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. – Andy Sills of Hunter Sills Racing piloted a San Diego BMW Motorcycles-built BMW S 1000 RR during its debut appearance to an average speed of 224.190 miles per hour across the timed mile on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah, on Aug. 16, at the famed SCTA Speedweek. The achievement made this S 1000 RR the world's fastest BMW motorcycle.

San Diego BMW Motorcycles teamed up with Shane Kinderis, owner of Alpine Performance in Australia, and crew chief for the Australian Superbike team Next Gen Motorsports, to tune the engine to 220 horsepower while still conforming to SCTA 1000 cc requirements.

The bike also employed a new style fairing design created by Mike Verdugo of Catalyst Composites in Escondido, Calif.

Erin Hunter (left) and Andy Sills of Hunter Sills Racing. (Photo by Shane Kinderis Photo)

Hunter Sills Racing was chosen to pilot the bike, as their riders Erin Hunter and Andy Sills are avid high speed riders with a combined 21 years of landspeed racing competition. Together, Hunter and Sills have achieved 20 world and national landspeed records on a wide variety of motorcycles, ranging from a custom-built 50 cc streamliner to the 215 horsepower, over 220 miles-per-hour fully faired BMW S 1000 RR.

"We are coming to Laguna Seca to race the World Superbike event in a month, so the engine development was good for us,” stated Kinderis.  “This was a good proving ground for R & D for the World Superbike program and to test the technology we've been developing."

“BMW has always been our first choice manufacturer for landspeed racing bikes,” said Andy Sills. “Having set records with the K 1200 S in 2005 and the S 1000 RR in 2010 and 2011, it was the logical platform for our 2013 season.”

“This was our first opportunity to test the Alpine Performance tuned motor and new Catalyst fairing design for the S 1000 RR, and were delighted by the results,” observed Gary Orr, owner of San Diego BMW Motorcycles. 

“We worked with both companies while road racing the S 1000 RR and we knew we could work together to make the S 1000 RR fast....really fast. Our senior race technician, Curtice Thom, worked alongside Shane Kinderis assembling, testing and tuning the engine to bring out the best performance in this bike.

"After just nine passes on the unusually difficult Bonneville salt course, we set a new SCTA record and Andy earned a spot in the coveted 200 mile per hour Club. We owe a great amount of the success of this project and thanks for the help we received from our technical partners: ARP (Automotive Racing Products) Fasteners were used exclusively in this engine to ensure it stayed together under the incredible stresses.