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FastestThings

Motorcycles

BMW M 1000 R

BMW states 280 km/h for the M 1000 R. The faired M 1000 RR's 314 km/h is a different bike.

Also known as M 1000 R, M1000R
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Top speed

Published as 280 km/hPublished as 280 km/hPublished as 280 km/h

BMW Motorrad technical data for the M 1000 R states 280 km/h. This is the naked M bike, not the M 1000 RR's 314 km/h.

ClaimedBMW Motorrad (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 2.7× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • A football field in 1.2 sConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)
  • London to New York in 19 h 54 minConstant · London to New York, 5,570 km great-circle

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

This list

Why it's so fast

A motorcycle is fast because the air only has to get around a rider and a fairing, not a cabin. The engine still has to stay in its power band, and many of the big numbers are factory limiters.

  1. A small hole in the air

    Less frontal area means less drag for a given speed. The rider's tuck is part of the shape. A sitting-up test is a different motorcycle.

  2. Limiters are common

    A published top speed on a modern sport bike is often an electronic cap the makers agreed to, not the speed the engine would reach with the cap removed.

The capped one people mean is the Suzuki Hayabusa.

This is how the category works. A note written for this entry appears here once it is in the database.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 280km/h174mph77.8m/s151knRanked figure

    BMW Motorrad technical data for the M 1000 R states 280 km/h. This is the naked M bike, not the M 1000 RR's 314 km/h.

    Claimed
    BMW Motorrad (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Model
M 1000 R
Class
Naked
Not this bike
M 1000 RR at 314 km/h

Spot a wrong number?

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