In the four-wheeler world, we’ve come to accept that performance cars will have an automatic transmission. It makes life easier for everyone involved. The initial reason to make them automatic was to help with emissions. Another reason is shift timings – automatics have become smarter and quicker than ever before, and they shift quicker than any human reasonably could hope to. Finally, they won’t tire out your left leg. The more powerful an engine, the heavier the clutch, so you reduce the pain in traffic.Motorcycles are now following the same logic in some ways. Electronic clutches and dual-clutch transmissions are slowly taking over, as evidenced by just how many such setups have arrived in recent years. What remains uncommon, though, is a performance-oriented motorcycle with an automatic transmission. Emphasis on 'uncommon' because there is one exception today with close to 150 hp and a fully auto t'box. Performance Motorcycles And Automatic Transmissions Don’t Usually Mix KTM via Rudi SchedlFor a motorcycle, weight is everything. It gets its performance not from a surfeit of power, but rather from a lack of weight. That’s how a $20,000 motorcycle can keep up with multi-million dollar hypercars. When you add something like a hybrid driveline or an automatic gearbox, you add weight to it, and that is counterintuitive for a motorcycle.HondaOnly Honda has been actively promoting its dual-clutch automatic gearbox, but even then, it hasn’t added it to any of its performance motorcycles, choosing instead to keep it confined to those models that do duty as tourers. After all, additional weight in those categories is alright. However, there is one offering that blurs the line between the genre it is in and performance motorcycles, and it has the option of an automated manual gearbox. The BMW R 1300 RS Has Ample Performance And The Convenience Of An Automatic Transmissions BMWWe’ve decided to go left field with this one. While there are quite a few worthy contenders if you want a performance bike with a semi-automatic gearbox, a fully automatic one is a rarity anywhere in the world. BMW’s latest 1,300 cc boxer twin allows you to specify an automated manual transmission with it, and that applies to all the products it has powered by that engine, including the R 1300 GS and R 1300 RT, with the underrated R 1300 RS being the sportiest of the lot. It might not be anyone’s conventional idea of a ‘performance’ bike, but in the real world, its pace is undeniable. Not to mention, it follows the same recipe as your new-age middleweight sports bike by balancing comfort, performance, and usability. That is why it is our pick for the performance bike for people who love automatic transmissions. Priced Like A Premium Product BMWThe R 1300 RS is a premium product from a manufacturer that is known for premium products. That sets the expectation right, so it comes as a pleasant surprise when you see that the base price is $17,095. That’s in line with a lot of other products in the segment, thanks to component sharing in BMW. However, we are considering the automatic version of the R 1300 RS, which means ticking the box that says ‘automatic gearbox’ or, in BMW’s world, ‘Automated Shift Assistant’.Now this is an option that costs $935 on its own, but you cannot have this with just the base model, you’ll need to add the ‘Excellence Package’ worth $2,850 at the bare minimum, and then BMW will throw in a few other things like the ‘Racing Blue Package’ ($2,020), a luggage grid ($200), a GPS mount ($285), and various other bits and bobs. Only the bits and bobs are added at no extra cost, so you end up with a price of $22,900 for the automatic BMW R 1300 RS. Familiar Boxer Twin Is Well Suited To Sporty Model BMW MotorradThis is a familiar engine; it is the same one we’ve experienced in the R 1300 GS and R 1300 RT, and it is even in the same state of tune! Let’s run through the numbers as a refresher: it is a longitudinal boxer twin, displaces 1,300 cc, is an extremely short stroke design with liquid cooling and four valves per cylinder, has variable valve timing on the intake valves, and has a compression ratio of 13.3:1. It generates 145 horsepower at 7,750 RPM and 110 pound-feet at 6,500 RPM. The Top Speed Is Over 140 MPH Yes, that is all exactly the same as the other two models, which is why you can decide not to use the manual six-speed gearbox and have the ASA (Automated Shift Assistant) shift gears for you. This is the same gearbox but with actuators for the clutch and shifting mechanism, so you can turn it off and use it as a standard manual gearbox as well. A Cardan shaft drive is chosen to transfer power to the wheel, and BMW claims a top speed of 149 MPH – so it isn’t a slouch at all. One Significant Chassis Change From The Other R 1300 Models BMW MotorradThe R 1300 RS looks a lot like the R 1300 RT, and with good reason. They cater to a very similar audience, and they offer very similar performance and characteristics. The frame is a two-part frame, with the engine holding the two parts together as a stressed member. The aluminum subframe is bolted on, and the rear suspension is the familiar BMW Evo Paralever aluminum single-sided swingarm with the driveshaft as well.There is a marked difference at the front: where all the other BMW models with the ‘R 1300’ designation have wishbone front suspension, the R 1300 RS has a conventional 47 mm inverted fork. Suspension travel is 5.5 inches at the front and 5.1 inches at the rear.The brakes consist of twin 310 mm discs at the front with radial four-piston fixed calipers and a 285 mm disc with a two-piston floating caliper at the rear. Cast aluminum alloy wheels with hollow spokes have a 17-inch diameter and have tubeless radial tires fitted on them. This Is A Sporty Bike BMWThe R 1300 RS is over 84 inches long and 33.3 inches wide with a near-60-inch wheelbase. That makes it a full-size motorcycle. Its 31.1-inch seat height puts it somewhere in the range of a regular street bike. The fuel tank capacity isn’t very large for such a motorcycle at 4.5 gallons, but that’s okay since its primary focus isn’t long-distance touring. Lastly, the weight lies at 540 pounds fully fueled and ready to ride. An Almost Unlimited Features List Is Here BMWWe’ll try and stick to the highlights, else we’ll go on forever – that’s how many options are present for the R 1300 RS. The by-wire throttle and six-axis IMU offer a lot of customization of the riding experience, including a maximum of four riding modes, traction control, ABS, and engine drag torque control – all with cornering functionality wherever applicable. It also has optional active cruise control and forward collision warning thanks to its forward-facing radar. Another option that makes riding it safer is the Headlight Pro, which is an intelligent cornering headlamp. A 12V socket and USB-C charging port are standard, as is a 6.5-inch TFT display with Bluetooth and navigation. The Rider Aids Are Almost Sci-Fi BMWDiving deeper, the ABS is switchable if you get the optional ABS Pro. The Dynamic Brake Control will even cut the throttle during hard braking maneuvers to help shorten braking distances. There is a Sport Brake upgrade available, which offers a little more braking performance. The suspension has dynamic ESA as standard, meaning that it adjusts damping automatically as per the situation in real time. Get the optional DSA, though, and you’ll get even more features: the front spring rate is also adjustable electronically on the R 1300 RS, which BMW claims is a world first for a production motorcycle. It will even help you put it on the center stand more easily.BMWYou can have performance suspension installed, which gives you more travel, ride height, and therefore more lean angle. It raises the seat height by 0.4 inches. Speaking of seats, there are comfort and sport upgrades for both the rider and pillion seats available, and all except the sport pillion seat have seat heating included. There is optional luggage as well, and the tank bag has a magnetic ring that helps you put it in exactly the right place on the tank – quite like Apple’s MagSafe wireless chargers. No Real Automatic Alternative To The R 1300 RS MV AgustaAutomatic motorcycles aren’t A Thing yet with the motorcycle-buying public. The US market doesn’t have too many automatic motorcycles to choose from, and when you narrow it down further to ‘performance motorcycle’, the options dry up. Yamaha’s Y-AMT tech hasn’t yet made it to the US market; it is the only fully automatic motorcycle gearbox tech that hasn’t made it here yet. We’d also like to mention Honda’s E-Clutch system and MV Agusta’s SCS system. Both of these are semi-automatic gearboxes that eliminate the need for a clutch lever, but you still need to shift gears yourself.KawasakiThere are a few good automatic motorcycles available with some pace: the Kawasaki Ninja 7 Hybrid has the acceleration of a liter sports bike from rest, but the rest of the time it has middleweight performance. If we don’t mind giving up the internal combustion engine entirely, the Harley-Davidson Livewire One and Zero SR/F are options. They approach performance from different directions, but they are both quite good products. They’re also both battery electric vehicles, and those have their own sets of advantages and disadvantages.KTM/Rudi SchedlThere is also the KTM 1390 Super Adventure S Evo with its automated manual transmission. Yes, the price hasn’t been officially announced on the website yet. And yes, it’s a big, heavy adventure bike. But it puts out 170 horsepower and 107 pound-feet of torque – that should ideally qualify it as a performance bike!Source: BMW USA
