BMW’s motorcycles are certainly fast, but San Diego BMW Motorcycles wanted to see exactly how high they can raise the bar. Therefore, helped by Shane Kinderis, owner of Alpine Performance in Australia, they’ve tweaked the motorcycle’s water-cooled, 4-stroke in-line, four-cylinder-engine to make it crank out 220 hp (the stock unit delivers a maximum output of 193 hp). Besides the pumped up engine, the motorcycle has also received a new fairing for improved aerodynamics created by Mike Verdugo of Catalyst Composites in Escondido, CA.

After all the modifications were finished, the motorcycle was left on the hands of Erin Hunter and Andy Sills of Hunter Sills Racing, two high speed riders with a huge experience in Landspeed Racing competitions.

The modified BMW S 1000 RR was unleashed on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah and has managed to hit a maximum speed of 224,190 miles per hour on Friday, August 16 2013, thus becoming the fastest motorcycle in BMW’s history.

Hit the jump for the official press release.

Press release

Claims Title of World’s Fastest BMW Motorcycle

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – August 30, 2013... 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 Friday, August 16, 2013, at the famed SCTA Speedweek. The achievement made this S1000RR 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, CA.

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 Shane 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 roadracing 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. Maxima Oils: The Maxima 530RR was our insurance policy against excessive friction and heat. The full line of Maxima products were used to protect the bike from one of the harshest environments on the planet. Catalyst Composites, maker of all kinds of motorcycle racing bodywork. Alpha Racing, providers of high performance specialized engine parts. Sprint Filter, suppliers of the world's finest air filters."

The team will be racing this bike again, along with a more traditionally faired BMW S 1000 RR, at the International Motorcycle Speed Trials by BUB, August 24– 29, 2013 held at Bonneville Salt Flats. Their goals are to bring home two international FIM records and multiple national AMA records for the San Diego BMW Motorcycles and Hunter Sills team.