That Was Not the 2015 BMW S1000RR & Here's Why

A couple days ago we ran a story that purported to show the front section of the 2015 BMW S1000RR in a CAD rendering. We already know from spy photos that the S1000RR is getting an update, and we are curious to see if BMW will introduce a symmertrical headlight, like it seems to be doing with the S1000XR sport-tourer.

The story was bogus, and as many of our readers pointed out in the comments, the photo in question was a rendering of the original S1000RR, circa 2009. I asked our good friend Iwan at Oliepeil, who has written several times here at A&R already, to elaborate on why this bogus story was run because it’s an important topic when it comes to digital publishing.

I don’t pretend to boast that Asphalt & Rubber is immune from the follies of online journalism, though we might be the most transparent. Any reader online, reading any subject matter, should consider their sources and apply critical thinking to what they read. If you’re ever looking for ours, they’re at the bottom of ever story, usually with a link. – Jensen

Maybe you’re asking yourself how all those websites and magazines are able to bring motorcycle news to you every day. Let us explain how that works, with an example.

Our amazingly handsome and hyper-intelligent Dutch friends at Oliepeil.nl, the best motorcycle website in the world, have quite a reputation of serving up scoops, for which they often upset the worldwide motorcycle industry complex, every now and then. We are also known for our pratical jokes.

So the site I run, Oliepeil, put up a photo of the 2011 BMW S1000RR on our website, with a hint and a link to a spyshot of the rumoured 2015-version of that bike here on Asphalt & Rubber. We didn’t use a real photo, but a rendering that we “borrowed” from a website that sells 3D CAD models. What happened afterwards shows how news is being made in 2014.

A&R fell went for it, of course in the name of scientific research. After which the picture popped up on almost all other major motorcycle websites around the world.

From France to Japan, India to Russia, Slovakia to the UK, they all featured this rendering of the old model as “for sure” the 2015 BMW S1000RR. Some used capitals to shout “WE GOT HIM”, others more carefully using “Is this the new 2015 BMW S1000RR?” headline qualifier.

Most websites didn’t bother to name the source, while others went even further and erased the “Oliepeil.nl” logo, and put in their own.

Check the pics below, and laugh with us at what in Dutch is called a “canard” — a not-true newsfact that is being picked up by the major media as being true. After which the intern that wrote it is being sacked, as happened over here at A&R.