As well as testing new Pirelli tyres at the recent Portimao test BMW Motorrad Motorsport rider Leon Haslam had the chance to try out many key parts of the 2012 machine, alongside his new team-mate Marco Melandri.

Haslam had one 2011 bike and one bike with a 2012 chassis and bodywork and several other new parts, in advance of the machine's official launch at Valencia a few days later. He said of his first taste of his 2012 equipment, "A new bike so we were trying things and it was a short day finishing at three o'clock. The main difference was obviously set-up, with different chassis mods and the engine felt pretty good straight away. I was really playing around with balance. We ran out of time a bit but it went well because we were quicker than we were in the race, and that was always a positive."

All the advances to the new S1000RR racebike, both internal and external, have been devised to make the machine more rideable, and to centralise mass. Chassis changes include a modified swingarm pivot point.

This test was also used by Pirelli as part of their process of determining which tyres to take to the first round in Australia next year - as most options will be shipped there, rather than flown out like the machines and specialist tools.