BMW R1200GS Adventure

BMW R1200GS Adventure

review & road test

Intro

Riding the R1200GS

The R1200GS engine

Handling the GS

Off road on the GS

Braking

BMW R1200GS clutch

Switchgear & controls

Conclusion

Specifications

Prices

Intro

Insectile? Stylish? Ugly? Complex? Sophisticated? Unwieldy? Classy? Overweight? Soulless? Sublime? Dangerous? We've heard all this and more when listening to biking folk talking about the virtues and vices of the BMW R1200GS Adventure. But for all the criticism and negativity, BMW Motorrad is still outselling the competition with its go anywhere, go anytime, globe-trotting, ultimate two-wheeled riding machine, which means that this motorcycle is easily the preferred choice of the majority in this class.

Introduced in 2004 as the R1200GS, this first generation dual-sport, air/oil-cooled motorcycle picked up seamlessly where the R1150GS left off.

The bike began as a 100hp (75kW) boxer, then took a power pill in 2008 which hiked the hp to 105. Hardly dizzying, but a long way from insignificant.

That same year, BMW plumbed in an Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Suspension Adjustment (ESA) and Automatic Stability Control (ASC).

Everything did what it was supposed to do, but there was clearly scope for improvement, and so the BMW engineers set to work revising the entire package and ensuring that year on year, this was always the machine to beat.

In 2010, the big change was the introduction of double overhead camshafts (DOHC). This further hiked the power output to 110hp (82 kW) @ 7,750 rpm. But also, it pushed the redline up from 8,000rpm to 8,500rpm.

In 2012, BMW brought the air/oil-cooled boxer era to an end and introduced ... gulp!...liquid-cooling (nothwithstanding the fact that oil is a liquid too). This change brought with it a quieter engine (through tighter manufacturing tolerances, an extra 10lbs in weight, and another 15hp for further rider exploitation.

Today, the 125hp BMW R1200GS has become one of the most recognisable motorcycles on the planet as seen in the hands of Charlie Boorman and Ewan McGregor in the TV series Long Way Down. Additonally, TV's Hairy Bikers (Dave Myers and Si King)have been known to manhandle a BMW R1200GS in between stuffing their faces out on the open road.

More ominously, it was the last motorcycle test-ridden by long-established biking journalist Kevin Ash, and was the bike he was riding in South Africa when he crashed and was killed.

Riding the R1200GS

Pretty much everyone you speak to will tell you how well balanced the big boxer is, and how easy it is to throw about on the move.

Which is perfectly true. But it's still a heavyweight contender (even when unloaded for the daily commute). And when this motorcycle wants to fall over, you'll have a seriously hard time keeping it vertical unless you're equally heavyweight, tall, and determined.

Short riders beware.

And if those cylinder barrels come down on your leg, it will make your eyes seriously water (as many riders have testified).

But fortunately, the general good manners, the neutral steering, the excellent suspension, the pin-sharp braking, and the £13,000 price tag ensures that the shiny side usually stays uppermost with mishaps being anything but an everyday occurrence.

The throttle bodies on these more recent GSs, incidentally, are now mounted above the cylinders rather than behind. That serves two functions. Firstly, it gives the rider more leg room, and secondly, it tidies up the engine and gets those all-important fuel-delivery components well away from the dirt and tucked up nicely into the bodywork surrounding the petrol tank.

The R1200GS engine

The 1,170cc flat-twin engine is genuinely a dual-sport motor (as opposed to an engine built for one discipline but press-ganged into accepting another). It delivers the power in a huge flex of mechanical muscle and pulls and pulls and pulls. And that means you can play up-change games with the gearbox and screw every last oomph from it. Or you can take a more laid-back approach and just torque it to the max.

But we don't much like the racket the engine or exhaust makes. You can't really fault it in any objective way. It's a precision piece of Teutonic engineering and, like Wagner, hits all the serious notes. But like much of the hardware designed and manufactured in Germany, there's also a coldness there. A kind of blandness even. Or, if you prefer, a sense that it's all just a little too well behaved.

Never for a second does it cough, splutter, hesitate or refuse to respond. And naturally, you don't really want it too. But if it just mildly threatened to disobey your command, or hinted at a little mutiny on the highway, we'd feel better and would maybe start to believe the bike had a bona-fide personality rather than a set of technical instructions.

But with every twist of the throttle, the GS promises absolute obedience. And you either love that, or you don't.

Handling the GS

The handling, first time out, surprises. You expect the bike to be cumbersome, but it's lithe (albeit perhaps a little too light on the steering with insufficient feedback). When you brake hard, you expect the front fork to dive and plough the pointed end into the tarmac. But it keeps its head and remains unflustered. On hard acceleration you expect the bike to squat. But instead, it keeps its tail up—unless, that is, you're seriously laden and toting a pillion. And even then, it's all controlled and perfectly choreographed by the unique Telelever fork (adjustable for pre-load), the Paralever driveline (with a fully adjustable shock/damper), and near perfect port-to-starboard balance.

If you never took this bike off-road, you'd still be getting your money's worth as a long-distance sports-tourer (which is arguably something of a contradiction in terms). And if you simply used it to commute to work, you'd have the best seat on the bus and would arrive each day safe, self-assured, and even a little cocky.

But take it off-road and you realise why riders flock to this Beemer. However, the spectre of blandness was always hovering near us when we first (and second) tried the GS.

Off road on the GS

Truth to tell, this is another world for us. We're not serious mud-pluggers. And crashing and burning just isn't our style. Nevertheless, we found a a few dozen more challenging miles to fool around on; mostly old farm tracks plus half a dozen or so circuits of a local road that might have been land-mined once or twice and then hit with cluster bombs. The Beemer, naturally, just ate it all up and bounced and shimmied and dug in whenever and wherever asked. So okay, experts at falling off on rocks and suchlike will scoff. They'll often tell you that you don't really understand the GS until you're beneath it looking up. But in fact, most GS riders will never do anything much more exciting than we did—albeit, they'll often tackle the dirt a lot further from home with all the risks that accompany their foreign excursions.

Mostly, riding off-road on the R1200GS Adventure will mean riding on unmade roads, or hill tracks, or overgrown paths, or sand, and maybe a little ice and snow (and there's never enough sand, snow or ice around when you need it, huh?).

So if you're the kind whose already owned a brace of adventure bikes and have broken a few bones and spent a week or two in traction, you won't find anything revealing here.

But GS virgins, amateurs and wannabes, stay put. There's more stuff to follow...

Braking

Braking is practically perfect.  But then, that's a trick that most seriously serious motorcycle have mastered these days. Pretty much everyone shops at Brembo or Nissin, and pretty much everyone is broadly satisfied with the stopping power of their chosen mount.

The twin front 305mm, 4-piston radial Brembos offer all the grab you need in an emergency, and with plenty of feel. But if you're possessed of a gentler spirit, you can still lightly scrub off the horses and pretty much think yourself to a standstill.

The rear 276mm 2-piston Brembo will squeeze the life out of the petal disc, unless, that is, the switchable ABS system tells it otherwise.

However, the R1200GS Adventure is often equipped with more luggage than a cruise liner, and by the time you've got a heavy rider and pillion, and a long downward switchback, you'll remind yourself that engine braking is a vital ingredient in the GS recipe, and that braking muscle picks up nicely where the ABS shies away.

BMW R1200GS clutch

...and that brings us neatly to the clutch. It's all new. BMW underestimated just how much punishment the older, single plate unit was going to take. Hence smoky tales of clutch burn-out and total failure (talk to some GS1150 owners for the full horror stories). And hence the number of bikes on the road fitted with aftermarket ceramic clutches—which, we're advised, last forever and exact a brutal revenge on the flywheel.

Many GSessers will disagree, "My bike's got X-zillion miles on the original clutch, and there's life left in it." Which is perhaps true. Or true-ish. Nevertheless, some riders either have a clumsy technique, or suffer from a clutch grudge, because if you're planning to take a long distance overland haul on a pre-2015 bike, the clutch is one area that sooner or later you'll become familiar with.

However, in general use (read: sensitive use) that R1200GS clutch is smooth, progressive and does exactly what it's been ordered to do.

But BMW has now done with that. The new design is a wet, 8-plate, "anti-hop" affair which is BMW-speak for a slipper clutch.

The most significant thing about this new design is the reduced diameter. Even basic physics tells us that a smaller diameter equals reduced inertial forces. Therefore, you get less "slap" and "clap" on gears changes, and you shift more delicately from one cog to another.

To deal with the inevitable heat build up, the 8-plates are now wet, meaning oil-cooled. And the net result result is a longer life and a more refined ride.

That's the theory, anyway.

Switchgear & controls

The switchgear is also close to perfect. Nice action. Positive detents. Weatherproof. Idiotproof. And easy to navigate. But once again, there's that German blandness.

Conclusion

It's just a great all-rounder motorcycle, but not a lot of use to shorter riders. And naturally it comes at a price to match.

If you ride off-road, you're gonna drop it now and again. So factor in extra repair costs. And if you don't ride off-road, you probably don't need this motorcycle.

That said, if you want it anyway, you'll have a long-legged, reliable bike with all the road presence you could want, and more than enough power to get you both into and out of trouble.

But then, you could say this about most modern adventure bikes. Ultimately, it just comes down to your eyes and your wallet.