Ride on a new R 1200 GS

[Big Dave]

http://kiwiridermagazine.blogspot.co...gs-ridden.html

[Taz]

Watched that whole video and no footage of us coming the other way

[Big Dave]

Watched that whole video and no footage of us coming the other way

It started raining moderately on top of the hill so I took the camera off - stopped raining immediately after of course.

[AllanB]

UGGGG

Is there a BMW optional leg extension to enable me to get aboard or maybe a fold down step like some of the 4WD's have?

Now it's just my opinion ......... but if I was heading a bit 'bush' in NZ I'm really not that far away from a town, pub or sealed road, consequently I'd prefer all the crap off the bike so I could actually enjoy the trail. It is not really 'long way round' country here so I'd shell out the cost of a small car less and get a DR650 or similar.

Or have I missed the point - with the GS is the plan to actually make your own trail and just bulldoze down anything in your way.

[Taz]

What is your definition of a bit bush Allanb?

[That looks like fun]

What is your definition of a bit bush Allanb?

A bad shave perhaps

[Big Dave]

Very desirable, great all-round motorcycle. Fast enough on any road, comfortable and very sure footed. Leading edge tech. Premium price.

[AllanB]

But don't you think with all the electronics etc they are now beyond 'fixing' to limp home if you dump them in the middle of a bush (haha dump in a bush).

Sign of the times I guess but I still remember the very first GS - now that was a basic bike!

[warewolf]

That's not exactly a point of difference for the GS. Every bike in the class is going more electronic.

[Big Dave]

I guess but I still remember the very first GS - now that was a basic bike!

And it marked a period of 'staidness' in their overall designs that saw them fall to the bottom of the sales heap. Plenty of tech but not much bling.

They got a new CEO and went through a 're-invention' 5 years ago and the vehicles are now quite special.

They are expensive but I reckon you get what you pay for with all the units I've tested.

Value judgements are up to the individual.

Personally - I think fuel gauges are ghey, got no uses for windscreens, GPS or mobile phone jacks. Motor, wheels, seat and handlebars do me. But lots of people like 'farkles' - certainly the vast majority of ADV types it seems - and the GS is prefab killafarkled and it all works pretty good.

[That looks like fun]

If you don't like electronics etc then stick with the older "more reliable" (insert Tui add here) bikes. If you just don't like BMW's then don't buy one
Any bike that breaks down in the bush is a pain in the painful thing. Fortunately as freedom of choice exists (only just ) we are allowed to ride whatever we want to get stuck in the bush on (And we are also allowed to slag off other makes even orange ones and red ones or rainbow coloured ones. Excepts when big fellas ride them and then its not ok ok )

[AllanB]

Rainbow coloured ones ....................

OK I may have sounded a bit harsh. I can easily see them as a trans-continent machine. But 4 hours or less on a bike in NZ and you can go ocean to ocean!

Probably irrelevant anyway - I'd be to anal to get it dirty if I owned one!

And those GS guys piss me off when I'm on my bike giving it some stick on the hills, me thinking I'm doing well, all huckered down over the tank, with sweat on my brow and some bugger on a 300kg trail bike passes me with his flip-face-helmet open sipping a cup of coffee held in his left hand I mean really - they don't even wave!

[Gremlin]

But 4 hours or less on a bike in NZ and you can go ocean to ocean!

Must be doing something wrong... 22 hours of riding (or 27 over 2 days) and I didn't end up in the ocean... must be going in circles

I'm surprised to see myself say this, but I think it has a little too much tech (3 computers... 3x times the trouble), and is a damn big bike for the vast majority of road riding I do (need it to be a bit more nimble).

Country wide support is also a bit of a concern, I can only think of Auckland and Wellington that have properly kitted out workshops? Is McIver and Veitch one, any more?

[Devil]

I'm surprised to see myself say this, but I think it has a little too much tech (3 computers... 3x times the trouble), and is a damn big bike for the vast majority of road riding I do (need it to be a bit more nimble).

Eh? The standard GS is what, 10-15kg heavier than your bike? and thats made up with mostly petrol!

Can you fix YOUR bikes electronics?

Nimble is not a problem on a GS. They're as nimble as a nimble thing.

[george formby]

I've scratched a hole in the side of my head figuring this out, I consider the GS, Super10 etc to be too lardy & complicated for adventure riding but....... They are all about getting somewhere, capably & comfortably, the challenge is riding such a big bike in marginal conditions & staying right way up. So I guess for this they are the dogs danglies.
My own perception of adventure riding is using the terrain to have fun, pop some little wheelies, do a few power slides on the gravel, generally be a larrikin. I'm testically under sized to do this on something as big as a GS so never really got the point until my finger went through my cranium.
I get it now. If you want the road less travelled, a GS. If you want to play, a middle weight.