|
It's been a very good year for BMW's adventure-touring R1200GS, and the year has only just started!
An all-new design, the GS was released in mid-2004, and the awards have been rolling in ever since. So impressed were Cycle World editors that we gave it two big honors—a Ten Best Bikes medallion and naming it co-winner of our World's Best Streetbike Shootout (along with Yamaha's FZ-1). In a rare moment of editorial unity, our friends at Motorcyclist magazine named the BMW their Bike of the Year. Then the Industrial Design Society gave it a gold medal in the group's International Design Excellence Awards. Finally, as 2004 closed, the GS was awarded the prestigious International Bike of the Year trophy, an annual balloting of motorcycle magazines from around the world.
So, what makes this Beemer so well liked?
Allow us to quote ourselves, from Cycle World's IBoY nomination of the GS: "This is a motorcycle almost without limits—part standard, part sport-tourer, part backroad bomber, part dual-purpose bike—at home anywhere from the Interstate to the Outback, ready for anything."
In fact, when the first GS was introduced way back in 1980, it virtually created the adventure-bike category. Ever since, the series has been among BMW's top sellers, often in the number-one spot. More than merely large-displacement dual-purpose bikes that also are capable highway cruisers, the GS family carries a certain bon vivant attitude. Circumnavigating the world or just negotiating the dirt road around the local lake, they seem to say, "No problem, let's go!"
Actually, "go" is the operative word regarding the 1200's air/oil-cooled flat-Twin because it produces a claimed 100 horsepower at the crankshaft, an 18 percent increase over its R1150 predecessor. Simple hot-rodding techniques yielded the gain—longer stroke, larger valves, lighter pistons, beefed-up crank, higher compression ratio, more aggressive camshafts. The motor is discernable from its forebears by new-style "hex" cylinder heads.
Along with its extra urge comes fewer vibes, as the new motor now has an effective, cleverly packaged counterbalancer that knocks down the secondary "rocking couple" that gave the 1150 its infamous thrum at highway speeds. Now there's no need for a rev-dropping overdrive top gear, so the 1200 has a normally spaced six-speed transmission.
More power and less vibration are good; so is less weight. A stem-to-stern diet has pared about 60 pounds, a noticeable drop whether you're powering out of a hairpin curve or threading your way down a single-track trail.
Any GS owner with an ounce of explorer in his/her veins will have to opt for the new Vario saddlebags (mounting brackets come standard), a square, easy-to-pack design that expands from narrow to wide mode in a simple, one-handed operation. A matching top case really adds to cargo capacity.
While you're at it, might as well order up BMW's neat Navigator GPS system. With an R1200GS, you never know where you might end up.
UPS
•Sealed-for-life final-drive–no need to change rear gear oil
•Manually adjustable windscreen really effective
•Narrow-nose saddle allows short riders a straight shot at the ground.
•Standard ABS system can be disarmed for off-road use
DOWNS
•Lighter, yes, but 496 pounds still hefty off-road
•“Power brakes” a little over-boosted for some
•$15,260 a lot for something that might take “soil samples” every now and then
|
