BMW R1300GS

[Bigjawa]

Who the fuck is going to take a 25k bike off road?

It looks like one of those new Defenders.

[Mr Moofo]

That is a gopping design - it is blocky, unappealing and looks like a truck

[ChrisW]

Who the fuck is going to take a 25k bike off road?

It looks like one of those new Defenders.

About as likely to go off-road, too.

[Horse]

Looks like an accident in a tupperware factory.

“The appearance of the new BMW R1300GS Adventure is sure to attract attention,” Head of BMW Motorrad Development, Christof Lischka said. “Never before have seating comfort, ergonomics and wind and weather protection been so harmoniously combined with ... "

"Harmoniously"????

Oh - and it [almost] has cup holders - rubber covered flat areas on the tank.

[Whysub]

Its looks seem to be a bit familiar.....

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[Horse]

Its looks seem to be a bit familiar.....
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Ah, yes, Bimota Mantra, isn't it?

[KungFooBob]

Its looks seem to be a bit familiar.....
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How very dare you.

I'd love an ES250!

[Whysub]

Not disrespecting the ES, but you can't deny there is a similarity

[Whysub]

[Scootabout]

I had to check that it wasn't April 1st.

[kendo57]

When the initial shock dies down it might do ok. I can see the 'Adventurer type' riders seeing it
as a two wheel Land Rover. I think the rugged looks will appeal .

[The Spin Doctor]

I thought that was an electric bike at first glance!

Obviously the exhaust somewhat pokes a hole in that observation. But the black cylinders are almost invisible and the big ally (?) panels made me think it has a massive battery.

Maybe they are visually prepping people for the moment BMW slip an electric motor into the GS - despite their recent corporate statements that they're not going to invest in leccie bikes.

Either that or they looked at the Pan America and thought "that's got styling cues we need to use".

[The Spin Doctor]

Add some panniers, and you've (almost) got this...

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[Wossname]

My first bike, but should be red and blue. Nostalgia is great…2 stroke twin burbling in your ears, N Antrim coast road past White Park Bay…aahh. Smoke screen and smell.

I forgave it everything else.

[Bigjawa]

My first bike, but should be red and blue. Nostalgia is great…2 stroke twin burbling in your ears, N Antrim coast road past White Park Bay…aahh. Smoke screen and smell.

I forgave it everything else.

You'll still get smoke and smell up there, now it's from some badly remapped TDi Golf!

[Wossname]

You can’t compare the foul stench of afterburner diesel with the sweet and heady aroma of 2 stroke, Shirley? Not to mention the soundscape….

[KungFooBob]

I've got a 2016 R1200GS TE Triple Black.

It's a special edition with all the options.

LED headlight, Keyless ride, Alarm, Quick shifter, ESA, Heated Grips, Satnav Prep, Vario Panniers, offroad pegs, centre stand, spoked wheels, crashbars, etc...

I quite fancy the new 1300, because who doesn't like new and shiney?

The base model 1300 is just over £16k, which isn't that bad by modern bike prices imho. I built one on the BMW webshite with my options.

£22k!

I reckon I'll be keeping the 1200 for a few more years. There's no way I'm not specifying keyless ride!

[mboy]

I've got a 2016 R1200GS TE Triple Black.

It's a special edition with all the options.

LED headlight, Keyless ride, Alarm, Quick shifter, ESA, Heated Grips, Satnav Prep, Vario Panniers, offroad pegs, centre stand, spoked wheels, crashbars, etc...

I quite fancy the new 1300, because who doesn't like new and shiney?

The base model 1300 is just over £16k, which isn't that bad by modern bike prices imho. I built one on the BMW webshite with my options.

£22k!

I reckon I'll be keeping the 1200 for a few more years. There's no way I'm not specifying keyless ride!

That's the thing with BMW's "base model" bikes... They lure you in (should you be that way inclined) with what looks like a reasonable price, and then you find out that just about anything and everything you actually want on the bike is extra! Much like they did with their cars in the 90's...

A friend is a BMW motorrad salesman and laughs at the concept of a base model bike, because although technically they exist, he has never actually seen one!

FWIW... I bought a one month old KTM 1290 Super Adventure S with tech pack, heated grips, engine bars etc. for £12.5k with 1500 miles on the clock... Not only is it faster and more engaging than a GS, the reality is that you're dropping the best part of 40% more cash on an equivalent BMW GS or Ducati Multistrada now, spec for spec wise...

[KungFooBob]

When I bought the BMW, it was GS or Multistrada.

The Ducati had the power and the GS had the shaft drive. Sounds silly, but unless you've toured in the pissing rain for a week the benefit of a shaft isn't a positive.

I'd ruled out the KTM and the Africa Twin based on them having chain drive and both had narrow pillion seats. The wife is still whinging about the GS seat, little does she know how bad it could have been.

Also, aren't KTM about to go tits up because the cams are made from the same chocolate Honda used in the early 80's?

[mboy]

When I bought the BMW, it was GS or Multistrada.

The Ducati had the power and the GS had the shaft drive. Sounds silly, but unless you've toured in the pissing rain for a week the benefit of a shaft isn't a positive.

I'd ruled out the KTM and the Africa Twin based on them having chain drive and both had narrow pillion seats. The wife is still whinging about the GS seat, little does she know how bad it could have been.

Also, aren't KTM about to go tits up because the cams are made from the same chocolate Honda used in the early 80's?

There are lots of negatives to shaft drive too... Chain is so simple, efficient, and easy to maintain too. The shaft drive units were lifed on the 1200 and 1250's (suspect you've had yours fixed under warranty?), but apparently it's now classed as a consumable item on the 1300... I was with Bruce (TeapotOne from YouTube) who was probably the first guy in the uk (certainly in the public eye) with one on one of his Chickenstrips tours the other week... He jested with me about my chain drive, and I then asked how much his shaft drive would be to replace when it wears out (not if, he does 15-20k miles per year and they're only rated for 60k I believe)... He muttered something about it being someone else's problem, as he would be chopping the bike in before that happened regardless, as it's something like a £3k bill to replace it (and if it failed before then and wasn't covered under warranty, he said he'd just buy a KTM!)!

I'll live with a chain and sprockets at £120ish every 20k miles and 5mins cleaning it every 1000 miles or so, and 20secs lubing it every tankful... I'm on 8500 miles on my 6 month old 1290SAS now, have done an 8 day trip, a 6 day trip, a few long weekends etc. already on this bike (and it's my 2nd one of them) and haven't once wished for a shaft drive... In fact, when I had a 1200GS, one of the things I really didn't like about it was the torque reaction under acceleration from the shaft drive!

The 1290SAS' pillion seat isn't especially narrow, but it's firmer and the pillion pegs are higher than on the GS for sure... My GF preferred being pillion on the GS as it was a bit more comfortable and spacious... But I'm doing 95% of my mileage solo again these days, and I found the GS soooooooo dull that I started finding excuses not to ride it! Replaced with a 1290SAS and that problem was solved... The GF has still done 250+ mile days on the back of the 1290 now anyway. If I was going week long touring 2 up I'd be looking at something more comfortable for sure, but that's unlikely to happen for a few years yet.

KTM have had cam issues on the 790/890 LC8C engine that they have handled badly for sure... But the LC8 V-Twin in the 1290 is basically bullet proof... Even more so than LC GS's (with longer service intervals too!) as long as maintained correctly... KTM are having some financial difficulties right now, but it is multi-faceted (there's another thread on this forum with a lot more in depth on the subject), and whilst the bad press over their poor handling of the LC8C cam issue is costing them in the midweight sector for sure, it's only a small part of where they are... Far larger was the fact that like many other companies during COVID, their share value was massively overstated and had been due a correction for some time. Then there's the issue that they put too much effort into their eMTB brands at exactly the wrong time, just as the market had turned during COVID, which has cost them a lot too... KTM's production partners Bajaj (India) and CFMoto (China) have far too much vested interest in KTM's success to see it go down the pan (even if it was going to), so would undoubtedly intervene if it was about to...