Morety or is you real name Monty I don't know what you smoke in your pipe but it must be good stuff calling a Explorer 1200 better handling...that is funny
We should ride together...once
Those of you who grew up in the 70's, 80's and (possibly) even the 90's in the UK (don't know so much about other countries) will remember the game Top Trumps. I'm not sure there was ever one about bikes but I had one about military aircraft (the most popular). There were sports car ones and all sorts as well.
The idea was to find an attribute or specification on your card that would "trump" the same attribute on your opponent's card and he (or she.... don't think I ever played TT with a girl but I'm sure most of you have sisters) would hand over the card to you if your spec was higher (or in some cases even lower if it was a better thing to have).
If you had the SR 71 card you could not be trumped on speed or ceiling and you always knew the round was yours if you were choosing because you would always name these specs, but you could lose the card if your opponent chose payload, wingspan or range for instance.
The GS isn't the SR 71. I don't know what the GS equivalent would be, TBH.
You can't get two things more different than military aircraft and motorbikes but marketing has a little of TT in it. BMW don't need to endow the GS with the highest HP, or Ohlïns suspension. Conversely, if they did increase the HP to match that of the 1290, they might well have to put Ohlïns on it to handle the performance. But they know full well that the majority of the people who buy motorbikes (50,000 sold in 2017 in GS 1200 alone), don't want 160hp, they don't need it; they don't need SS suspension. They have a S1000XR for that, or a S1000RR if they want more than 160hp. (in BMW form)
What BMW do is aim for that very wide spectrum of bikers who are quite happy not to have the most of anything but a great deal of everything. Most of us don't envisage breaking speed limits on windy roads in Wales or the Picos when we buy a motorbike, but they know they can on a GS if they want to. Neither do they necessarily envisage going off road very often, but they know that with a little practice and possibly training, they would be able to on a GS (the rider, not the machine is the limiting factor, right?). It doesn't have major reliability issues and has proven itself, and continues to prove itself the favoured steed of many RTW and other long distance adventurists, with or without support. It's also favoured by many other bikers with a rainbow of different needs. Why? Because it covers all those needs and more......more than adequately for the average rider's needs.
The other reason that they choose the GS above others is depreciation. Lots of talk on here about the Tiger 1200. Lovely bike, with many great features and a close contender for the GS crown, for sure. I had an 800 XCx and nearly upgraded but no-one talks of the depreciation of big Tigers. KTM is another one for depreciation. With the (possible) exception of the 990 and some of the lower cc A2 capable machines sought after by young new riders, big bad KTM's depreciate quite a lot in comparison to a GS. In the UK the depreciation is much higher than in, say Spain, where I'm seeing 3 year old GS's for €16,000!!! They only cost €18,000+ (with toys) new in 2015! but they still hold their price pretty well compared to many other bikes and yet they are (supposedly) the most abundant. Go figure.
The 1250 isn't supposed to be a radically new bike. It's a reworked formula (necessary for Euro 6 compliance) that's not perfect (but is for some, as I said), but it tries not to play too much with an existing formula that has been extremely lucrative for BMW Motorrad for many years. It doesn't pretend to be radical or new either, but BMW know full well that many on maturing PCP deals will trade in for the new ones because it has "enough" stuff different that was unavailable to them on their 2015/16 models; TFT, rider modes, as well as other options which don't spring to mind because I didn't have the earlier model.
It's just enough to keep them coming back without spending a fortune on re-design. That's business and who can argue with Motorrad's business model?
Maybe the GS is the equivalent to this in your game of top trumps.
Says a BMW expert who has owned a GS for a few months ......
Says a BMW expert who has owned a GS for a few months ......
Got my first GS in 2006. Had six or seven since . Numerous other BMWs too before the build quality went down and the recalls went up
Says a BMW expert who has owned a GS for a few months ......
I fail to see what that has to do with anything. I have always said to you that I bow to your superior experience with other bikes. I asked you (and the boys) what you thought, and you knew early on I'd go for the GS. You said yourself, It's a great bike (sorry, your secret's out) and that it was probably the bike for me.
Why?
I'm not the fastest rider, or the best, I hold my own but straight line speed is irrelevant to me. You know how I ride and the tours I do, we're good mates, FFS. For me (the average biker) it's the best machine.
I'm not saying it's the best bike, all I'm saying is that the sales figures speak for themselves and trying to analyse why that might be. You know that it's a good bike (a very good bike) but you have fallen out with your dealer because he's a twat (you must introduce us so I can hear the other side of the story
You also know that I spent a fair amount of time researching other bikes before making my choice. I didn't ride them all, I admit, but I didn't really feel that I had to. I did do plenty of armchair research as you know. That doesn't make me an expert, but I'm only expressing an opinion, here.
I'm quite sure I'd have liked the XR, the MS and the Tiger but I found that I quite liked the "whole package" that the GS offered and one ride was all it took to cement the whole package for me.
The proof of the pudding is that even though, as you say, I've only had mine 6 months, I can't really see myself ever being without one in my garage. If I can only have one, it will be a GS, if I can have more (like you) I'll try a few others. It may not always be the latest GS but I will have one of them.
Yeah but he’s a mate and needs winding up
Says a BMW expert who has owned a GS for a few months ......
I fail to see what that has to do with anything. I have always said to you that I bow to your superior experience with other bikes
Why?
I'm not the fastest rider, or the best, I hold my own but straight line speed is irrelevant to me. You know how I ride and the tours I do, we're good mates, FFS. For me (the average biker) it's the best machine.
I'm not saying it's the best bike, all I'm saying is that the sales figures speak for themselves and trying to analyse why that might be. You know that it's a good bike (a very good bike) but you have fallen out with your dealer because he's a twat (you must introduce us so I can hear the other side of the story
You also know that I spent a fair amount of time researching other bikes before making my choice. I didn't ride them all, I admit, but I didn't really feel that I had to. I did do plenty of armchair research as you know. That doesn't make me an expert, but I'm only expressing an opinion, here.
I'm quite sure I'd have liked the XR, the MS and the Tiger but I found that I quite liked the "whole package" that the GS offered and one ride was all it took to cement the whole package for me.
The proof of the pudding is that even though, as you say, I've only had mine 6 months, I can't really see myself ever being without one in my garage. If I can only have one, it will be a GS, if I can have more (like you) I'll try a few others. It may not always be the latest GS but I will have one of them.
I’ve not ‘fallen out’ with the dealer as such , it’s just that they are utter shite and useless.Always have been .
One of the reasons that I part exd my GSA for a K1300S using CW in Dorchester back in 2009.
For example my local dealer tried to charge me £160 last year for drilling out a seat bolt on a Turban that took all of 5 minutes and that included a £25 test ride fee !
Very few locals use them and most either go to CW in Dorchester or Rennes in France .
That’s fine for an annual service but no good for recalls or miscellaneous issues.
The main reason I don’t have one is I don’t like the look of them,don’t like the current build quality and don’t like the unfinished products launched too soon leading to major issues/ recalls .
Just look at the farce with the RT 1200 and more recently the GS850.
In saying that, I actually quote like the look of the HP 1250.
And if my local dealer was better , I would probably have owned more BMWs than I have.
LoL...he won't be a mate for long if that continues
I'm guessing you might have had some corrosion issues on Guernsey. I worked and lived on Jersey in the late 1980's and was amazed by how cars and bikes that would have been pristine on mainland UK away from the coast were falling apart with rust, some within 10 years. I remember the police routine stops on the main drag North-West out of St Helier on the A2 on the odd morning during peak commuting time...almost always there's be a few cars impounded and being winched onto a lorry for scrapping as the boys in blue and some vehicle inspectors poked around sills and what not with screw drivers making colanders out of them!
I think most vehicles are in better nick than on the mainland to be honest !!
No salt on the roads locally so less to worry about .
The last time I had rust on a bike was on my 2006 GSA1200 but it was delivered with said rust from the factory !!!
Has the new 850 had problems, then? I can see threadcreep coming on....
Lookswise the GS is a marmite bike, granted. When I was a kid my dad's dream car was a VW Beetle and I was horrified at the time that I might have to be seen in one one day! But i quite like them now. The same thing happened to me with the GS.
But let's face it, I don't think there's a product on the market that comes out these days without "issues", especially if it's new.
I had the good fortune to be invited for a tour of London Heathrow's control tower the other day and they have a pair of German WW11 binoculars on a tripod there with Carl Zeiss lenses in them. I think they came off a Panzer or a Tiger. Much better than modern equivalents, apparently, and clear as a bell even at max magnification. Over on the maintenance hanger there was a row of brand new 787's with no engines
Shocking to think that an engine that costs well over 40m quid (each!) could have such serious problems and require removal and refitting by RR , RR!!but there you go.
