Considering a 1200 Rallye

[Tiger1]

Hello All

I am looking at buying a 1200 Rallye to do some long distance touring including a lot of gravel roads.

Firstly, I currently own both a Triumph Tiger 955 and a Tiger 1050 but am looking at an Explorer to replace both. Obviously I am a Tiger fan but to be honest the quality and drab appearance of the Explorer has caused me to consider a BMW for the first time.
However a ride on the GS has left me totally underwhelmed and wondering what the appeal is to this bike. The quality of the GS is unquestionable but the engine feels antiquated and underpowered to the point of being dangerous.

I don't get it, the GS has such a strong following but I don't understand why.

 

[David Nimrod]

The quality of the GS is unquestionable...

Er, no it's not

 

[Robbo1200ADV]

You need to give it a good few hours test ride . Different to any Tiger (I've had 3 of those) You'll either get it or you wont .try the Adventure 1200 as well

 

[David Nimrod]

...the engine feels antiquated and underpowered to the point of being dangerous.

Sounds like you need to ride my R100GS then

 

[Neil A]

Eh, what?

the engine feels .... underpowered to the point of being dangerous.

What were you doing? Did you remember to turn it on? Have you never ridden a 125 or anything?

TBH, you should probably cross it off the list (I don't think anyone will mind)

Why flog away at something that seems unlikely to give you what you want?

If it's just curiosity, I'm sure plenty of folks will come up with their whys and wherefores of GS ownership. I've only ever ridden one 1150 & one 1200 so I'm not that experienced. I've had a fair few other bikes, but I liked all of them for different reasons (even the £50 MZ 125).

One of my biggest issues with the GS is that there are so many around.

If I'm honest with myself, part of why I like riding bikes is that not many people do it, so it makes me feel special. If I had an uncommon bike, that would be more so, but I like the GS!

 

[APE]

It's a better proposition if your looking for grunt rather than max power

 

[Tiger1]

Er, no it's not

I was referring to the quality of the paint, the materials and exceptional colour scheme.
The overall quality of the bike in regards to reliability, or lack of, is well documented

 

[David Nimrod]

I was referring to the quality of the paint... and exceptional colour scheme.

Ah, that's OK then!

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

I rode a Rallye yesterday.............pricey @ £13k

 

[gebrauchtwagen83]

So your not really considering a gs then haha

 

[Tiger1]

You need to give it a good few hours test ride . Different to any Tiger (I've had 3 of those) You'll either get it or you wont .try the Adventure 1200 as well

The dealer would only allow a 20 km round trip, escorted by the salesperson.
No passing and no hoonery, I even had to talk them into taking my favourite test route which included roads that should favour the GS.
No need for the Adventure in my future plans.

 

[Georgeeboi]

Go to a different dealer I had the demo for as long as I needed it as long as I put the fuel back when I finished, I had a Ducati 1198 before the GS and that had more power than anyone can use on the roads but loved the GS, take one out and give it some up and down the box before you say no to a GS.

 

[Georgeeboi]

Oh buy a triple black there faster than the rallye!

 

[Tiger1]

Sounds like you need to ride my R100GS then

From my brief experience with the GS I can only conclude that the Tiger 955 would comprehensively outrun the 1200 in any test you might care to suggest
and further more I can assure you the the Tiger 1050 is considerably faster than the 955 on every level so I can only assume that any 1200 GS would be noticeably slower than both Tigers regardless of modifications.

However my question is not regarding outright speed rather than overall appeal
of the bike and I am hoping that some of the forum members could point to the intrinsic attributes of the GS rather than the drawbacks, such as power, which I have already mentioned

 

[illustratedman]

Gs

I no longer own a gs i sold mine and bought a super tenere but my 1150 adv was a great bike, if you cant discern the intrisic qualities of the gs for yourself i'd suggest you stick to what you know

 

[Tiger1]

What were you doing? Did you remember to turn it on? Have you never ridden a 125 or anything?

Well done champ. I asked a serious question of a well regarded forum and you responded with a answer worthy of a person yet to discover basic reading skills.

 

[prwatts]

Don't worry about Neil. I lot of guys here just like to stir the shite.

Consider this - there must be something about the GS for it to be the ongoing sales success it is, an the water-cooled model is just around the corner.
I have ridden may bikes and come back to the GS because it is much more than the sum of its parts. They have a reputation for poor reliability but my MY04 gave fault free running for 60,000m so for me it was as good as any Japanese bike, but others have had terrible experience with them. I just hope the next one is as good.
I am just surprised that you found it powerless to the point of dangerous - esteemed UK magazine test riders have declared the GS and amazing Track Bike. Maybe the dealer has done something to the bike to de-tune it?
My son has a TL1000 and he says the GS is great - he just does not like the grandad image that goes with it.
If you are still willing to give the GS another chance to steal your heart, go to another dealer and try and test ride a used bike with more than 10,000m on it. And you have to ride for at least 2 hours, on all kinds of roads.
Peter

 

[APE]

What sort of roads did you ride it on ? - they work better on slower tighter corners than faster A roads imo. Great handling, poise and mid range power. I love them on mountain roads. Also work brilliantly two up and over long distance. Will never be the one for a track day though.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

PS - Tiger1 lives in Australia

 

[APE]

PS - Tiger1 lives in Australia

Ah maybe that explains it - are they boring and straight ? If so I would buy a 'busa