Considering a 1200 Rallye

[Tiger1]

This photo of the Pentecost River crossing was taken only a few weeks ago in the Kimberley region of Australia whilst riding my Tiger 955. I could chat about the difficulty of negotiating the hidden rocks in this crossing and the probability of dropping a bike into croc infested waters without any sort of backup other than your own sense of preservation but I suppose you guys do this sort of thing every other weekend so I won't bang on about it.

I can only assume that the GS is capable of doing this sort of thing

 

[APE]

We have had a lot of rain recently

 

[David Nimrod]

I could chat about the difficulty of negotiating the hidden rocks in this crossing and the probability of dropping a bike into croc infested waters without any sort of backup other than your own sense of preservation...

I did wonder how long it'd be before our old friend put in an appearance...

 

[Tiger1]

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

I can assure you that we have more than our fair share of awesome roads in Australia

 

[APE]

Looks great . Perfect road for a GS

 

[Tiger1]

I did wonder how long it'd be before our old friend put in an appearance...

Really? That is the best you can do? A cheap cartoon from a respected moderator with over 3000 posts in answer to a photo from a part of the world you obviously have no experience of?

 

[Drofsereb]

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

Interestingly in this months 'Bike' magazine, the GS has not only gone from 'out of date crap' when the new Triumph explorer was launched, to 'still the one we would pick', it also out performed the explorer in a number of performance tests. I tried the explorer, extensively. I bought a GS, because it still has 'something' and that's what the tests seem to saying again after initial new bike euphoria/patriotism etc have worn off. Point is, it is not as slow as you think or feel it is.

P.s., I also owned a 955 tiger and it is the bike I have kept longest other than the GS. I would say the GS is better in every area, but this sort of stuff always comes down to personal opinion. That's why we all ride different bikes. You won't 'get' the GS IN 20 Kim's, it has to grow on you. If it doesn't, nobody on here will be ale to convince you otherwise, nor should they.

Good luck.

P.p.s I will be in Perth in November, but not biking this time unfortunately!

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

You were short changed on the test drive, pure and simple. How do you know what the performance is like when you weren't allowed to do your own thing? To be honest if all your interested in is performance then a GS isn't for you. They have plenty torque but at 110 horsepower they are well short of what you want by the sounds of it
I have one because it is big and comfortable and is more than capable of going anywhere I want to go 2 up with loads of kit hanging off it. It's extremely easy to maintain and IMHO looks absolutely brilliant. 0-60 and top speed is of no interest to me on this bike as I have a sports bike for that if I want it.
Go to another dealer if you can and get a proper test ride. If you still don't like it then move on and try something else.

 

[(RIP) Johno23]

Not sure what has happened to the BM you rode. The Triumph only has 3-4 more bhp of power than the BM but more importantly has nearly 30% less torque than the BM and higher in the rev range which makes it far more usuable than the Triumph. Before I bought my BM I tried both back to back and the Triumph didn't even come second not in the same league.This was a pisser as I'd set my heart on the Triumph, and even bought a Triumph jacket. My Bm wasn't the twin cam which is even better.If your riding the sorts of places that you pictured then the BM would be streets ahead. Not ridden the Explorer though. Thats supposed to be a huge step forward for Triumph.Try one again, perhaps your just too used to multi's It's not about power it's about Torque

 

[David Nimrod]

Really? That is the best you can do? A cheap cartoon from a respected moderator with over 3000 posts in answer to a photo from a part of the world you obviously have no experience of?

Apologies, I forgot there was no room for humor in this Thread...

I'm sure you'll find the right bike for you in the end

 

[rodders]

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.

I don't think I would have even bothered trying it under those circumstances and would have tried another dealer( I know you're in AUS so maybe they are too far away to be practical). You would be hard pushed to get a feel for the bike on a ride like that> Do the same on your triumph and see if it's as bad...

Maybe worth calling BMW Australia and asking them if they can sort a more useful test ride out for you.

 

[rodders]

Another thought, are there any that do BMW bike hire?

 

[Nutty]

Why have you come onto this forum asking for advice, when you have clearly decided that you don't like the GS, and it isn't for you?

 

[prwatts]

Eish, and you wonder why they love the Poms so much in Orstraylia...
You guys are really trying to wind Mr Tiger up - more than he is already wound up.
Let's get objective - the Tiger is a great bike and outstanding in its own right.
99% of this thread is about opinion - Tiger 1 loves his triple and technically it is the perfect engine.
Now if Yamaha has made an XTZ900 based on the TDM engine and 40kg lighter than the behemoth new Super Tenere, or Tiger Explorer, we could have a really nice discussion.
I have always loved Yamaha engineering and reliability (personal preference & opinion) but my last bike was GS, after the XTZ750, and the next will be a GS.
Because bloody Yamaha never made the bike we all wanted.
And BTW I came close to a Tiger 800 and F800GS.
But the R1200GS is just in a league of its own.
And another thing...the Adventure...that's what you should be riding, Mr Tiger 1. Just my opinion, though, not at all scientific. Tomayto-tomahto

 

[Wilsdorf]

I rode a X-challange (I think it was that - borrowed) - 650cc BMW in Oz in January - seemed about as good a tool for the job as you could get - maybe a lighter 450 would have been even better. There was another rider with an Ohlins 1150GS, which was much quicker on the nicer tarmac though.

The Triumphs are quite nice - bad gearboxes and that is coming from a comparison with a GS! I have come from Japanese 4's and love the GS - but then I tend to ride mine a lot faster than most, legally, every weekend (no 70mph blanket speed limits here)

The Explorer might be a better road bike for some most of the time - but the GS is better on fire trails etc. Personally, I'll stick to the GS for the tarmac as well - it's good enough to keep all but the very very quick sports bike riders behind - and I've never been overtaken by a Tiger yet - but a couple of family members come past me on their GS's! If the Multistrada riders can't do it, then I doubt many people will be using the extra 25bhp that the Explorer offers to overtake us.

 

[Spike]

I come from a sports bike back ground and before I bought the 1200gsa I now own I took out a tiger 1050, to ne honest the gsa felt bigger stronger and altogether a better bike for me.
Not all will agree with that but its what was right for me.
as for power of the GS you took out either there was something wrong with it or it had restrictors fitted as my gsa will hold its own with most bikes and still has enough power to pull me the mrs and panniers full of luggage, to get most people into trouble with the boys in blue.

I would suggest you try another dealer and get a good go on one if you are serious about wanting one.

spike

 

[Wilsdorf]

I think what is alien to some people is revving a vibrating twin until it bounces off the rev limiter through the gears

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

I rode a X-challange (I think it was that - borrowed) - 650cc BMW in Oz in January - seemed about as good a tool for the job as you could get

Nicely put

 

[Neil A]

Well.....

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.

I don't visit the forum all the time, so this is a slightly delayed reaction

1 - I admit I have had this problem before. I forget that the written word doesn't have a tone of voice. I write the words I would say, but you can't tell just from reading them that there's a smile on my face, so I apologise for that
2 - BUT....this forum isn't a good place if you're easily offended. Maybe I should have taken account of your relatively small number of posts, but you put yourself out there....
3 - BUT (2)....I genuinely don't see how anyone could possibly decribe a 1200 GS as dangerously underpowered unless there was something wrong with the particular bike being ridden. Maybe it was just the different power delivery, but I have owned a Triumph triple (albeit one of the earliest injected ones) and although it was a different experience from a twin and (to me) closer to a four, surely you'd play around with the rev range and gear selection, trying different approaches? If your test ride (as you mentioned subsequently) was very restricted, that might explain (a bit)
4 - I am a great believer in not trying to swim upstream for the sake of it. Life's too short. If you take a dislike to a bike on a test ride, surely you'd be bonkers to spend serious money on it, just in case you discovered its qualities later? If you're really, really rich, maybe....

 

[ianf]

Have another test ride, and make sure you go past some big shop windows so you can have a good look at yourself on the move.

Had one as a loaner the other day, confirming to me that it's a bit ott colour wise.