Thanks for your thoughts Arsey. You've raised a number of issues there which I sort of suspected but the jury's out. One of my concerns is they'd perhaps lost the relaxed touring vibe with the new platform. It sits and looks more aggressive and smaller. I was never one to judge the 1200, let alone the 1250 as "not enough". For me, they were both plenty enough, an almost perfect blend of midrange grunt and relaxed low revs bimbling prowess with a lovely balance that made them ideally suited as long haul bikes or just for the pleasure of a weekend away in comfort. Yes, there's the RT, but it's not as nimble or accessible in some ways and the extra bulk always put me off. I decided when I had my 1200GSA that it lacked some top end shove, so took a 1260 V4 Enduro out for a test ride. It had no shortage of exhilarating top end and was buttery smooth in the mids, didn't rattle like a blacksmith's forge and handled beautifully. The huge let down for me was that ergonomics I found weren't as rounded or well thought out as the GSA and unforgivably, it had no low end grunt. I even managed embarrassingly to stall it several times!
I got back on the GSA and it dawned on me that the boxer was never about top end rush or flaw free handling or the last word in smoothness. What it allowed me to do on the 30 mile blast home through lots of rural A and B roads was to make effortless progress in total comfort and I had no problem keeping up with an enthusiastic mate on a KTM990. It allowed me to enjoy the journey instead of focssing on the bike. If I lost that, I'd lose my interest in bikes, so I've loyally stuck with the 1200 platform, albeit in the nimbler and better looking format of the RS.
I can't, probably ever, see myself wanting more. It does everything that I want from it, although I'd welcome a lighter bike.....but I have that in my VStrom for the local trips and crappy weather.
The 1300 doesn't sound as if it's for me. I do wonder of BMW have taken a gamble in removing part of the DNA of the 1200 platform, in order to compete with the V4's of this world? I must try one myself to find out. I may change my mind but even if I did, the price now puts it beyond what I could justify. One thing remains in its favour, and that's it probably retains all the low end grunt credentials, and builds on that over earlier iterations and this may for many, be enough to keep it ahead of the pack. The older GS was never the best at anything but remained the benchmark because of its all round ability and one of the things concerning me is that this new platform might have gone too far down the sports side of adventure, sacrificing some of the touring comfort with the shorter, smaller platform and some of the relaxation of settling into an effortless fuss free characterful lump.
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