Since I had started doing my business tripping around Europe by motorcycle in about 2004, I have owned three BMW GS’s. Well, one 1150GS and two 1200 GS Adventures to be precise. Each stayed around for between 20k and 30k miles, and only the last left as result of conscious effort on my part. The other two were simply overtaken by events. The first, an 1150, had its ABS pump fail, for which the dealer wanted £1400 to repair. After much heated debate about warranties etc, I was offered a two month old, 2006 1200GSA with only 627 miles on the clock at a very keen price against mine as it stood, and the deal was done. The next change came about in the form of an owner having the extreme misfortune to cop a very serious, work related back injury, resulting in an instant retirement from motorcycling – and him with a 5 week and 472 mile old 2009 GSA in his garage. The instant cash deal was a huge saving on new and the deal was done. I then spent a frantic ten days hiding any bank statements from the Home Secretary whilst I sold the 2006 bike.
So between these three bikes I covered about 88k miles around Europe including Madrid, Zaragoza, Pamplona, Ribadeo (Northern Spain), Picos Mountains, Pyrenees (many times), Geneva, Alps, Budapest(5 times so far), Prague (4 times and rising fast) and Paris (several times.) I loved every mile and wrote articles for the BMW Club Magazine extolling the virtue of the best bikes I had ever owned in a lifetime of motorcycling. And then one day, coming back from Pau in heavy rain, I saw an RT rider coming the other way and thought, how much easier might this job be on one of those?
The single biggest attraction for me was, without doubt, the electric screen. Not just for the weather protection, which is always nice, but the infinite adjustment it offers. After many years of wasted time and money, I have come to the conclusion that no fixed screen can possibly work in all situations, just like an aircraft wing. So having agonised over this decision for months, I finally was at a state of temptation when, as you might guess, one came up for sale privately. 2010 twin cam model, not three months old, been to Prague and back in pouring rain both ways and the owner’s wife had simply declared never again. Top spec including the fancy paint job. At £10k cash it was fate. A quick repeat of my 2009 furtive shuffling of money and motorcycles and the deal was done.
So what’s it like?
Well, first of all it’s not big enough. At 6ft 5ins, I am unusually tall I suppose, but many people have made the same point. The 1150 RT was big enough for full sized people – why was the 1200 RT shrunk? So I bought some footrest lowering bits from Wunderlicht, together with their handlebar riser adjusters. Then I got the seat rebuilt by local seat expert, who added about 4 inches of extra foam, and magically retained the heated element. It isn’t perfect, and after a while with the heater on, there is a strange feeling of sitting on a large pile of foam, rocking back and forth, but at £60 I thought he did as well as is probably possible under the circumstances, and it is comfortable.
The other thing that rather daunted my enthusiasm, was the luggage capacity, which is not very big either. These dinky panniers are not designed for people with size 12 feet who may need more than one pair of shoes during a trip. As to the obligatory laptop and bag – forget it. Doesn’t fit. So the trusty Hein Gericke waterproof holdall that was a veteran of many GS trips was pressed back into service. But what do I tie it to? Once again I realised how spoilt I had been by GSA ownership. I remembered the time I bought a 4ft by 3ft pieces of prison mesh and bunjeed them on to that GS luggage rack - my kind of motorcycle! Fair to say I did eventually lash the holdall between pillion grab handles and the backrack on the RT, but it was like trying to lash suitcases to the back of a Grand National winner rather than a sturdy pack animal. Just didn’t feel quite right.
My first trip out was down to Hatfield from home base in West Lancashire. The journey was about 200 miles in total, but cold and pouring with rain from the start to within 3 miles of my destination hotel. The screen performed as advertised, that is to say wonderfully well, helped by heated seat and grips, but it’s still only a motorcycle and jet skiing down the M6 and M1 in January is never a good way to spend an afternoon. It isn’t all bad news though. The remarkable fuel economy of the new twin cam motor revealed itself on this trip - 55 mpg! I had been going steady in the rain, but this was very much better than the old GSA. And of course I have forgotten to mention that other toy that causes the eyebrows of fellow motorcyclist to rise, just like they did when heated grips were introduced, and I for one would not be without them now on any serious motorcycle. Those eyebrows had not really returned to earth before they were hit with heated seats and now, spawn of satan – we have cruise control! Not much use if you’re just off up the shops, or indeed for a blast around the lanes, but if its several hours of motorway you have before you, it’s incredible. No more keeping that right hand stuck in one position such that you need a tyre iron to open it at the end of a long stint. No more ever being able to only adjust zips and things using your left hand. With cruise selected you can ride along with your arms folded or scratching your left armpit as the need arises, or indeed casually leaning back on one of those natty little panniers I referred to earlier. Just like in a car, it’s a device which frees up that little bit of brain space that would otherwise be committed to maintaining road speed and as such must reduce fatigue on a long trip. It certainly works for me.
So, on balance, have I made the right move? Having just returned from another week in Prague I would have to say yes. Life is so much easier for the long haul and it’s still a nice motorcycle for the twisty bits as well. With 4 or 5 hundred miles to cover before tea, just sit back, get the screen to the right height, cruise control set and the miles just slip past. And the other really clever bit about the screen is, when the temperature really does climb, you can drop the screen to its lowest to give you the full wind blast in the chest which was wonderful entering Prague at about 38 degrees last week! So the bike I bought out of a need for weather protection turned out to be every bit as good when I didn’t need it, when the temperature really soared, for which I am seriously grateful.
If I didn’t do the high motorway miles though, the 1200GSA is still the best bike in the world!
So between these three bikes I covered about 88k miles around Europe including Madrid, Zaragoza, Pamplona, Ribadeo (Northern Spain), Picos Mountains, Pyrenees (many times), Geneva, Alps, Budapest(5 times so far), Prague (4 times and rising fast) and Paris (several times.) I loved every mile and wrote articles for the BMW Club Magazine extolling the virtue of the best bikes I had ever owned in a lifetime of motorcycling. And then one day, coming back from Pau in heavy rain, I saw an RT rider coming the other way and thought, how much easier might this job be on one of those?
The single biggest attraction for me was, without doubt, the electric screen. Not just for the weather protection, which is always nice, but the infinite adjustment it offers. After many years of wasted time and money, I have come to the conclusion that no fixed screen can possibly work in all situations, just like an aircraft wing. So having agonised over this decision for months, I finally was at a state of temptation when, as you might guess, one came up for sale privately. 2010 twin cam model, not three months old, been to Prague and back in pouring rain both ways and the owner’s wife had simply declared never again. Top spec including the fancy paint job. At £10k cash it was fate. A quick repeat of my 2009 furtive shuffling of money and motorcycles and the deal was done.
So what’s it like?
Well, first of all it’s not big enough. At 6ft 5ins, I am unusually tall I suppose, but many people have made the same point. The 1150 RT was big enough for full sized people – why was the 1200 RT shrunk? So I bought some footrest lowering bits from Wunderlicht, together with their handlebar riser adjusters. Then I got the seat rebuilt by local seat expert, who added about 4 inches of extra foam, and magically retained the heated element. It isn’t perfect, and after a while with the heater on, there is a strange feeling of sitting on a large pile of foam, rocking back and forth, but at £60 I thought he did as well as is probably possible under the circumstances, and it is comfortable.
The other thing that rather daunted my enthusiasm, was the luggage capacity, which is not very big either. These dinky panniers are not designed for people with size 12 feet who may need more than one pair of shoes during a trip. As to the obligatory laptop and bag – forget it. Doesn’t fit. So the trusty Hein Gericke waterproof holdall that was a veteran of many GS trips was pressed back into service. But what do I tie it to? Once again I realised how spoilt I had been by GSA ownership. I remembered the time I bought a 4ft by 3ft pieces of prison mesh and bunjeed them on to that GS luggage rack - my kind of motorcycle! Fair to say I did eventually lash the holdall between pillion grab handles and the backrack on the RT, but it was like trying to lash suitcases to the back of a Grand National winner rather than a sturdy pack animal. Just didn’t feel quite right.
My first trip out was down to Hatfield from home base in West Lancashire. The journey was about 200 miles in total, but cold and pouring with rain from the start to within 3 miles of my destination hotel. The screen performed as advertised, that is to say wonderfully well, helped by heated seat and grips, but it’s still only a motorcycle and jet skiing down the M6 and M1 in January is never a good way to spend an afternoon. It isn’t all bad news though. The remarkable fuel economy of the new twin cam motor revealed itself on this trip - 55 mpg! I had been going steady in the rain, but this was very much better than the old GSA. And of course I have forgotten to mention that other toy that causes the eyebrows of fellow motorcyclist to rise, just like they did when heated grips were introduced, and I for one would not be without them now on any serious motorcycle. Those eyebrows had not really returned to earth before they were hit with heated seats and now, spawn of satan – we have cruise control! Not much use if you’re just off up the shops, or indeed for a blast around the lanes, but if its several hours of motorway you have before you, it’s incredible. No more keeping that right hand stuck in one position such that you need a tyre iron to open it at the end of a long stint. No more ever being able to only adjust zips and things using your left hand. With cruise selected you can ride along with your arms folded or scratching your left armpit as the need arises, or indeed casually leaning back on one of those natty little panniers I referred to earlier. Just like in a car, it’s a device which frees up that little bit of brain space that would otherwise be committed to maintaining road speed and as such must reduce fatigue on a long trip. It certainly works for me.
So, on balance, have I made the right move? Having just returned from another week in Prague I would have to say yes. Life is so much easier for the long haul and it’s still a nice motorcycle for the twisty bits as well. With 4 or 5 hundred miles to cover before tea, just sit back, get the screen to the right height, cruise control set and the miles just slip past. And the other really clever bit about the screen is, when the temperature really does climb, you can drop the screen to its lowest to give you the full wind blast in the chest which was wonderful entering Prague at about 38 degrees last week! So the bike I bought out of a need for weather protection turned out to be every bit as good when I didn’t need it, when the temperature really soared, for which I am seriously grateful.
If I didn’t do the high motorway miles though, the 1200GSA is still the best bike in the world!
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