The new 1300adv test ride.

[peelrt1200]

I had a couple of hours on one this afternoon.
My thoughts were very similar to when i demo`d a 1300GS earlier in the year - gruff sounding engine, shonky gearbox, suspension setup too firm and overall not all that inspiring, really.
It`s basically a 1300GS (with all that models leaning towards road-based dynamics) but with different bodywork (hardly surprising).
The feel aboard is that you are sat on it rather than in it.
My one had the auto ride height thing and when parked up when in the low position next to a full fat 1250 looked really rather small and had nothing of the 1250`s imposing stature.
It does go very well though when wound up if that`s your thing. I thought the 13GS i tested in Jan felt like it had much more low down grunt/torque than a 1250 but i didn`t get that impression today for some reason.
The handling is very sharp and belies the weight, it feels very `planted` and `on rails` as they say.
Screen was good (electric on this one).
Seat was hard.
If you like your bikes biased towards the sporty end of the spectrum you may like it, i`m a bit of a plodder nowadays and much prefer the softer, more rounded relaxed feel of the 1250 with it`s compliant, comfy suspension that you can actually feel working and love to wallow in the pool of torque and flexibility the 1250 is reknown for. The gearbox on my bike is much, much better than the 13`s i tested today.
The GS/A is suppoed to be an off-road bike, why are they making them even more sportier?

I think the real test after i demo is what you think of your current bike on the way home.
I preferred my 1250 - smoother, slicker, more comfortable and just has that satisfying feeling of being `just right`. And it doesn`t look like lego.

PX value on my bike was low, salesman admitted motor industry is in crisis, haggling is already an option on even a new model like the GSA.
Fill yer boots.

I think the real test after i demo is what you think of your current bike on the way home.
I preferred my 1250 - smoother, slicker, more comfortable and just has that satisfying feeling of being `just right`. And it doesn`t look like lego. Agree with you but hopefully they will get the bike perfect in a few years

 

[Neil W]

Have to agree with Hann on most of what he said, the main issue for me and my test ride was the seat being very uncomfortable ( low seat) on the highest setting and not enough leg room. Ps I think my 1250 gsa changes gear better and not a rattler 7 month old 4K and not paying £7350 to change

£7350 to change BUT you do get the privilege of becoming a BMW Beta Tester , all joking aside I still do not like the look of the new gsa in the flesh and to replace my 3 year old r1250gsa with a similar spec r1300gsa with luggage would probably cost me not much shy of £20,000 which is utterly ridiculous (because mine immaculate with 10,000 miles on the clock and fsh is apparently high mileage and an old model that has been superseded and is worth according to the dealer maybe £9000 )

 

[peelrt1200]

£7350 to change BUT you do get the privilege of becoming a BMW Beta Tester , all joking aside I still do not like the look of the new gsa in the flesh and to replace my 3 year old r1250gsa with a similar spec r1300gsa with luggage would probably cost me not much shy of £20,000 which is utterly ridiculous (because mine immaculate with 10,000 miles on the clock and fsh is apparently high mileage and an old model that has been superseded and is worth according to the dealer maybe £9000 )

Yes mate don’t like R&D at my cost anymore

 

[jefformston]

£7350 to change BUT you do get the privilege of becoming a BMW Beta Tester , all joking aside I still do not like the look of the new gsa in the flesh and to replace my 3 year old r1250gsa with a similar spec r1300gsa with luggage would probably cost me not much shy of £20,000 which is utterly ridiculous (because mine immaculate with 10,000 miles on the clock and fsh is apparently high mileage and an old model that has been superseded and is worth according to the dealer maybe £9000 )

Those sort of costs to change are insane.

 

[pbbanks]

Have to agree with Hann on most of what he said, the main issue for me and my test ride was the seat being very uncomfortable ( low seat) on the highest setting and not enough leg room. Ps I think my 1250 gsa changes gear better and not a rattler 7 month old 4K and not paying £7350 to change

Don't know about the GSA 1300 seat but I have the high seat on my new 1300 GS ASA & it's a lot better so far for leg room and the seat is thicker so feels better. Your test ride on a bike with a low seat is probably the worst for leg room & comfort.
Presume your test bike didn't have ASA otherwise the gear change just using the quick shifter would have been in a different league to your 1250.

I also have adjustable footrests on new bike so that will allow foot to seat height to be changed (changing leg room). Presume GSA has those or they are options.
Personally on the 1300gs the front end and forks are a lot better for handling than the 1250gs. The forks are stiffer and no flex on twisty roads. The suspension on my new ASA bike seems more plush than previous bike without feeling wollowy. But there are lots of different combinations of settings (damping, road mode, dynamic etc. etc. ) which affect that and I haven't quite sussed those out yet. Tried them on previous 1300 & found it difficult to feel the difference sometimes when changing them whilst riding.

Bottom line of not paying £7k to change you can't do a lot about and the 1250s are a good engine\bike so stick with it.

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

I test rode the GSA today just out of curiosity more than anything. I don’t feel compelled to change.

Apparently my 10month old fully loaded triple back with 9000miles on the clock is worth £13500 so to get an equivalent spec GSA I’d need to spunk about £10k extra, sorry but no….

 

[Arsey]

I test rode the GSA today just out of curiosity more than anything. I don’t feel compelled to change.

Apparently my 10month old fully loaded triple back with 9000miles on the clock is worth £13500 so to get an equivalent spec GSA I’d need to spunk about £10k extra, sorry but no….

Madness , yet people on here with GSs bang on about how they hold their value !

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

Madness , yet people on here with GSs bang on about how they hold their value !

Exactly! The guy even said “it’s nice to see someone who actually rides their bike” as I’ve done 9000miles in the last 10 months and then in the next breath give me that bombshell.

I wasn’t surprised and I certainly wasn’t expecting a deal that I was gonna go for.

I don’t own the bike, I know the whole PCP thing is a bit of a hot topic, it works for me under my circumstances and I’m not naive to the pitfalls and tactics that they use but I was however surprised at the depreciation of mine although I understand the reasons. To be fair to the sales guy he did try and work the numbers but the best he could do was £50 a month more plus 4 grand as a lump sum and I just said thanks but no thanks

Like I say even if I’d bought the bike outright and had the whole value as a deposit I wouldn’t wanna stump up £10k for a new one when mine is less than a year old.

I’m sure they will sell in droves though!

 

[drdaveboy]

Went into Williams today looked at the green gsa , they valued my March 2024 triple black te with full luggage and 3000 miles at 14k so don't think I will change just yet

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[pbbanks]

Went into Williams today looked at the green gsa , they valued my March 2024 triple black te with full luggage and 3000 miles at 14k so don't think I will change just yet

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Is it a 1250 or 1300 you have now?.

 

[drdaveboy]

1250 gsa

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[pbbanks]

1250 gsa

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Suppose it would have been discounted when you bought it. It's the cost jump to the new ones that's the big hit now.
I took a big loss on my 1300gs TE changing to the new ASA but offset it a bit by swapping the spotlights over and keeping the panniers (which are being replaced next year foc). It's just the worst time to part ex a bike when it's only a few months old.
It's only money and will only go in IHT so may as well have something for it now .

 

[drdaveboy]

Yeah mine was discounted quite a bit but I'm sure I'd get a bit more playing one off against the other , but going to keep mine now , although as most have said the 1300 doesn't look better in the flesh

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[The Stimulator]

Must admit when I traded in my low mileage 2020 1250 GSA for my 1300GS earlier this year I was shocked at how little the dealer offered, but I was also quite surprised when I saw the showroom price they put on it. The dealer was making quite a bit less than a grand on the bike, and overall I don’t think they took the piss really.

 

[peelrt1200]

Don't know about the GSA 1300 seat but I have the high seat on my new 1300 GS ASA & it's a lot better so far for leg room and the seat is thicker so feels better. Your test ride on a bike with a low seat is probably the worst for leg room & comfort.
Presume your test bike didn't have ASA otherwise the gear change just using the quick shifter would have been in a different league to your 1250.

I also have adjustable footrests on new bike so that will allow foot to seat height to be changed (changing leg room). Presume GSA has those or they are options.
Personally on the 1300gs the front end and forks are a lot better for handling than the 1250gs. The forks are stiffer and no flex on twisty roads. The suspension on my new ASA bike seems more plush than previous bike without feeling wollowy. But there are lots of different combinations of settings (damping, road mode, dynamic etc. etc. ) which affect that and I haven't quite sussed those out yet. Tried them on previous 1300 & found it difficult to feel the difference sometimes when changing them whilst riding.

Bottom line of not paying £7k to change you can't do a lot about and the 1250s are a good engine\bike so stick with it.

The bike I tried did not have the auto but had the new suspension and believe me it was definitely more harsh a ride than my 24 1250 gsa with nearly 4K miles.

 

[pbbanks]

The bike I tried did not have the auto but had the new suspension and believe me it was definitely more harsh a ride than my 24 1250 gsa with nearly 4K miles.

The harshness of the suspension would depend on what the bike was set to in settings. There are lots of combinations of -2 to +2 on damping in each riding mode Rain,Road, Dynamic,Eco , Enduro pro,Enduro pro, Dynamic pro.

 

[peelrt1200]

The harshness of the suspension would depend on what the bike was set to in settings. There are lots of combinations of -2 to +2 on damping in each riding mode Rain,Road, Dynamic,Eco , Enduro pro,Enduro pro, Dynamic pro.

Had it in road mode softest setting.

 

[pbbanks]

Had it in road mode softest setting.

Something strange if the damping was in the softest setting too.

 

[Deleted account 250319001]

Something strange if the damping was in the softest setting too.

I thought the same, In road mode, its like an old Cadillac

 

[Tyzer]

Suppose it would have been discounted when you bought it. It's the cost jump to the new ones that's the big hit now.
I took a big loss on my 1300gs TE changing to the new ASA but offset it a bit by swapping the spotlights over and keeping the panniers (which are being replaced next year foc). It's just the worst time to part ex a bike when it's only a few months old.
It's only money and will only go in IHT so may as well have something for it now .

Just curious but did the dealer swap the spotlights ?