Hey Everyone - GS Newbie

Hi all,

I just joined the forum here and wanted to say hello. I'm new to motorcycle forums so not really too sure what to expect. I sat on a GS in one of the BMW showrooms here in the UK around 5 years ago and have yearned for one since. I can't believe I finally put a deposit down on a 2018 R1200GS last weekend and will be collecting it next week - really excited to get the keys handed over to me . I've only ridden naked bikes until now so it should be an interesting transition. I'm over 6ft with 80% of my height being my legs so I've always felt cramped on bikes - can't wait to have something that fits me comfortably. I do long-distance commuting and will be doing some touring across the UK and Europe, maybe even some light off-roading as well.

I'm a total adventure bike and GS newbie so I really don't know what to expect owning a GS. I was hoping to get some insight from GS riders who are much more experienced and wiser than I am. Is there anything I should prepare for, any quirks or issues to look out for? Hints, tips, tricks, etc that's worth knowing? I'm doing research everyday to help get me prepared but any knowledge or help would be humbly appreciated.

Thanks in advance to anyone who's spent their time reading or replying to this, it's very much appreciated! Really can't wait to experience the GS

Welcome to this crazy place, hopefully you have a thick skin and a warped sense of humour, only then can you appreciate the value, which really is hard to measure.

Pay to join and you will be able to access the for sale section and grab some of the finer accessories (farkles) to personalise your mighty steed.

GeeWiz1200 said:

I'm over 6ft with 80% of my height being my legs

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Now this I have to see!

Welcome to the forum

Greetings & welcome to the forum....

Post a picture of you & the bike....just to give us some context of your mahoosive legs

Thanks very much guys!

Well maybe being 80% legs is a wee bit of an exaggeration haha but definitely enough to be an issue on most bikes I’ve sat on.

Cheers Bounce, will do - looks like the weather won’t be good for a while so will have to wait a bit longer to pick it up.

Seems like I’ll get a lot of opportunities to test out wet weather handling with the GS this year anyway with the summer we’ve been having.

ymfb said:

Welcome to this crazy place, hopefully you have a thick skin and a warped sense of humour, only then can you appreciate the value, which really is hard to measure.

Pay to join and you will be able to access the for sale section and grab some of the finer accessories (farkles) to personalise your mighty steed.

Click to expand...

Cheers ymfb - sounds like I’ll be right at home here then haha. Thanks for the heads up with the paid section - still need to save for panniers (my face when I was quoted for the set -> ) and a few other bits so will definitely check it out. Looks like I will probably need to source a lot used so thanks for that!

GeeWiz1200 said:

Cheers ymfb - sounds like I’ll be right at home here then haha. Thanks for the heads up with the paid section - still need to save for panniers (my face when I was quoted for the set -> ) and a few other bits so will definitely check it out. Looks like I will probably need to source a lot used so thanks for that!

Click to expand...

As long as you are patient, panniers come up for sale reasonably often.