The BMW R1250 GSA - Sean’s Motorcycle Review
We had the opportunity to take a brand new R1250 GS adventure on the 7500km Heading East Tour. Now we are back home I wanted to give my feedback of the R1250 GS adventure that took us on our epic journey. So lets get into the details!
comfort:
“There’s a lot of people against such electronics on bikes and cars.”
We spent a lot of time onboard this bike and I personally found it extremely comfortable. This is the stock seat and stock height which for me at 6ft 2 was ideal, for shorter riders you do have the options of a reduced height seat ranging from 79 to 91 cm. This model came with a heated front and rear seat - by no means a necessity but certainly a nice to have. The rider gets 5 heat settings and the passenger gets 2. The riders seat is controlled via the turn wheel and TFT screen and the passenger has their own switch just next to the seat. I’m sure this is useful for the more extreme cold conditions as I found any higher than setting 2 was a little too hot! Heated handgrips are controlled the in the same way as the seat and again 5 different settings, which I thought at first was unnecessary however switching between gloves and varying weather conditions the range of adjustment proved very useful.
One feature I really like is the ease of which the screen can be adjusted, if I’m getting too hot I like to keep the screen lower to increase the airflow and as soon as I’m riding at higher speeds I like to have the screen as high as possible to reduce the force of the wind on the neck. I also found at the higher setting you get reasonably good protection from the rain. You literally just wind the handle to the right of the screen to adjust to the required height.
Cruise control, there’s a lot of people against such electronics on bikes and cars. Personally when used correctly as a driving aid and not to replace driver awareness I really like it. I tend only to use it for those long motorway days when traffic is low. Again not an essential feature for most who aren’t eating up big miles but for me It’s a welcome addition to an adventure bike like this and I’m looking forwards to the active cruise control making its way into the market..
If you really don’t like cruise control, don't worry as the R1250 GS has a lock switch so you can’t accidentally turn it on if you don’t want to use it. Operating the Cruise control is very simple, slide the switch to 'set' once you’ve reached your required speed and let go of the throttle. To disengage the cruise control you have multiple options. Of course applying either brake will instantly disengage it, you can also roll the throttle back in the opposite direction and this will disengage it too. As expected when you do this engine braking will come into effect immediately so if I’m riding at higher speeds I use the clutch to disengage the cruise control as you don’t upset your passenger with sudden engine braking. If you want to restore your previous speed you can push up on the switch to reset and the bike will accelerate to the preset speed - this can also be adjusted up and down here too.
Storage:
“Fully loaded!”
Some might disagree but I think the aluminum cases really finish off the look of the GS, I’ve used these on my R1200GSA for many years and they have been great. I really like the added security they offer to keep any opportunist thieves at bay whilst you park up to walk around a city for example and if you order them with the machine they can be key coded to use the one key which is very convenient.
You get 44 liters in the LH case, 26 liters in the RH case and 32 in the top case so a combined 102 liters of lockable secure storage space and for those who would like even more space you can purchase the case expanders which will give you an additional 13.5 liters either side. However bear in mind if you have a pillion this will greatly restrict the leg room so might not be a good idea, hence we went with soft bags on top.
What I also like is the footman loops located on the top of the panniers which you can attach carry handles or like we did for this trip attach some additional waterproof bags for carrying items such as food, camping equipment or even a couple of pairs of hiking boots. We used Touratech bags secured using Rock straps and I highly recommend them.
Now the cases are acclaimed to be waterproof, however if you over pack them water might find a way in so to be safe we used waterproof bags which can also be handy if you don’t like removing the cases every night to carry to wherever you’re staying. Fully loaded its recommended to ride below 180 which I would hope shouldn’t impede you on the majority of your trips. And lastly for the Pillion comfort you can also get padded parts for the back rest – feedback from Em would suggest that more padding would be appreciated somewhere between this and that of the K1600 would be appreciated.
Safety:
“It goes without saying there is an element of risk in everything we do in life but we can try and reduce that risk if we can. Riding two up the rider is also responsible for the safety of the pillion and the trust that they have in you to look after you both.”
Firstly the brakes, you may have noticed the change from Brembo to the BMW branded Hayes Calipers. There is no reduction in braking and you are never left short of solid braking power. A linked braking system as ever with BMW is something I really like. ABS as standard, which is linked to the riding mode you have preset, if you have gravel mode selected then the ABS will work to suit that road surface. I tried the various ABS settings once at Hechlingen Enduro training park and it's really impressive how good the system was and that was a couple of years ago. It also has Dynamic Brake control which will shut the throttle when you brake hard in an emergency to stop you braking against the throttle. Combine that with the Dynamic traction control and you have a really trustworthy safety package. Having the driving aids to help you stop this machine in the safest manner is something I feel reassured to have. Some might say you don’t need these aids or that they can brake better without them, if that’s true then great however for the ever-changing surfaces, road conditions and a fully loaded motorcycle with the additional pre load i feel safer with the braking aids and I must say they have never let me down. During this trip we rode a few times at night and the Led Lighting system lit up the road better than some of my previous cars. The adaptive headlight system even compensates for cornering and hard braking keeping the lighting range contacts throughout the ride. Overall the main beam is amazing! Lighting up the entire road ahead of you.
So with the Braking system, the traction control and the lighting system, riding the R1250GSA felt like a safe place for us to be with the rider aids there to assist if we need them.
Equipment:
“Dynamic pro for great road surfaces with lots of twisties!”
The most noticeable update to the R1250 is the TFT screen. Admittedly my first thoughts were is that really necessary and as usual after using it I’m definitely a big fan. All your data is clearly displayed with a very user friendly interface. When paired with your phone you can use the BMW connect app to record your rides, access your info through your phone and even have navigational instructions on the display – although personally the Navigation is enough for me but nice to have the options as a backup. Through the screen you can control all your settings and the Dynamic ESA and riding modes in a relatively straight forward manner. I mostly used the Road mode for riding on rough roads with potholes, the Dynamic pro for great road surfaces with lots of twisties and I tried the Gravel mode out a couple of times and you can really tell the difference between them. Being able to switch quickly between them really encourages the rider to use the riding mode pre selections. It comes with a USB outlet at the front and the standard 12v Accessory outlet at the back which Em used to power her heated vest.
The Ride:
“Confident, Reliable, Powerful.”
So we averaged 350km per day and I must say the R1250 GS Adventure turned long distances into pure pleasure. We weren’t entirely sure what terrain to expect, but what we did know is that the GS would handle it and it didn’t let us down. We hit large pot holes that appeared out of nowhere expecting a sudden jolt however the suspension and large wheel diameter seemed to just soak them up without any drama. We also had well surfaced twisty roads The R1250’s 136 HP and 143 Torque along with the dynamic pro mode made for an exhilarating ride even fully loaded with 2 up. The new variable camshaft control system results in Smoother running in the low speed range and high torque in each speed range. It takes a long time to build up trust in a bike, I had ridden this bike before but straight from the go it gave me lots of confidence which is really important especially with adverse riding conditions. The Adventure model we have here has a 30 liter fuel tank with an acclaimed tank range of up to 600km which we found to be accurate with modest riding, however if you’re doing higher speeds say around 150-160kmph you can probably half that. We didn’t carry any spare fuel and never really found ourselves stuck for fuel stations, having said that I like to try and keep the bike at least a quarter full if I can.
The R1250 has been describes as ‘Confident, reliable, powerful.’ And I would totally agree with that. For the trip we did it enabled us to travel long distances comfortably and safely without having to worry about what to expect along the way. I love this bike and everything it has enabled us to do and we are are already looking forwards to the next trip. Of course the best way to get a feel for a bike is to take it for a spin as they can be such an individual preference, so don’t just take my word for it, go book a test ride!