I’ve never been in the thrall of BMW’s iconic GS adventure. Oh, I’ve always acknowledged that it’s been a great bike, not only the originator of the species — that being adventure touring bikes — but always a front-runner in the segment. Hugely accomplished, phenomenally well-equipped, and often a technological pioneer, it is deservedly the most popular motorcycle BMW sells.
But is it the bike that “has defined adventure motorcycling for almost twenty years,” as AdventureBikeRider.com has called it? Or does it really deserve to win, as Motorcycle News (MCN) says, “every MCN group test and award since it was released”? Those two are hardly even the most fawning. Steve Rose, lead road tester for Bennett’s BikeSocial, recently called it “the best all-round road bike in the world,” adding that it’s held that title since 1999, “when the R1150GS gained a sixth gear and 45cc more midrange.” The best of the last 25 years? Never bought into that level of worship, thank you very much.
And the reason I didn’t was simple. Every time BMW added some new technology — from the bigger pistons and sixth gear Rose mentioned; to the ShiftCam variable valve timing and radar-controlled cruise control of the recent 1250 iteration — the damned thing just kept getting heavier. Portly, even. Hell, by the time you outfit a current 1250 into full adventure trim, the freaking thing is downright obese.
A technical marvel to be sure and, in the right hands, competent out in the boonies, but that doesn’t distract from the fact that, despite all its high-tech goodies and trick suspension bits, the big flat-twin has been a bit of a porker for at least two decades.
Cruise down a wide-open highway or a potholed piece of secondary road — where those trick suspension bits really were magic — and the darned thing was a marvel. Packed to the gills with passenger and luggage pulling a U-turn on a tight Italian mountain pass? Not so much. And bounding off-road over yonder hill-and-dale? Take it from me — and I do have the experience to back up this assertion — unless you were a six-foot-six German enduro instructor or some sort of Gaston Rahier clone, it was too big, too tall, and too fat. Come to think of it, too much everything.
Mass(ive) improvements
Not anymore. The new 2024-model-year 1,300-cc version of the iconic off-road boxer, according to BMW, weighs 237 kilograms, a whopping (by motorcycle standards) 12 fewer kilos than the outgoing R1250.
It feels like more. Or is that less? Whatever the case, after riding the R1300GS around Eastern Canada for more than two weeks, I can truthfully say that BMW’s engineers have worked some weight-savings miracles, not the least of which is that the GS’ six-speed transmission is now beneath the big boxer engine, not behind it. Not only is the engine now more compact — and therefore lighter — but its new placement also reduces the centre of gravity, both of which serve to make the big GS feel lighter to the touch.
But the R1300 does more than just feel lighter at low speeds. It fairly flicks into tight corners, switches direction with more enthusiasm than I remember from GSes past, and, will wonders never cease, can trail-brake deep into corners without tying itself up in knots. Even the aforementioned two-up U-turn on a tight country road is dead-nuts simple. In fact, it is every bit as manoeuvrable as my much-loved Suzuki V-Strom 1000 XT, which felt like a 20-foot skip compared to the aircraft-carrier-like 1250GS I last rode.
Automatic ride-height adjustment
Much credit for the incredible improvement has to go to BMW’s automatic ride-height adjustment system. First pioneered by Harley-Davidson — on the Pan-America 1250 — and copied (sort of) by Ducati, it has been fairly perfected by BMW. No issues with not being able to deploy side-stands (the Harley had that problem, a truly clown-like mistake) or being a little fussy to operate (the Duke’s weakness, natch), the R1300GS’ DSA adaptive vehicle-height suspension is as seamless as such industry-changing technologies go.
When you’re slowing down, it drops some 30 millimetres — both front and rear — at around 25 kilometres an hour or so, and when taking off, it raises those same 30 mils at around 50 km/h. You always know where you stand thanks to some little up and down arrows on the dashboard, and it’s uncanny how natural the system feels right from the get-go. So much so that I had to check if BMW had somehow slipped in one of its lowered seats without telling me.
Seriously, the new GS is as easy to manhandle at low speed as Honda’s little 750 Transalp. As model-to-model improvements go, this is the biggest in the GS’ history since the original Oilhead took over from the old Airhead. Huge kudos to BMW for (finally) getting it right.
Better aerodynamics
Another massive improvement is the GS’ aerodynamic profile. A criticism often ignored by jingoistic pundits was that of BMW windscreens having been bad buffeters. Not simply the result of ill-shaped windshields, some of the bluff and bluster rattling riders’ face-shields has also been the result of the body work.
Well, that, too, has been fixed. Not only has the 1300’s beak been rejigged and the little winglets atop the front side panels enhanced, but the windscreen is much better-shaped, with some reliefs cut into its expanse that minimize turbulence as it leaves the screen’s upper edge.
Married to a most excellent electric height-adjustment system, the GS’ fairing coverage is now legitimately the best in the adventure class. Where previously the screen had to be in its tallest position to fend off the wind-blast — and even then, it did a mediocre job of it — the new shape is so aerodynamically correct that I often kept it in its mid-level position despite cruising at a seriously windy buck-forty. Another huge boost for the R1300 and another justification for the GS to be crowned the top bike in the adventure class.
Superior switchgear
Another impressive feature is the system that controls that windshield. Most motorcycles with an electrically-operated windshield have a dedicated toggle on the handlebar to vary its position. Not the new GS. It’s controlled through the infotainment system and a multi-function button.
Normally this would warrant a “very stupid” award from Yours Truly. Something used so frequently should not be buried in sub-menus and touchscreens. But in fact BMW allows you to select “windshield height” via the rotary function selector on the left handlebar, and then lets you raise or lower it via a “Multi-Function Rocker” toggle. The other functions that share that same arrangement are the damping adjustment, ride height, and advanced cruise control toggle. The only one of those I used during my two-week ride was the windshield adjust — high on the highway, low in the twisties — and so using the toggle as a de facto windshield adjuster worked out fine.
However, for some reason, BMW chose to also include the handlebar grip heater in this single multi-functionality button. Diehard riders — as in those of us who push our motorcycling deep into the fall — can probably figure out the problem, namely that, when it gets frosty, we might like to have control of both windshield height and heat output at our fingertips. BMW figured out a neat fix. With a little tweaking, you can choose one of the two adjustments as a default, with the other on standby, accessible by just holding down the button. So presto! You have instant — and non-distracting — access to two functions. Well done, BMW!
Larger engine
Any redesign that nets less weight and more power in the same package is excellent engineering. That being said, the advancements in the engine department are minuscule compared with the weight loss, kneeling suspension, and improved aerodynamics. On the plus side, via a 46-cc boost and some rejigging of combustion chamber shape, valve timing, and compression rating, the R1300 boasts nine horsepower and 4.4 pound-feet of torque more than the outgoing 1250 version.
That said, its 143 hp is not in the same league as Ducati’s V4 Multistrada, nor the KTM 1290. And, of course, the R1300’s performance is worlds removed from the silliness of BMW’s own mondo-maniacal M1000 XR. On the other hand, the new maximum torque of 109.9 pound-feet is more than a match for pretty much anything in the class.
What I appreciated even more, however, was the 1300’s ultra-linear power-band. The 1250 boxer always seemed a little lumpy to me: a bit fluffy off idle, there then was a big bulge in the midrange before it tapered to a decent — especially for a boxer twin — but not-outrageous top end. The much-massaged 1300 — there’s a higher 13.3:1 compression ratio, larger valves, and a shorter stroke for higher revs — on the other hand, is like a rheostat, the torque curve seemingly flat from beginning to end.
Oh, there’s a semblance of a two-stroke-like top-end rush as it approaches red-line — sufficiently rabid that there’s a little ‘shift now’ light above the tachometer, so you aren’t constantly banging off the rev limiter — but for the most part the new 1300-cc engine’s prime benefit is the anytime-anywhere type of power we expect from our high-performance twin-cylinder adventure bikes.
But it sounds like a bucket of marbles. Actually, if you’re old enough, it sounds exactly like an old Honda CX500 just before the cam-chain tensioner eventually — and they always did — let go. At idle, there be a lot of racket down there. Oh, rest assured there’s nothing wrong, but, if you are afflicted, as I am, with a spirited sense of mechanical sympathy, earplugs may be the only solution. Or, you can do like I did, and just turn up the volume of my Sony WF-C500 earbuds to drown out the cacophony.
Improved handling
I didn’t get to off-road the new GS, so can offer no evaluation of its berm-busting abilities. However, our own Costa Mouzouris did, and gave it rave reviews. I trust his judgment implicitly, so I’ll take his compliments as gospel.
As for on-road comportment, well, the R1300 is a firm step above previous boxers. For one thing, it’s lighter. For another, the frame is stiffer. Both are the result of the frame now being made from stamped rather than tubular steel. The suspension — thanks to a novel dual-rate spring system and variable damping — is at once firmer yet better damped than before.
So, while it fairly dives into corners, it’s also stable — and comfortable — for the long and straight roads that are, unfortunately, the majority of Ontario riding. Nonetheless, the revised GS is a much better compromise between flickability, stability, comfort and low-speed ease of use (thanks again to that adaptive seat height function) than BMW’s boxer twin adventure bikes of the past.
If there is a complaint with the new GS’ chassis, it’d be with the front brakes. Oh, they’re technically up to snuff, being Brembo four-piston calipers clamping on to 310-mm discs. Given a full two-fingered squeeze, there’s adequate retardation to be had.
They could use a little more initial bite, however. Maybe it’s because I had just gotten off BMW’s own M1000 XR, whose bigger discs worked on lesser weight. Perhaps BMW deliberately specc’ed harder brake pads to make the binders more controllable off-road. Or maybe I just like sensitive brakes. Whatever the case, if this GS were mine, the first modification I’d be shopping were some accessory HH-rated brake pads.
Riding position and comfort
Unlike previous versions of the base GS, the 2024 R1300 has a pretty sporty riding position. Compared with the outgoing R1250, for instance, the handlebar is a little lower, the footpegs a little more set to the rear, and the distance between seat and peg a tad tighter. That said, I did three or four long days in the saddle and loved the riding position. I’d need neither a footpeg relocation kit nor a handlebar riser were an R1300 to find its way into the Booth garage (and, for context, there are many adventure bikes, including my own V-Strom, for which I’d need both).
That all said, I was not much enamoured of the new GS’ seat. A tad thin and a little narrow, it wasn’t the worst of planks, but neither was it as comfy as BMW’s own — and far more sporty — M1000 XR. Yes, the M1000, the superbike of adventure tourers, better coddled my bony ass than the touring-oriented R1300. As I said in my XR road test, one man’s Russel Day-Long really is another’s torture rack.
BMW R1300GS pricing
The 2024 starts at $22,795, but like all BMWs — car or bike — few leave the showroom without much optioning. After considerable perusal of the options list, I’d spec my GS out pretty much as delivered by BMW.
I’d add the $2,270 Dynamic package (which adds the quickshifter kit, some additional ride modes, and, most importantly, the DSA suspension); the $1,570 Innovation package (which adds BMW’s much improved radar-controlled cruise control system and adaptive headlight); the $675 Comfort package that includes that great new electrically-adjusted windshield; a $1,000 touring package (prep for the GPS system, chrome-plated headers, and preparation for those neat Vario suitcases); and, most importantly, the $705 BMW Canada want for adaptive vehicle-height control system. Oh, and a heated seat that cost $210, which I probably wouldn’t use, but would put me in a good future negotiating position with the missus.
The total came to $29,225. The only thing missing were the Vario suitcases themselves — which now include an interior light fed by a really cool electric connector on the bag-mounting system — and the matching top-case. Such an R1300GS would be perfectly equipped for two-up cross-country tours. It also might also finally be the ne plus ultra of adventure touring bike that so many have long proclaimed it to be.
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