Is BMW's R1300GS the best adventure bike on the market?

#BMW #GS #1300

Chief Road Tester Michael Neeves has been out riding the 2024 BMW R1300GS at its world launch. You can read the full written review here: https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/bmw/r1300gs/2024/

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And down welcome to MCN and the BMW r300 GS now BMW have thrown the kitchen sink at making the GS better than ever it’s lighter it’s more agile it’s smaller it’s more powerful it’s got more grunt it’s got a higher level of standard equipment it’s got more options than ever and

BMW have needed to do all of this to stay ahead of the competition so if you think the GS is one of the world’s most popular big bikes is to Jewel in BMW’s crown but they haven’t had it

Their own way over recent years they’ve had stiff competition from the likes of KTM with his 1290 Super Adventure s the dcti multi V4 the tri tiger 1200 GT and the much loved Honda Africa twin now

They’ve started from a clean sheet of paper so it’s got a new engine it’s got a new chassis it’s got new suspension new electronics so if we start with the engine it’s still a box of twin it still

Makes the same noise it’s still got that real nice Ry character and it still goes like stink I mean that’s one of the things with the old GS it’s a lot faster than people give it credit for

It’s still got that kind of pipe and slippers reputation but it’s a quick quick bike um and the new one is more powerful it’s got 143 BHP uh compared to the old 1250s 134 um quoted n to 60

Time is 3.4 seconds so it doesn’t hang around and BMW have made these improvements um by completely revamping the engine so it’s a 1300 cc now bang on the money and it’s got a a shorter stroke and

A bigger B so it’s an over Square engine which you would think would make it kind of quite racy because that’s what happens in Super Bike Racing in a MotoG GP to make engines more powerful you

Make them rev harder um but that’s not the case here with the GS yes it’s got a 9,000 RPM red line but its maximum power is still made at the same RPM it’s got another 4B foot of torque which

Is only made 250 uh RPM above where it was um but most crucially it’s got more power all the way through the revs it’s also got shift cam like it had before with variable valve timing

So that kind of fills in the the power at bottom revs and allows the engine still to to make good power above what I would say is that the engine character doesn’t feel too different to before

It’s got a a little bit more pep but basically it’s the it’s the same GS we know and love BMW haven’t gone after big Power figures it never needed massive power before and it still doesn’t

Need it now because the range that you ride a a GS in generally is just for mainly touring just fun riding on the road and it’s got It’s got all the grunt in the world for that um it’s

Also got a lot smaller engine which has allowed a longer swinging arm so the engine actually helps the the basic architecture of the bike uh and they’ve done that by moving the gearbox from behind the engine to underneath so the whole engine is more Compact and the engine in the

Power train contribute massively almost entirely towards the bike’s 12 kilo weight reduction over the old bike which is quite a figure um it’s also got a 2.5 kilo lighter lithium battery as well so the bike is a lot lighter before the the throttle manners are very friendly it’s got

A nice throttle response um the power deliver is friendly everything is kind of tick tick tick tick tick it’s winwin win win win the only thing I’m not too keen on on the road is that at high revs

When you’re going for it it’s got quite a lot of engine braking which you can’t adjust but if you use the engine in this kind of Sweet Spot which is sort of between three and 7,000 reps really then

You don’t have that engine braking problem at all and it’s it’s really nice and really really smooth when you jump on the GS it feels a lot more Nimble the tank is smaller and lower the Tank’s actually

Down in capacity from 20 L to 19 um but BMW say it does 59 MPG um and that’s a tank range of nearly 250 Mi we’ll put that to the test when we get to ride these bikes uh back in the UK on the MCM 250

So tank range hasn’t been affected too much but you really feel how much smaller the bite feeli so despite having a bigger engine the whole bite feels smaller you know it could be a gs850 almost

It feels that that Nimble but despite that the GS still has a familiar feel when you jump on you still got those wide bars familiar wide bars you’ve still got that beautiful 6.5 in Color dash

Which is more or less the same before one of the only things that looks quite similar actually but BMW never really needed to change it because it’s a fantastic display one of the best around still is um but it contains some different functions it’s got a a sport screen now and also there’s

Some new switch gear and the there’s a button on the switch gear that lets you go quickly to some of the menu functions so you don’t have to go all the way through the menus layer and layer of

Menu um things like uh adjusting the screen the electric screen uh which is a first for the GS adjusting the heated grips heated seat if you’ve opted for it the suspension the radar Cruise if

You’ve opted for it so the dash is familiar but it gives you a lot more the switch gear is familiar but it gives you a lot more the screen shape looks more or less the same so the the sort of riding

Position the layout the Comfort triangle if you like is very similar so you know you’re on a GS and it it still feels substantial but it still feels Nimble at the same time talking of screens it’s got a different shape screen um standard screen is manually adjustable with a a lever

Instead of a dial which is a lot easier but you can for an electric screen for the first time and I’ve got to say that Adventure bites are loud when it comes to wind noise but this isn’t too bad it’s

Pretty quiet so I think that make a big difference when you’re doing long distance um it’s very agile it’s very Nimble and the handling is largely the same So Gone is the old tubular steel frame that’s

Been put in the bin and in its place you’ve got this pressed steel shell frame which is a allow BMW to make it more Compact and the engine is a stress member it looks strange with no engine in

It but when it’s all together it looks absolutely beautiful and all in proportion it’s got a cast aluminium subframe um the handling this is the the weird thing about the new GS so it is completely

New down to every nut and bolt um but that to ride it kind of feels the same it’s more um accurate now the steer steering is lighter um and it’s more direct but it still has the old GS traits so it’s

Not the fastest steering bike in the world and sometimes on and off the throttle the suspension can get a little bit bouncy so it’s not as as crisp and and direct as it could be as it could

Be with a bike with conventional suspension so you know a Triumph Tiger probably handle more crisply so with a multier a KTM handles more like a super Moto so you BMW haven’t move the game that far

Forward with the handling but what it is and what everyone loved about it before is very predictable very stable and when you actually are pushing on it’s got a lot of grip it really finds a

Lot of grip it just digs itself into the ground he running on New me tant next two duel purpose tires which absolutely fantastic one of the best of the breed when it comes to Jew purpose tires it’s also

Got a new brake ERS bigger discs so the the brakin is nice and Powerful nice and Progressive the rear brakes really nice and that new gear box is really crisp especially when you use it with a quick

Shifter there are lots of new Innovations on the GS which make it a lot nicer to live with both in standard trim and if you tick the options boxes so standard you get a nice little cubby hold on

The top of the tank to put your your phone into there’s lots of nice paint finishes you’ve got kind of a sandcast finish on the cylinder heads you’ve got a a a textured finish on the tank

You’ve got a little toggle on the center stand if you want for that um which makes it easier to get it on and off um but also it’s got a few really big Innovations the first of all is in the

Suspension department so in standard trim it’s got non-adjustable front teer lever and the teer lever’s being revised it’s it’s lighter it’s stronger it’s got It’s more flexible where it needs to be the same goes with the power lever shaft drive rear so the front’s non adjustable

The rear is adjustable for preload and rebound amping but if you go for the semi active option then you’ve got a whole world of new features to play with so as before it’s got semi-active um

Damping so that changes as you ride along and it changes within the riding modes and that kind of stiffens up or softens off depending on what you need more Comfort or more control um and also you’ve got a self-leveling rear shock that compensates for extra load so the bike will always

Keep it shape whether you’ve got pan or luggage or you’re riding by yourself so that’s all there but you’ve also now got a variable rate Springs so before where the damping changes would give the impression the bike’s stiffer or softer in actual facts it’s just just slowing and speeding

Up the suspension the actual Springs themselves go harder or softer so in standard trim you’re using the the main springs on the front and rear shock which are relatively soft so they work in the lower riding modes and then if you select a sportier rideing mode there are extra springs

In the piggyback shocks um they come into play and then they add to the soft Springs to make the whole setup more stiff ly sprung it works really well and and it’s really Progressive you don’t feel any big jump in in in the way the bike behaves depending on how fast you’re riding

It but what I would say is that the difference between hard and soft spring isn’t night and day the the harder Springs don’t turn the GS into s000 RR um but it just gives you that little bit

More support and kind of makes the bike gives the bike a wider appeal and you can use it in more instances um but that’s a real clever trick and that’s that’s an options box you got a take if

If you’re going to get a GS the other thing it’s got is a radar cruise control for the first time so that kind of sticks behind a a vehicle at a certain speed and it’ll always always follow

It it radar also controls blind spot indicators and a collision avoidance device so like quite a few motorcycles with radar if if you approach or something’s approaching you at speed when you got the cruise control off then it thinks you might be having a collision and the dash will light up

To tell you the BMW here does the same thing but it will also dab on the brakes as well just to give you a little wakeup call if you’re still not awake it’ll actually apply the brakes for you now

We didn’t test this here at the launch when we’re all riding like little ducks following each other um but that’s something we’ll uh need to put to the test when we get the bike back to the UK and

Finally when it comes to Innovations the BMW has got a ride height device it’s not the first bike to have it the Harley-Davidson panamerica was the first one to have it uh and now the multi strier

V4 rally but now this has got a ride height device and it drops 30 mm taking the seat height from 850 to 820 mm as it comes to a stop and then as it pulls away away again it rises up now I didn’t

Notice too much difference because I’m 6′ tall and I can get my feet flat on the ground anyway but for the shorter Riders on our test um definitely thought it was a really good idea we also took the

GS off-road with the trophy version um which is a little bit more expensive £830 more expensive on top of the 15990 base price that’s uh where are we now October 2023 so that’s those prices

Are right at the moment that’s got an 870 mm seat height as well as spok Wheels radiator guard that kind of thing um and also fitted with metella Karu four tires for our little uh Expedition off-road

And we didn’t do anything really hardcore and I’m not the best off-road rider in the world um so I wouldn’t be able to dig deep and tell you exactly what it’s like at the limit all I can tell you is

That it’s a lot easier to manage because the bike’s so small and so light and so nimble it does feel like a smaller bike so you know if you’re going to do some light off-roading and

You’re not Sam Sunderland then the GS is going to be a lot friendlier but what I would say for the less experience if you’re going to do a little bit of off-road a middleweight adventure bike or

Even a smaller off-roader would still be the way to go but the changes to the new Big GS definitely help it when your tires get muddy so you get a lot of toys for your money standard equipment includes four riding modes trash control ABS a manually adjustable screen new handguards with

Integrated indicators LEDs heated grips keyless ignition heel hold control two power sockets and a lithium iron battery after that the sky is the absolute limit when it comes to accessories everything for Comfort Seats levers suspension you can also get taller 20 mil taller sport suspension

The list is absolutely endless you can customize this GS to with an inch of its life and get it absolutely perfect for the way you’re ride whether it’s sporty riding touring riding or off-road on top of that GS trophy there’s also a couple of other options and you can go for the much

Loved triple black with the two-tone black paint job and a few extra goodies and there’s also an option 719 tramontana which cost an extra 2,260 PB which has got milled aluminium Parts Comfort Seats foot pegs a center stand electric screen and spoke wheels BMW’s new r1300 GS has got all

These new parts but it’s still a GS albe it a smoother lighter more powerful easier to Ride Safer more fun version of its former self despite the changes the higher level of spec huge array of accessories and even a sophisticated new robotic production line at BMW’s Berlin plant

Is more of a subtle Evolution than a revolution rather than it offering a completely new riding experience the new GS is simply a machine for more Riders to enjoy in more situations the r300 GS is unlikely to beat its rivals in the areas that they’re really really good at so

It’s not going to be the best off-roader it’s not going to be the fastest and most powerful they’re not going after big Power Figures it’s not going to be the best handling but the new 1300 has has moved the 1250 on to be better all of those things and all of those things

Roll together make it a fantastic rounder and this new r1300 GS is going to be hard to beat thanks for watching and if you like this video please like And subscribe we’ll see you at the next one