Would you say that is where the xr's downfall is? I ask as because of those in here who have commented on it, the constant mention is like a sports bike with adventure bars. That reminded me of an old TDR 250 I had for a few months before it was stolen. An absolute hoot to ride but after a while you get fed up of an upright bike behaving like a screaming nutter and the constant work you have to do to ride it. A bit also like a scooby with a 4 inch exhaust and a dump valve, great in the beginning, fecking annoying after the novelty wears off.
Well yes, if you consider a superbike type experience annoying. I always think of it a bit supermoto, similar to how I found the first incarnation of the multi 1200s, in other words jumping on it for a mad Sunday blast at warp speed around some twisties was savage fun. The dvt in my opinion became more grown up and less aggressive, it lost edge The XR pops and bangs on the downshifts / up shifts and can be set far more stiff and agile than the dvt As I mentioned somewhere above, if you buy one expecting a classic 'tourer' experience then you'll probably be disappointed, it's a superbike in a comfier frame that just so happens it can tour. It really is ludicrously fast for what it is and never feels out of shape, but it also comfortably sits in 5th or 6th gear without strain when pootling through 30mph villages. If I was covering 100's of motorway miles everyday then yeah it'd get on my tits, but if you want something comfy to cover the A-B miles and then loose the luggage at the other end and hoon round mountain passes, lap the nurburgring or do a respectable job on a track day, it's perfect for that.
This is exactly the sort of feeling I got from test riding the XR and the GS. The XR is nutty fast like the RR with that same compressed feeling of power that you get from a high reving superbike engine. It was awesome to thrash and like you say reminded me of a powerful fast Supermoto but overall when considering it for a long cross country journey it didn't feel like it would be much less tiring than a full blown race bike. It would definitely be a good bike for the road in general and ticks most of the boxes for a do everything bike better than just about anything else I've tried if you are a bit of a hooligan. The vibrations and manic-ness put me off for really long 'GS' type journeys though.
I can go with that, because it's an L4 and a very powerful one at that then continuous and monotonous days in the saddle wouldn't be quite as relaxing as a GS, DVT or KTM. But I'm talking those type of trips whereby you're doing multiple 100's of miles everyday, crunching through the distance day after day, which in many respects end up quite boring trips in themselves. To give a great example it's exactly 500miles door to door from my house in Ng10 Nottingham to the village Barweiler where we stop just down and the road from the Nurburgring (if ridden M1/M25/Eurotunnel). I've done that trip many times, each time we do it in one hit (no stops other than fuel) and I've done it on everything from a 848, RC8, RC8R, SD1290r, S1000r, 2010 Blade, Multi 1200s and more. The XR was by far the most comfortable and relaxing of the lot with the 1200s coming a close 2nd as that didn't have cruise control, QS/blipper or heated grips, and to be honest the Multi was still loud as..... The XR had the ability to carry a shit ton of luggage, gave me less back ache and leg cramps, and when we get to the hotel you can simply dump the bags and still have something ridiculously fun and fast at the other end. Our days out still cover a couple of hundred miles and mixed saddle time, but because your then not just sat on a motorway it comes in to its own. It can still be sedate because of the ability to stick in a high gear (5th or 6th) and wind on from 30mph to well over XXXmph and back again without really breaking a sweat or rattling itself to bits because you're in the wrong gear (a Ducati / Twin trait). Plus It has a decent enough range (150mile plus) which is easily acceptable given the performance, for once I wasn't the first everyday waving the group down pointing at my fuel tank in desperation I'd love a GS to do massive miles on, but I simply don't ride regular enough nowadays. Ideally I'd have a GS, a superbike and a super naked if I had the space and cash, alas I don't.......Grrrr (insert Brexit / Tories / Corbyn/ Kids / HMRC / Climate or whatever else people get angry about nowadays)
I'm still a little worried about choosing the GS! I did it specifically to try doing the long journeys with ease because at the moment I only do the fast blasts like the Nurburgring ones where you want to get hard on it once out there. It's a complete mind set change for me to just try and cover the distance to places I can't be bothered to do on the fast bikes.
You’d be amazed at how fast you can cover distance on these bikes. Didn’t you have a KTM? Even with one of these bikes, I always choose two store routes not long boring ones. And there is real satisfaction with riding as quick as anyone you’re with yet getting off and having zero aches and pains and often there first It’s a loaner: what’s the worst that will happen...you dont like it as much so just dont ride?! Get the XR and some think foam bar covers if its that much a worry
I'm sure you'll still enjoy it when you get to the locations, it's a GS, hardly a shit bike by any standards.
Yeah I had the KTM which was faster than the GS but it was awful on the motorways at high speed (especially with luggage) so I never took it abroad and soon traded it in for the S1000RR ironically as the RR can actually do everything if you dont mind sore knees! Despite it being able to do everything I am not really interested in taking it long distance to the Alps for instance as it's too much hard work. The XR is better but I still get the feeling I'll not want to use it for long journeys very often for similar reasons. I'm hoping the GS will give me an enjoyable way to cover the distance much more regularly, it might be a pipe dream but like you say I can just give it back later....
I can say a GS can keep up with an S1000R being ridden to the edge of its tyres and above 9k revs in the first 4 gears on unfamiliar twisty roads abroad fine (I wasn’t on the Gs so not a brag )
Seriously, just fit decent tyres and enjoy. Not been on a trip yet on this GS or the last where I have felt out gunned apart from on the straights. Meh....dont care about straights! Fantastic handling bikes.
1250GS TE confirmed It's not the new S1000RR but I'm still quite excited. Busy seeing what silly long distance trips I could manage over a long weekend!
For sure mate, that's the whole point of it. Its a complementary bike from BMW until the S1000RR gets here. The factory is closed for the next two months for summer rejig and holidays and they say they will not start delivering until they have sufficient parts backup to support customers sufficiently so the latest estimates are October/November for delivery. I was pretty gutted but I'm quite excited to try the GS now I've come around to the idea that I'll not get the RR for a while anyhow.
