MotorbikeTest/BMW R 1150 GS Adventure: This new BMW is a go-anywhere bike. John Wheeler enjoyed it
BMW has recently introduced a new variant of its well-known R 1150 GS - the R 1150 GS Adventure. Though it looks much like the standard 1150 GS, this is a very different machine, the Adventure is specifically aimed at the "explorer" market. In the publicity brochures there isn't one square foot of tarmac in sight - this machine is meant to come into its own once you leave tarmac roads behind.
Which makes it a trifle difficult to test thoroughly. The time available did not permit a trip to Morocco's Atlas mountains, which must be the nearest appropriate test surface to Ireland.
The essential differences include a massive 30-litre fuel tank which should give a range of 600 kilometres; very robust crash bars to protect the machine against the sort of spills common in such extreme conditions; a program card to change the electronics so that they can cope with poor fuel; BMW's new servo-assisted ABS braking system; power sockets for your electric vest and GPS system; pannier frames to take the optional alloy panniers and matching topbox giving a total luggage capacity of 104 litres - for an extra € 875 - and heated hand grips.
Frankly this machine would be wasted if all you're ever likely to do is to stay on well-surfaced roads. It demands to be taken across the Gobi desert, up the gravel strewn pathways of the Andes or across the Sahara. For all that, doubtless many will be attracted to its style - and the fact that it bears the BMW badge.
As is common with this type of adventure sports machine, roadholding, especially in the bendy bits, is every bit as good as any sports bike. Suspension is designed to cope with the very worst and has a wide range of adjustment. The upright seating position is comfortable and gives an excellent commanding view.
The seat is a vast improvement on earlier variants. The small screen, no longer adjustable, is ineffective until one reaches around 70 mph. Being a tall machine one does notice cross winds a lot more, though compared with some earlier variants the effect is much less.
One caveat: this is not a machine for the less than long-legged rider. Although there is a lowered seat option, so high is this machine off the ground that most riders, even with that option, would find it more than a handful. Anyone under the six-foot mark would welcome platform soles, a mounting block, or both! Having a 30-lite tank above the engine does not help either.
The engine is far smoother than a horizontal twin has a right to be; the gear ratios coupled with superb engine braking effect are so good as almost to make the brakes almost superfluous. The brakes on the few occasions you call upon them are excellent.
One either loves or loathes the looks. The huge frontal proboscis is not for skewering pedestrians - it forces air into the oil cooler. This bike provoked a whole range of comment from the public during our test ranging from appreciative envy to the sort of remark that has no place in The Irish Times!
The clutch on the test machine was noisy at low speeds suggesting a defective clutch plate, not what one would expect from BMW quality control.
Given the out-of-the-way places BMW's GS machines have travelled and their successes in such extreme conditions as Paris-Dakar rallies, there can be little doubt that this machine is well up to the worst you can throw at it.
We confess to some reservations about taking a complex, sophisticated machine to parts of the world where there isn't a soul in sight. Motorcycle electronics are, thankfully, far more robust than PCs, but even so, trying to diagnose what has gone awry in a little black box is beyond virtually anyone without complex diagnostic equipment to hand.
Similarly, what if the shaft drive transmission fails in the back of beyond? Most could manage to repair or replace a chain but a shaft drive unit is not something a hill tribe blacksmith could fix.
The machine weighs 253 kg without luggage. If that lot slides into a gully you're not going to be able to hoist it out on your own.
However, just as thousands of 4 x 4, 4-wheel vehicles are bought by people who have not the least interest in ever going off road, no doubt many riders will be attracted by this bike's purposeful, muscular looks and go-anywhere capabilities. But really, it would be a pity not to take it to places where few bikes have gone before.
TECH SPEC
ENGINE: 2-cylinder, 4-stroke fuel injected, air/oil cooled, flat twin "boxer" engine, 4 valves per cylinder, 1130 cc producing 85bhp at 6,750 rpm. 6-speed gearbox, 600W 12v generator.
FRAME: 30 litre fuel tank, seat height 900mm, weight 253 kg. Brakers - servo assisted; twin 305mm front disks, rear; single 276mm disk.
PERFORMANCE: Maximum speed: about 190 kph (118 mph); fuel consumption 47 to 50 mgp.
PRICE: €17,035.
OPTIONS: Panniers and top box €875. Other options: GPS navigation system, Enduro transmission, Off-road tyres and low seat.