As well as single handedly creating the most diverse and rapidly developing class around, the adventure bike market, the GS has also starred in TV series, traveled to the furthest flung corners of the world and even won the torturous Dakar Rally.
The pair created an cc Boxer dirt bike to compete in the German off-road Championship against smaller, lighter, two-stroke competition. After surprising success, the bike was used by BMW as inspiration for a new breed of road bikes. Was the world ready for a new bike that was a mix of off-road and on-road styling?
BMW decided to test the water…. A legend was born and very rapidly sales went through the roof as the GS dynasty expanded to all four corners of the globe. What was it like then? Claimed to offer improved feel under braking, the Telever system looks like ordinary forks however the damping is taken care of by a central shock absorber. Where adventure bike rivals such as the Honda Africa Twin and Yamaha Super Tenere were focused more on off-road capability, the GS targeted road riders who were looking for a comfortable long distance tourer.
The new Boxer engine may only have made 80bhp, which was hardly ground breaking, however with 72ft. And while on the move the new chassis with its lowered centre of gravity delivered a surprisingly sporty ride while remaining plush and composed over the bumps. What is it like now? The RGS is still a brilliant machine with unquestionable reliability and enormous practicality and as such expect used bikes to have fairly high mileages.
A lot of second hand RGSs come with upwards of 50, miles on the clock and a few have even topped , Ride quality and brakes are this bikes forte.
A real touring bike. Also I know all bikes lose their weight as soon as they are rolling but for a bike weighing nearly a quarter of a ton it is really flickable, it is much more like a cc class bike in the handling department. Expensive bike, but you can easily see where the money went. Never had any trouble with it at all, just coming up to 2 years ownership.
When I went to look at this bike, I fully intended to buy the base model and thought all the extras were just gimmicky toys. The demonstrators are obviously all fully specced, within the first ten minutes of riding I'd used about half of them and realised I wanted them all.
Favourite things, hill hold, electronic suspension gives an unbelievably smooth ride and really exceptional TFT screen. The quick shifter can be a bit clunky on the up change, gets smoother with more throttle, down shifts are lovely with an auto blip on the throttle. As an aside, I have a SENA intercom in my helmet, it will only connect to one none SENA device at a time so if you want instructions from the navigator 6 sat nav , you cannot connect your helmet to your bike, which automatically connects to your phone, so no phone calls or music.
Even though the sat nav is connected to the bike and operated by controls on the bike it is a separate bluetooth connection, it is possible to connect phone to sat nav but you have to go into menu's on the bike and sat nav separately which is a five minute faff about you could do without, first world problems. Buying experience: Bought brand new from a dealer, Alan Jefferies in Rotherham.
BMW customer experience is second to none, salesman was honest about everything up front, I was trading in a bike less than a year old and we came to a favourable arrangement on both sides. Great bike - bought 18 months old with 10k.
Automatic tyre pressure adjustment great feature if pillion and variable luggage loads and all very intuitive. Smooth ride had come from a 30 year old R80 RT so it was transformational! No regrets about spending this money - wish had done sooner. Am nearly 66 and retired and bike is easy to handle - when its in movement and particularly in slow traffic it is very easy to handle. TFT screen is great with all the information very visible - speed ; revs; gear engaged etc..
Absolutely no bad points Screen protection is good, surprising, as came from a barn door screen on the R Owners' rating 4. Specs Owners' reviews Bikes for sale For sale. View 18 images. View bikes for sale. Warranty term Two years. Model history Model introduced. And for me that was an appeal, if not the image. Big tank, better image and still naked enough to keep the speed down.
Hyperspeed, heavy steering and a few other minor grumbles left me disappointed. An hour later I was proper hacked off. A lot. I giggled all the way through that test ride. It handled the road as well as I could ride them. Braaap, braaap everywhere from the Akra piped boxer twin; I was hooked.
Lots of switches on the handlebars soon became obvious. No scrolling through menu after menu to select an option, to then select a function.
Electronic suspension on the TE which is pretty much the only model BMW sold at the time, no right-minded owner would buy one sans-gizmos , numerous fuelling modes, it made riding the bike and switching whatever you wanted on the go second nature. And a mile plus tank range for the GS, plus for the GSA bigger, taller, more farkle possibilities , was the answer to my needs. But I always wondered if they were really a biker, or just some rich bugger with a bike.
I can be a dick at times I admit. It makes all the safety devices cut in much earlier and can be dialled in with the push of a button, just whip the clutch in and it activates.
The tyres may look like they don't shift much water, but they feel great on this bike in the rain. This is every bike you could ever want all rolled into one. While the competition has attempted to either go more off-road KTM or more touring Honda, Triumph or just cheaper Suzuki no one has managed to capture the pure essence that makes the GS such a success.
And in truth they probably never will. A superb bike that has earned its reputation through just being brilliant at everything and despite the fact it has been updated for , in truth the competition were still trailing way behind it anyway. For this reason it is always best to buy a bike with a full service history from an authorised BMW dealer, just to be on the safe side.
With this box ticked you need to check the items that wear with age as getting parts replaced can be expensive. Inspect all the bearings especially in the front end and also the shaft drive for any grumbles or leaks. Corrosion starts to set in where the two engine cases meet and quickly spreads under the paint, causing it to drop off. A few owners have experienced switchgear failures, leaking water pumps and cracks in the screen around where it mounts, but these are relatively rare occurrences and should have been sorted by now.
There have been a few updates to the RGS a steering damper arrived in and also a partial update, which is a bit odd.
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