BMW R1200GS ADVENTURE FIRST RIDE
Just over one year after dropping the liquid-cooled R1200GS on America, the Next Big Thing has come. BMW introduced the R1200GS Adventure to the U.S. press last week in Sedona, Arizona. The “Adventure” suffix is a very big deal to the BMW faithful. It designates the top of the food chain. Where the standard BMW GS is already a very feature-heavy package, the A model goes farther, with more fuel capacity, more suspension travel and more armor. To accomplish all that, the bike got a new frame, swingarm, shocks and bodywork. Even the liquid-cooled boxer motor got some work, with two additional pounds of flywheel weight.
That motor is still very impressive. It has nothing in common with the air/oil-cooled BMW motor aside from the layout. There’s the liquid cooling, it’s more compact, turns in the opposite direction, has the exhaust ports on the bottoms of the cylinders, and on and on. The two most noticeable changes to the rider are the clutch feel and the horsepower increase. Both are big improvements.
The Adventure version carries a higher price—it will sell for just over $21,000 in the premium package. As stunning as that is, the previous GS-A had nearly the same sticker price, but with fewer features.
We got to ride the new machine all over northern Arizona with the press corps, then we rode it home to Southern California to put on as much mileage as possible before they come for it. A full test will appear in the June, 2014 issue of Dirt Bike. In the meantime, here are some of the scenes, courtesy of Kevin Wing and Jon Beck.
That motor is still very impressive. It has nothing in common with the air/oil-cooled BMW motor aside from the layout. There’s the liquid cooling, it’s more compact, turns in the opposite direction, has the exhaust ports on the bottoms of the cylinders, and on and on. The two most noticeable changes to the rider are the clutch feel and the horsepower increase. Both are big improvements.
The Adventure version carries a higher price—it will sell for just over $21,000 in the premium package. As stunning as that is, the previous GS-A had nearly the same sticker price, but with fewer features.
We got to ride the new machine all over northern Arizona with the press corps, then we rode it home to Southern California to put on as much mileage as possible before they come for it. A full test will appear in the June, 2014 issue of Dirt Bike. In the meantime, here are some of the scenes, courtesy of Kevin Wing and Jon Beck.
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