BMW R 1250 GS RALLYE

SPANISH FLY

I’ve ridden many GSs. The 650s (Funduro through to Sertão), the 800s, the 1150, the first 1200, then the TU 110hp twin cam upgraded 1200, then each of the water boxers. They are like ‘home’. And at first glance these 1200/1250s are a stately home at that, given their sheer size and the high number of fancy add-ons. To the uninitiated they look improbable motorcycles, for touring let alone off-road.

The 1250 GS is then much like its predecessor. The frame and chassis are pretty much unchanged for the new model, so it should feel the same. And while there’s more power, the hike hasn’t dramatically changed the characteristics of that power. Like GSs before, you get a good wallop of everything from bottom end to top. Actually, early 1200GSs – from 2004-09 – didn’t have the top end, the 2010 twin cam motor changed that. The subsequent 2013-onwards Water Boxers (water-cooled GSs) added to that top end hit. This latest, 1250 GS, just adds yet more.

It’s actually very impressive just how strong this motor is – give it full throttle and it is fully fast, like a road racer, you cannot imagine needing any more. It feels the equal to the KTM 1290 – honestly, only by back-to-back testing (drag racing?) would you be able to measure the difference. Like others, I found it impossible to detect the operation of the Shift Cam, the motor is as smooth as it is powerful and there’s no sudden change or lurch as the GS swaps in a micro-instant from one cam lobe to the next. Damn clever.

Somebody somewhere once said power is nothing without control (sounds very RUST), and that’s never been more true than with super-advs. And it’s here that there’s this unique ace-card only the GS can play – it’s that Boxer motor. Even in this super-sized offering it has something of an effect like a tightrope walker’s pole, it balances the bike – perhaps more than that, it keeps the centre of mass and all the reciprocating parts low down, so that most of the 249kg must be around your ankles rather than immediately under your crotch, as it seems with other bikes. Having come from the KTM, that shift in CoG feels very apparent. The KTM is tall and with that V-twin motor everything is up high. On the GS, while the saddle height is similar, everything else is low (an effect KTM has looked to achieve with the pannier tank equipped 790 Adventure). And so the motor is there very much helping you in managing that weight and the 136hp on tap. Kind of like a co-pilot.

And that is why social media is inundated with flash herberts doing feet-up skids and power slides on big GSs – because it’s so damn simple. Your kid sister – never been on a bike before – could power slide a 1250GS within minutes of being familiarised with throttle-clutch control. Somewhere between the innate balance the boxer engine brings and the clever, careful measuring of available power, the GS is a surprisingly easy bike to ride. And it’s this balance which helps make it such an effective off-roader (ruts permitting).

Bombing around a quarry near Malaga on this latest 1250 GS I was again struck by just how user-friendly the GS is off-road. It flatters your skills. Only it probably pays not to get too cocky. We were doing some panning shots for the photography, looking to kick up some dust for dramatic effect, and by heck could that 1250 motor punch it out. It fair roared and I doubt there’s a tyre yet made that could survive more than a dozen or so such passes – this beast shreds. You could also launch yourself into a world of extreme pain if you let such behaviour go to your head. Some 250-kilos is way too much to have barrel rolling beside you down a trail (ask Clint). So while the GS is just the most awesome experience when it comes to skids (brake and power) it’s as well to be mindful especially as the going gets lumpy. And it’s just as well that the GS’s ABS brakes and well-balanced suspension package keep everything mostly under control.