By Glenn Foley and Sean Hendley. Pics by Black Rock Studio.
Ummm, so, before we started writing this feature, Sean had already submitted his second opinion, and in that he pretty much said what we all felt.
This New Big Bertha Beemer really is quite something…
On all our shenanigans there is usually something entertaining that happens. And in this case, it came along in the form of a three legged Rooi Hartebees.
‘Strue! Read on…
This was my first ride in more than a year. Yup, more than a full year off any bike is no fun – and you might imagine my initial trepidation at riding a mighty 1300cc behemoth…
But it was a non-negotiable. We’ve been looking forward to this one since it hit the net a while back and when the West Rand Dealership offered us a bike… well you know how it is.
Seriously it was a pretty intimidating feeling climbing aboard, touching that throttle, snicking her into first gear… and then the smile just returned. BMW really has built something pretty special.
Please go and have a look at all the features on the Motorrad website that this bike has on offer. Yes, it’s pricey, but go and ride it, you’ll start to understand.
Standard equipment includes four riding modes, traction control, ABS, a manually adjustable screen, new handguards with integrated indicators, LED lights and X-shaped running lights, heated grips, keyless ignition, hill hold control, two power sockets and a lithium battery…
But there is a lot more to this one than just gadgets and electronics…
This story is about how the bike feels – and compares with the previous generation GS.
Our route took us from the dealership and into the Hekpoort mountains via the satellite road. Now if you have ever seen what we do, there’s usually a bit of riding, stop, take pics, chat, ride and so the day goes on.
On the satellite road, I spotted a beautiful country road, which you’ll see in the pics. Having overshot it, I opted to turn in at the next available driveway in order to stop the team and turn back to scout it. I indicated left, turned off….
And there stood a massive three legged Hartebees, right on the road.
Only in Africa!
He looked at me in surprise. I looked at him in greater surprise. Ground to a halt, put my leg out and… nothing there…
The GS inexorably headed groundward as the pesky Hartebees took off in a puff of dust. the tipping bike was literally an unstoppable force. You’ll know if it’s ever happened to you…
Thud!
That sickening feeling that you get when you just know… Ah well! Memories of the last little thud flooded through and I felt my wallet tightening up even more.
There is an up-side however, and proof that this lot do like me sometimes…
A chorus of “Hey Foley are you OK?” and willing hands lifted up the bike and dusted off the ego.
The rest of the ride went seamlessly. They tried to get the 1300 away, I told them to bugger off.
Get this shot, get that shot, have a little drag race…
Here’s the skinny and I might get into trouble with current GS owners here:
The new R1300GS makes mincemeat of the 1250 in every respect. And I’ll try to explain…
It’s lower, easier to climb on and off. They have lengthened the swingarm and changed the Centre of gravity. It’s better balanced and more stable at speed.
They have changed up the suspension and on road and in the dirt it feels, well even more confidence inspiring.
Speed?
Whadaya mean?
To be honest, the 13 didn’t feel particularly fast on its own.
It’s got Typical GS feel, with performance that you expect from a big bore machine. It’s deceptively torquey, really comfortable and – well, easy through the traffic and out on to the flowing roads.
That was until we got to some open sections where we could play.
The 1250 is certainly no slouch. Go and ride one, you’ll see for yourself. Then, try dicing the 1300. It doesn’t hold a candle to it…
In every gear, every single time, the GS1300 won.
By a mile. Maybe even two.
By now, Sean is bedonnered because he knows he’s a faster rider. He clawed the bike away and I took the GS1250.
Repeat. Same result. Change modes. Same result. Eventually after the third or fourth run, I gave up. That GS1300 is seriously quick!
We both have no idea where we tapped off, but it wasn’t even a contest. No really!
It’s an adventure bike right?
Well yes, that means gravel roads and we filled the day with those too.
Farm roads, muddy bridges, rocky gravel, we’ve got it all out there. Loved every second. Compared to the 1250, the new bike just – once again feels smaller, lighter, more stable and, well faster…
After all, that’s kinda what you expect from any new bike.
But they really have built this one so well.
As for that thud.
Luckily it was on some softish loose gravel and not the tar, so, the sparkplug cover got a small scratch, as did the right hand brushguard and the right hand mirror.
Sadly the brush guard has an indicator in it, and the mirror has a radar sensing overtake light in it…
Lets see what it costs to repair…
Séan Says:
So many new bikes have been hyped up so much in the past, by their respective manufacturers, other reviewers, fans and the like, and in a lot of instances I have been quite underwhelmed.
Thus, when I heard about an all new 1300GS and all the subsequent fanfare I was prepared to be underwhelmed, especially when, to date BMW Motorrad seems to have deemed a proper South African press launch unnecessary. So, when Jacques offered us his demo for a bit of a blast around the countryside I figured we would kind of get to it when we get to it, I mean…. I
it’s just a moderately bigger engine and some cosmetic upgrades, RIGHT?
Well…. WRONG!! SO VERY WRONG!!
This is a completely new bike, new feel, new riding position, new handling dynamic, new gearbox…. NEW EVERYTHING, and yet somehow, still so familiarly BMW GS.
This isn’t what I was expecting at all.
Especially when you compare it with a previous gen bike.
For good measure, we scragged a 1250 Rallye from Rodney at BMW Motorrad East Rand just as a comparison. I spent the first half of the day on that, mostly because Glenn pulled rank and simply wouldn’t relinquish his seat until his meds wore off.
That got me very curious.
Let me start by saying this, the 1250 GS Rallye is an absolutely phenomenal bike both on and off-road, and I can fully understand the price and why it sells so well.
I was having a spectacularly excellent morning blasting around the Magaliesberg countryside on it and having a hard time imagining how they could have possibly improved on it, other than chucking a bit more power at and making it look a bit prettier.
The first thing I noticed whilst riding behind Glenn was his sitting/riding position, the GS has always had quite a bit ‘Cruiser/Fat Boy’ type of look and feel to me, much more relaxed than most anything else in its category. With the new 13, the rider position seemed more reminiscent of a motard come scrambler, with wider, lower handlebars, a more upright/straight back and shoulders and arms more ready for action.
It is also a helluva lot faster anywhere in the rev range and in any gear. My interest was piqued to the point of distraction now, because I am generally the faster rider of the two of us.
At the next rendezvous point I physically muscled Glenn off the 13 and went for a blast.
Hopping onto the 13 it immediately feels smaller, lighter, more nimble and more aggressive in its stance than the 1250, but it still feels like a GS…. only – better if you might believe that.
The tank is, or feels lower and the cockpit is more spacious, with much more room to move around at any speed. Even though the gearbox is underneath the engine as opposed to behind it like the 1250, the CFG feels much lower making the whole bike feel more balanced. Counterintuitively, with the longer swingarm I was able to U-turn the 13 much quicker and tighter than the 1250 and this also came into play when negotiating off road sections and tight obstacles.
This in turn highlighted for me how much lighter the 13 is versus the 1250, and it also just carries its weight so much better making it feel even lighter and even more agile than the 1250 could ever dream of being.
I have always been able to hang a boxer engined GS way over through a corner as well as any experienced rider, with the 13’s motor sitting up a little bit higher than normal, you can now really get silly lean angles out of it on the tarmac that will make any tupperware torpedo green with envy. Then, you sit up, engage cruise control and it is supremely comfortable and can easily cross continents.
The rider position is seriously comfortable. I quite enjoyed the soft padding over the fuel tank, from my days on the motocross track when I was a laaitie, I sit as close as possible to the fuel tank and regularly end up mashing my groin into the tank over potholes, unpainted speed bumps and our uniquely bumpily paved roads in South Africa.
Speaking of which, the suspension on the 13 is dynamic.
No…. It is literally Dynamic. In its dynamic setting they have come up with some new fandangled twin spring and reservoir system that never needs manual adjustment by us silly riders, the electronic onboard brain measures weight, compensates for your riding style and always make sure that the suspension is always in the perfect setting for you no matter the riding conditions – or at least that is the way I understand it, and it really seems to work as well, especially in the dirt.
I made a point of pushing the 1250 hard in Enduro Pro mode in the dirt and in a couple of instances, I thought I might have done the rims an injury or eight as I clocked big lurkers and the regular potholes and water erosion ruts. On the 1250 I had to have my wits about me and make sure I was ready to compensate for the 1250 getting wayward on me, it was reasonably hard work and sapped my energy a bit.
Taking the 1300 down the same section of dirt and back, (and let me point out at this juncture that the 1250 was shod in really decent 80/20 off road rubber whereas the 13 had 80/20 road bias tyres), in Enduro mode.
The handle bars were rolled back for a shorter rider and I was fully expecting to have to compensate for that, so initially I took it a bit easy…. or so I thought, taking the tyres and the handlebars into account. Looking down at the speedo I was shifting along a lot quicker than on the 1250 and yet it felt slower, more controlled and more predictable.
On road tyres – WHAT??? This completely blew my mind, I shouldn’t be able to ride this fast on a GS over this gnarly terrain at my skill level, which isn’t too shabby, but I am definitely not this quick.
At this point we were on our way to a refreshment stop and I turned back and went and did that section again, got back onto the tarmac and still arrived at the refreshment stop the same time as the rest of the crew.
This bike is seriously good.
All of the dealers have a demo, go ride one for yourself if you don’t believe me.
The new 1300 came from BMW Motorrad West Rand.
The 1250 was loaned to us by BMW Motorrad East Rand.
The R1300GS starts at R355 410.00
Engine size 1300cc.
Engine type Air/liquid-cooled, 8v, DOHC flat twin.
New Frame type: Pressed steel shell with cast ali subframe.
Fuel capacity: 19 litres
Seat height: 850mm
Bike weight: 237kg 14 KG’s lighter than the GS 1250.
New Front suspension: Telelever with non-adjustable single spring (electronic suspension optional)
Rear suspension: Paralever with single spring adjustable for preload and rebound damping (electronic suspension optional).
Front brake 2 x 310mm discs with four-piston radial caliper. Cornering ABS
Rear brake 285mm disc with twin piston caliper. Cornering ABS
Front tyre size 120/70 x 19
Rear tyre size 170/60 x 17
Claimed Max power 143 bhp
Claimed Max torque 110 ft-lb
Top speed 210 KPH
Claimed Tank range 395 KM’s. We did 200KM’s for the day.
