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00:00Good day everybody, Zach here with RevZilla and welcome to another episode of Daily Rider.
00:11Our guest today is the BMW R 1300 GS, the quintessential adventure touring motorcycle
00:18and this one here behind me will cost you about $25,000.
00:23If you've never heard of a BMW GS, you might want to start with a different video, honestly,
00:27something that covers why this is one of the most important, successful, and talked about
00:31machines in the history of motorcycling.
00:34If you do know what a GS is, well, you might be thinking, I don't know, Zach, it kind of
00:38looks like the same basic engine and the same basic suspension and is there anything that's
00:43really new about it aside from the number on the side?
00:46Well, I am so glad you asked because we've got a whole ride to work to talk about it.
00:51Buckle up everybody!
00:58Okie dokie everybody, quick reminder before we get started here that this video is brought
01:03to you by RevZilla.
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01:14A little piece of every dollar you spend at RevZilla.com goes into making videos like
01:18this, as well as the Shop Manual with Ari Henning, CTXP Adventures, and the High Side
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01:24So the next time you need something for you or your bike, we hope you'll keep us in mind.
01:27That's all.
01:28In the meantime, thanks very much for watching.
01:30Alrighty, we're going to start at the engine as we often do.
01:36This is now a 1300cc flat twin.
01:40It's otherwise known as a boxer because the cylinders go like this.
01:45And yeah, it is sort of foundationally very unchanged from the way it was many decades
01:51ago.
01:52The evolution has been extreme and now includes larger bores than the 1250 replaces, as well
01:59as a shorter stroke, I believe, and continues the shift cam technology, which offers variable
02:04valve timing.
02:06The other big piece of news with the 1300GS is the new frame.
02:10Right here you can see these spars here, this laser-welded sheet metal that are stamped
02:16together and glued together and replaces the steel tube trellis that was there before.
02:23So you can see the sort of spar here and there's another one that reaches up and goes up toward
02:26the headstock and the back of the front suspension.
02:30The back of the bike with the single-sided swingarm and the parallel lever rear suspension,
02:35as well as the front of the bike with the two radiators that are pushed to the side
02:41of this massive center shock here that works in tandem with this sort of A-arm that reaches
02:46forward from the front of the frame and grabs the fork tubes here, is all very similar in
02:52design.
02:53Still uses all the sort of tail lever anti-dive technology that it has used in the past.
03:00As for what's new on the bike, virtually everything.
03:03There are a few nuts and bolts and the throttle bodies are the things that BMW has pointed
03:06to that have been pulled over from the 1250GS.
03:09But other than that, it is all new.
03:12There will be a link in the description of this video for an article at Common Tread
03:15that will include much more detailed descriptions of the options, updates, and overall changes
03:21that happened to the 1300GS.
03:22A couple other things I'll point out while we are here.
03:26This strange little forehead here is where I'm pretty sure the radar system is housed
03:30because this bike has adaptive cruise control and front collision warning, as well as blind
03:35spot warning, which we'll talk about.
03:37It also has this new headlight, which is obviously much talked about because it changes the look
03:41of the front of the GS quite a bit, which had been pretty recognizable and similar for
03:45many, many years.
03:46At the back of the bike, you have the other rear-facing radar unit.
03:50I believe that's what that is anyway, from Continental.
03:53What else we got at the back of the bike here?
03:54Saddleback mounts.
03:55I wasn't able to try any luggage because it's all backordered or hung up in customs or some
03:59sort of thing.
04:00Another thing I could point out, I suppose, is the rear subframe, which is now cast aluminum
04:04and sort of mates with this new stamped and welded mainframe.
04:07The skeleton of the bike is actually quite different, and I think it's created a quite
04:12different look, right?
04:13It's very smooth and groomed and a little bit plasticky, if we're being honest, in these
04:17sections of the bike.
04:18I appreciate that this area where your leg interacts with the motorcycle as you sit on
04:22it is smooth and doesn't have any sort of sharp edges and stuff.
04:25That's smart, but it does change the aesthetic of the bike a little bit, and it definitely
04:29makes it look a little more kind of suave and sport tour and a little bit less rugged.
04:35But is it less rugged?
04:36Does any of this stuff do anything?
04:38Virtually every single part is new on the bike.
04:41Does it matter?
04:42Well, that's what we'll talk about right now after we fire this bad boy up.
04:46I suppose I could clean the dash off here, you know, just sort of do BMW a favor while
04:50I'm talking about its product.
04:53Get the dust off of there.
04:55Pretty standard issue BMW screen at this point, which we'll talk about more later in the ride.
05:00But for now, we can fire this baby up.
05:06All right.
05:13We have a new engine, a new frame, redesigned suspension, redesigned electronics, redesigned
05:21switchgear.
05:23We have an electronic windscreen.
05:24We've got a new headlight.
05:26We've got different passenger accommodations.
05:28I forgot to talk about this.
05:30You can move the passenger seat if you want your passenger to sit farther forward.
05:33It just lifts up and slides, clicks into position.
05:36You can also change practically the density and height of the rider's seat if you flip
05:41it over and push a lever from one side to the other.
05:44There's really no end to the things you can talk about on a big GS as far as options.
05:50So let's roll, shall we?
05:56All righty, we're rolling along here, kiddos.
06:04We can talk about some basic specifications.
06:08I said the bike costs $25,000.
06:10This particular spec of GS is $24,980 was on the pricing sheet for this particular bike.
06:18It does not have the adaptive ride height suspension.
06:21It does have the adaptive cruise.
06:23There are pretty much literally thousands of different ways you can configure a GS now
06:27with different suspensions and different types and heights of suspension, different seats
06:32and windshields and options, and the list goes on and on.
06:37But you probably won't get one for less than $20,000.
06:41The fuel tank is a five-gallon fuel tank down from 5.3, I believe, in the 1250.
06:47And with a full five gallons of gas on board, this bike weighed down on the daily rider
06:52scales at 567 pounds.
06:56So it is approximately the same weight as the last 1250 GS we had in-house, even though
07:02BMW did a lot of talking about how this bike was lighter.
07:04It's 145 claimed horsepowers, and I don't remember how many torques.
07:11That information is in the description of this video, of course, as always.
07:17I have thus far failed to tell you the seat height because I'm procrastinating.
07:21I think it'll be listed at 33.5 inches, but it's another one of those things that can
07:26vary a lot depending on what your spec of GS is.
07:29And it feels like about that height.
07:31It feels, you know, not uncompromising, but substantial, just like the rest of the bike.
07:39It's a full-size machine.
07:40There's no two ways about that.
07:41And it almost feels more appropriate when the seat's a little bit higher.
07:45We tested a spec of the 1300 GS that had the low seat option and it had the adaptive
07:50ride height suspension, which lowers as you slow down or stop.
07:55That one did feel much, much more approachable.
07:57I'll talk a little bit more about that later on.
07:59This one feels a little bit more typical GS.
08:03And that is very much a good thing because these bikes have historically been quite comfortable
08:07and this one is no different.
08:09It's a really lovely riding position with your feet far enough forward that you can
08:12put weight on them when you like.
08:13The seat is fairly comfortable.
08:16The handlebar is just exactly where you'd expect and where you kind of want it to be.
08:21It's wide and fairly tall.
08:24It's just a very pleasant place to sit.
08:27I don't have a lot of complaints.
08:31If you look at this right mirror here, you can see this yellow triangle that has illuminated.
08:35It's letting me know that there's an enormous truck next to me.
08:37That is a blind spot warning.
08:38Hopefully you can see it here and you see if we accelerate away from the truck, the
08:42yellow triangle will go away.
08:45That's what that is.
08:46It uses that radar system in the back to tell you if there's a vehicle in your blind spot.
08:49I think it works pretty well.
08:50It's supposed to, I think, only detect vehicles that are approaching from behind.
08:55So when we pass this truck, for example, I don't think it's supposed to turn on, though
08:58it's a big vehicle.
08:59So maybe it will now.
09:00See, it didn't turn on.
09:01And I think that's intentional.
09:02So it's a pretty thoughtful system.
09:05It's similar to the one on the Multistrada V4S that we tested a while back.
09:09Rider Aids is going to be something we see more of.
09:11And while we're on the topic, I guess we can flick cruise on.
09:14I will set it to, I don't know, we'll set it to like a thousand.
09:18We'll set it to 80.
09:20And this person's getting out of our way now.
09:22So you'll see that we're going to turn it down a little bit to say 75.
09:29So as we catch up to the slower moving traffic here, you see we're slowing down.
09:32Adaptive cruise still going.
09:33I'm going to downshift.
09:37Sixth to fifth to fourth.
09:39And it's still active, which I think is pretty cool.
09:42Allows you to decide what gear you think you should be in, even though the cruise stays
09:49active.
09:51While we're cruising along here, we can experiment with the electronic windshield, which rises
09:56up with the use of this rocker switch here.
09:58Makes for a nice bubble of air.
09:59I like it.
10:00It's a pretty drastic change from having it all the way down to all the way up.
10:04It does not cover my helmet completely, but it does take most of my face out of the wind.
10:09The thing that makes me the most angry about adjustable windscreens in general is when
10:14they don't adjust enough to make much of a difference.
10:17And this one, it's definitely different, whether it's up or down.
10:21And I really appreciate that.
10:22Normally, I spend this time not talking about electronic windshields and adaptive cruise
10:26control.
10:27I talk about how the bike feels on the highway and whether or not you take it on a long trip.
10:30And hopefully it's very obvious that this BTS is a very capable long distance tourer.
10:37I would be very surprised if you got a 1300GS and you were disappointed with a long day
10:43on the road.
10:46From the standpoint of fuel range and efficiency, I think the highest fuel number that I got
10:54on this bike was 44 maybe, and the lowest was in the high 30s somewhere.
11:00So yeah, 40 miles a gallon, 5 gallon tank, you're going to get 200 miles.
11:02You should anyway.
11:04That's an acceptable amount.
11:05I think much less than that would be disappointing.
11:08And if you ride aggressively, you're going to want to fill up well before 200 miles.
11:13BMW is flirting with the GS having not enough fuel range, in my opinion, but of course,
11:18in typical BMW fashion, there is the GS Adventure, which offers a much larger fuel tank and longer
11:25legs on the highway.
11:27Okay, last thing on the list is mirrors and just mirrors are good as far as being smooth
11:32and visually pretty good.
11:34So I have struggled a little bit to make them point in exactly the right direction.
11:40Maybe that sounds silly.
11:41They feel small.
11:42I don't think that they're actually a different size than previous generations.
11:45Maybe they are.
11:46But I often find myself being like, I wish I could see more behind me and more to the
11:51side of me.
11:52And I just sort of like struggle to get them in exactly the right position, whatever that's
11:56worth.
11:57All right, it's time for the old stop sign challenge.
12:02And this is where I think previous big GSs have done pretty well, though not as well
12:07as I would have expected, though that was a pretty good footless stop.
12:10One of the things the GS is quite good at in these environs is being surprisingly light
12:15to the touch and agile and precise.
12:18There's a new system in the front suspension now that removes some of the sort of play
12:23that was involved with that anti-dive telelever front end.
12:27In previous generations, it's supposed to be more direct and more connected.
12:30I don't notice it on a day-to-day basis, but yeah, in general, it's an amazingly balanced
12:39and kind of, yeah, it's got a lot of poise in these situations considering it's nearly
12:47570 pounds and has a fairly tall seat height.
12:51One of the things about that Boxer engine that's always been kind of advantageous for
12:59the bike and for the brand is that it offers a low center of gravity, right?
13:03The cylinders stick out instead of up like a lot of cylinders do, and that keeps the
13:08weight low.
13:09And this new engine design moves the transmission from the back of the engine to underneath
13:13the engine.
13:14The engine's continued to evolve.
13:15It's gotten more compact.
13:16And of course, a shorter stroke means it can be a little bit narrower if necessary.
13:23And yeah, it's just, it's very impressive to me that the Boxer engine has been able
13:29to evolve in the way that it has and still be relevant because it's like a pretty antiquated
13:39notion really to have the cylinders stick out into the wind when there's liquid cooling
13:43and you don't need them to stick out into the wind.
13:46But oops, screwed that one up.
13:50But it's definitely valid and relevant.
13:52It's a great engine and I'm surprised at how kind of docile and torque rich and easy
13:59to use it is also because the changes that were made to the 1300 engine, raising the
14:03compression ratio and adding bore and I think shortening the stroke, though I'm not certain,
14:10is the kind of stuff that usually makes an engine more of a hot rod.
14:13And it does make more horsepower, but usually that comes at the cost of not being as pleasing
14:17to use at low speed, but it's still awfully good.
14:21While we're at the stoplight, I don't think I'm going to dive into the dash right now,
14:25but I could address a couple of other cockpit things.
14:28One is this little glove box thingy, which pops open.
14:30Oh, there's a cord in there actually, but there's a USB-C charging port there.
14:34It fits most cell phones, I imagine, which is kind of handy.
14:40It's small, but handy, I would say.
14:43The other thing I'd like to call out real quick is this GPS mount looking thing, which
14:51is actually a phone holder, and you can put your smartphone in there.
14:55It will charge wirelessly.
14:57There's also a USB-C port to plug it in if you don't want it to charge wirelessly, and
15:01so you can run Google Maps or navigation or whatever you want, really, up there, which
15:06I think is a pretty smart evolution on BMW's part to move away from suggesting that you
15:12need a Garmin system up there and you can't just use your own device, which everyone kind
15:15of does anyway.
15:17All right, as we approach our final stop sign challenge, I will say that—ah, scrooge it
15:27up, scrooge it up—a quick anecdote on the size of the 1300GS.
15:34It is approximately the same weight as the old bike, despite BMW claiming certain versions
15:37are quite a bit lighter.
15:39I have a buddy who has an F800GS, an 11- or 12-year-old midsize GS.
15:44He swung a leg over the 1300 we had with the low seat option.
15:48He is 5'8", and he said, oh my god, it feels so much smaller than my F800.
15:53So that's something that I think might be a little bit underappreciated by people who
15:55haven't tried many different GSs or interfaced with late-model GSs, because there are so
16:01many different variants and so many different sizes, it's worth calling out that if you
16:06get the one that is designed to be low and approachable, I think you'll find it's really
16:13quite approachable, more so than you might think.
16:17We can cruise along here and talk about passenger accommodations.
16:20As my lady friend reported, it's surprisingly wide, surprisingly cushy.
16:25It does move forward and back, as I pointed out, which she didn't really seem to care
16:28about.
16:29I thought that was a neat feature.
16:30And she was kind of like, eh, take it or leave it.
16:33But yeah, decent legroom and, in general, commensurate passenger accommodations for
16:40the design of this bike, which is to log miles and perhaps be away from home for days on
16:45end.
16:46Okie doke, dipping into the twisty road section here, and the GS is very good at this.
16:53I covered a Yamaha R1 on Daily Rider and talked about how I don't know if it would be at the
16:57top of my list for a road like this.
16:58The GS probably would be at the top, or near the top of the list for a road like this.
17:02It's a little bit cold and clinical sometimes, you know, it doesn't have a pizzazz or emotion
17:08of some other bikes, but as far as how good it actually is at dipping through corners
17:15and feeling light to the touch and feeling capable, it's remarkable.
17:18It's just comfortable and easy.
17:21It's a tour de force in engineering.
17:24It's really good.
17:25And it feels different enough from conventional motorcycles with conventional front ends that
17:30it can throw you off a little bit.
17:31It does feel a little strange.
17:33So yeah, I don't think it's quicker around a racetrack than some other machines that
17:37have more sporty DNA, I suppose.
17:41But as far as like inspiring confidence and making it easy to whip down a curvy road and
17:47enjoy the day, it's really pretty hard to argue against the capability and poise of
17:54the machine.
17:55It's just remarkably good at stuff like this.
17:57I actually meant to talk about how you can put it in dynamic if you want to, and then
18:02that'll change the attitude of the damping schedules and the suspension.
18:05It makes you feel a little bit stiffer and it changes the throttle response and makes
18:10it feel more responsive and sort of lively.
18:14And it does those things.
18:15I don't rarely feel the need, really.
18:17I just feel like when I leave it in road mode, it kind of suits the bike and I don't feel
18:24like it lacks capability.
18:26But you can change through many, many ride modes, which we'll talk more about later.
18:36Actually, while it's on my mind, let's go to eco mode.
18:39And eco mode does an interesting trick, which I think is kind of fun, whereby it has this
18:42little green bar, right?
18:43It's showing us how economical we're being.
18:45So if I twist the throttle more, you can see we're being less economical now as I ride
18:49the rear brake.
18:50And then if you just get off the throttle a little bit, you can see you're being more
18:53economical.
18:54Not only does it show you your sort of eco score as you go down the road, but this actually
18:58shows you when the engine shifts from the sort of efficient, low RPM cams in the heads
19:06there to the full load, higher performance cams.
19:10As this light goes green here, we will experiment with engine sort of character change as the
19:15load on the engine and the ask from the rider changes a little bit.
19:20Here we go.
19:21Right from this red light, you can see our eco score is bad.
19:25And then when you open it up, it'll turn gray and that's when you get to full load
19:29cams.
19:30Yeah, it's pretty fluid as a lot of variable valve engines are these days.
19:35You can't really feel it, but I like this eco mode because it sort of tells you, which
19:39I think is fun.
19:40Okay.
19:41Approaching this red light, we can talk about brakes.
19:44I'm going to slam on the brakes pretty hard here.
19:48These are very good brakes, typical BMW really.
19:52I think they could be even sharper.
19:54The 1300GS brakes feel equally powerful to GSs of the past, but doesn't have the same
20:02kind of initial bite, you know, when you first touch the lever and get that real kind of
20:07sharp initial bite, which I always appreciate about BMWs.
20:11This one seems a little softer for some reason.
20:13Could be the bike, I suppose.
20:14All right.
20:15Green light.
20:16Should we hit our little urban jump here?
20:19We're on an adventure bike, right?
20:22Why not?
20:23We'll leave it in road mode.
20:25See how it goes here.
20:27One, two, three, bouncy, plush.
20:33It's definitely real loose in the damping in road mode, which some people don't like.
20:37I appreciate it though.
20:38The last thing I want with a ride mode is for it to feel like the other ride mode.
20:41I would just soon have it be bouncy and underdamped in road mode than to have it feel more like
20:48dynamic mode, frankly.
20:50Right.
20:51Red light, another test of brakes.
20:55The brakes are linked, which is especially noticeable off-road if you go down a steep
20:58descent and you're using the front brake, you'll feel the rear wheel locking up as you
21:01go down.
21:02It's pretty cool.
21:03I think it works quite well.
21:04I'm rolling forward a little bit at this stoplight if I don't hold the bike with my feet, which
21:11is no big deal.
21:12I could just hold it with my body or I could pump the brake lever once and this whole hill
21:17hold thing comes on here, which people love to hate.
21:20They say, I've ridden for 50 years.
21:22I never needed no stinking hill hold.
21:24What's that for anyway?
21:26I don't know.
21:28What's an escalator for?
21:29Just take the stairs, right?
21:31Sure.
21:32But it's a convenience and you can use it if you want to.
21:34While we talk about the dash, for example, as per usual, you use this rocker switch to
21:38jump down into these menus here where you can flick through and learn more things about
21:43your motorcycle.
21:44You can go to a sport dash here, which shows lean angle and traction control engagement,
21:48stuff like that.
21:49It's a good view in my opinion.
21:51I use it on the off-road machine that I'll talk about a little bit later.
21:54And of course, navigation, music, smartphone connectivity, settings, all this sort of mumbo-jumbo.
22:01The big news here with the 1300GS is it uses this new shortcut button right here, which
22:06if you tap, you can see you can adjust shortcut accessibility to any number of, or I guess
22:14five different things.
22:16Cruise control, heated seats and grips, windscreen, traction control, and suspension damping.
22:24Now that the light is green, I will pump the brake lever one more time, turn off hill hold,
22:28and off we go.
22:29Okay, Zach, you've made your point.
22:36You're thinking, I don't care about all the electronic stuff, Zach.
22:39I don't care about hill hold and shortcut buttons and adaptive cruise.
22:44I just don't care.
22:45It doesn't matter to me.
22:47Is the bike good, foundationally?
22:49Does it work well?
22:50Would you buy it just for the engine, say?
22:53And the answer to that is, yeah.
22:54I don't think that this engine is better outright.
22:59I'm not going to say that, than Ducati V4 in the Multistrada or a KTM 1290 engine, which
23:05I think is just a stupendous, stupendous engine.
23:09So, so good.
23:10I'm not going to say that this bike has a better engine than those bikes, but this engine
23:14is unique, like those engines, whether it's a Vstrom 1050 or a Multi V4 or a KTM 1290
23:21or a BMW GS or a big Triumph Tiger, you know, they all have, they all have unique engines.
23:27And I think that's really cool.
23:29BMW happens to have, I would argue the most history and pedigree laced into its engine.
23:36I think that's really cool.
23:37But if you don't agree, then just get the one you like on merit and you'll be in good
23:42shape.
23:43So, where does this leave us with the 2024 R1300 GS?
23:51Virtually every piece of the motorcycle is new and yet it's a very similar riding experience,
23:59right?
24:00The suspension dynamic is upgraded and updated, but the same.
24:05And the engine is the same, even though it's new.
24:09And I think it leaves BMW in an interesting place and it leaves us, I suppose, the consumers
24:14and the general public in an interesting place too, because where do you go from the top
24:19basically, right?
24:21The BMW GS has for a long time been the bike that every other brand has been aiming at.
24:29And you can say that it's no longer the best in the world if you want, if that's your opinion.
24:36And that's fine.
24:37But if that's the case, what changes, you know, what does it need to be that it isn't
24:42already?
24:43I think BMW has complimented itself and insulted itself at the same time by making a new bike
24:50that's so similar to the old one.
24:53And I don't really know, I don't think I feel one way or another about it.
24:57I think in general, I have the same feeling I often do when I ride a big GS, which is
25:02that it's special and I'm glad that it exists.
25:08It's really interesting when you look at it closely.
25:12And it's interesting when you look at it from far away.
25:16And it's just different than anything else.
25:21And maybe in this modern world of motorcycling, that's what we're all looking for more than
25:26spec sheet shopping or which gizmos work the best, is like the bike that makes us feel
25:31the best.
25:33Difference?
25:34Good, I think, these days.
25:36All right, enough existential meandering in your brain, Zach.
25:42Let's ride this sucker down dirt road, shall we?
25:46So at this point, I will switch into Enduro Pro mode and the bike will say, Achtung, ABS
25:56and DTC setting because the Traction Control and ABS settings are different, looser, more
26:03lenient in Enduro Pro.
26:06Suspension tightens a little bit, throttle response, I don't remember what that does,
26:10but something Enduro-y, you know.
26:12And last thing before we go, I'll just point out a couple of quick things.
26:16One, these modes here, I just switched to Enduro Pro and I have accessible to me Eco
26:21Road Dynamic and Enduro Pro, but there are not four ride modes on this bike, but rather
26:26seven maybe.
26:27There's a regular Enduro, there's a Dynamic Pro.
26:30You can't actually access all of them from the cockpit.
26:34You have to go into the settings, decide which four you want to be available here, which
26:38I think is weird.
26:40Just throwing it out there.
26:41But anyway, we're in Enduro Pro.
26:43Other thing I'll point out is that I was able to ride a different spec GS when I actually
26:47did my off-road test that had knobbies on it and it had the slightly different suspension
26:52that is eight-tenths of an inch taller and has stiffer springs.
26:56It was a trophy package.
26:58It had some different mumbo-jumbo on it, and I just wanted to point out that that bike
27:01does exist.
27:03That is what I did the large part of my Enduro testing on.
27:06And yeah, we'll just test this bike as it stands with street tires and no fancy off-road
27:12suspension just to see what it can do.
27:15Rrrrrr!
27:16It's really good.
27:19It's really good.
27:21It's locking up the rear wheel just by grabbing the front brake.
27:24That's linked brakes I was talking about.
27:26I mean, the GS is so good at this kind of thing.
27:29This is a street tires on it.
27:30The street tires do not like the surface at all.
27:32This sort of like sand covered hardpack.
27:35So the front wheel is wandering a little bit, but like I just feel in control.
27:39I don't feel worried about what's going to happen because the suspension is supple and
27:43soft and you can just blast along like this all day on dirt roads if you want to.
27:49You don't need special tires.
27:50You don't need the tall suspension.
27:53You don't need all the modes.
27:56Foundationally, functionally, this is a good motorcycle to ride down a dirt road.
28:03Will it be limited when you get to single track and crap like that?
28:07Of course.
28:09Of course.
28:10Being able to just bust a U-turn, sitting down and slide it around.
28:15It's so confidence inspiring and so balanced and you can feel the thought that went into
28:23the bike.
28:24All right.
28:25We'll go ahead and leave it in Enduro Pro, TC off.
28:33So we'll see if we can do a little willy and something tells me with a hundred foot pounds
28:37of torque, I lost the wheelie and I just opened the throttle and it went, yoink.
28:44It's a hot rod, man.
28:45It's a real hot rod under there.
28:47When you ride it around and ask it to do normal motorcycle stuff, it acts like this sort of
28:52like lopey, chunky, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop engine.
28:55But when you rev it up, it responds.
28:58Let's give it one more spin through the gearbox here.
29:00I'm getting fettered by TC.
29:09As far as backing it in goes, you definitely can because you can, because you can shut
29:16off rear ABS.
29:17Enduro Pro mode has rear ABS off and that's a real hoot, I got to say, but it's not really
29:22the bike's favorite thing to do.
29:23It never feels totally at home while it's hooning around because, uh, you know, the
29:29front end doesn't dive.
29:31It's very, you know, like I said, it's kind of, it's a little bit clinical.
29:35Well, as per usual these days, not enough parking spaces to do a true U-turn challenge
29:48because people are parking their busted-ass Nissan Rouges and trailers here, but I'm going
29:53to line up on this line.
29:54We're going to go full lock left, feet up.
29:57Uh, yeah.
29:59I mean, well, well under two parking spaces.
30:03It's amazingly good at this kind of stuff.
30:05It's got great steering sweep.
30:07It also has good throttle response, good clutch feel, and really good transmission feel, which
30:12is something I complained about on both the M1000 single R and F900GS, um, which I failed
30:19to talk about in the round town challenge, but, uh, it's really good, really good there
30:24as well.
30:25Okay.
30:26We survived.
30:27I'm going to use the center stand because I can, and we'll just take a quick listen
30:38to this engine and we'll jump into some Instagram questions.
30:44It's uh, you know, it's not a particularly sexy engine to listen to, I don't think.
30:55It hits my ears the same way that like a Harley soft tail does or something.
30:59Not because it sounds like a Harley Davidson, but because Harley Davidson's have sounded
31:03pretty similar for the last, who knows how many years.
31:08This is obviously an extremely different engine than a BMW was in the sixties or seventies
31:13or eighties or nineties, but it is foundationally the same and it has that same ring that's
31:19special to me.
31:20Same way as you hear a soft tail, you're kind of like, yeah.
31:23Is it perfect?
31:24But it's you.
31:25And that's great.
31:26All right, let's jump into some Instagram questions here.
31:30We'll start with one from real Jack Carlson who asks, does the GS adaptive ride height
31:35work better than the Harley Pan America system?
31:37Good question.
31:38No, it doesn't work better.
31:40The systems are very different.
31:41BMW releases all the compression damping and maybe somehow releases a little bit of spring
31:45preload, but the Harley system is a little weird.
31:48It's like got these bladders that get pressurized as you ride.
31:50And then as you come to a stop, it releases those bladders inside the suspension and it
31:53goes, it feels, I think more drastic than the GS one does, but it is, I think it goes
31:58down 1.3 inches, maybe something like that.
32:01Not this bike because it does not have that suspension equipped as I told you, but I did
32:04try it and it's noticeable when you want it to be.
32:07And it can be sort of not noticeable if you set it to the automatic setting and have it
32:10do it as you slow down.
32:11It's definitely, definitely valuable on either bike.
32:14That is next question is from the dude at 96 who says, if you were on the design team
32:19when this new generation GS was being drawn up and you could only change one thing on
32:23the bike, what would it be?
32:25And why?
32:26This is a great question and really difficult to answer.
32:28What would I change?
32:29What would I do?
32:30What I would love to see.
32:31I don't know how you market it exactly, but we've been talking at the office for a long
32:35time about R1300GS Pro, R1300GS Raw, whatever you want to call it, basically it doesn't
32:44have any of the mumbo jumbo.
32:46It's got everything stripped off it.
32:48No electronic suspension, no adaptive cruise control.
32:52Make the barest bones, rawest, simplest big GS that you possibly can.
32:59I want to ride the bike with only the functional mechanical elements that exist.
33:03And I think there are other people out there that want to ride that bike too.
33:06Strip everything off it, paint it matte black and call it the R1300GS Pro and you don't
33:12get any of the features because you're too badass for that.
33:15No electronic windscreen, no electronic this, no electronic that.
33:18Just the raw GS experience.
33:20And people would line up to buy that.
33:23Great question.
33:24I like that a lot.
33:25Next question is from a Teddy Graham who says, I bought an R1250GS Adventure last September.
33:28Did I screw up by not waiting on the 1300?
33:31No.
33:32No.
33:33You're fine.
33:34Your bike's great.
33:35Next question is from Nolski who asks, are we getting to the point where new premium
33:39features are making the riding experience worse?
33:42Junkie hill start tech causing you to stall the bike, suspension lowering tech throwing
33:46you off balance.
33:47Are these improving anything?
33:50Is pizza just worse with that crappy pepperoni on it and stupid bell peppers?
33:56So there are some people that like pepperoni and bell peppers, right?
33:59There's some people that do think that improves the pizza.
34:01So when you ask, are these things making the riding experience worse and tell me that you
34:06don't like them?
34:07Yeah, they're probably making your riding experience worse.
34:10I think that's entirely possible.
34:11In which case I would say, don't get those things.
34:14Get your KLR, get your Vstrom or get your R1300GS Pro.
34:18That's what you need, right?
34:20Maybe that's what you want.
34:21And maybe that's what you're reaching for here because you don't want all of this technology.
34:23You either don't want to pay for it or you don't like it practically and that's fine.
34:27But if that's the case, then I guess I just say it's not the bike for you.
34:31And I think that that's okay.
34:33I just want you to promise me that you'll recognize that in yourself rather than necessarily
34:37accusing the product of doing something that you don't like.
34:40Last question here is from ill pre runner who says, as someone who uses my Ducati Multistrada
34:45V4 as a sport tour, how does the BMW compare being that it's more off-road focused?
34:52This is a very understandable question.
34:55I think that about 10 years ago, the BMW GS had just gone through a large evolution of
35:01being becoming water-cooled.
35:03The Ducati Multistrada had just gone through a pretty big evolution of also becoming water-cooled
35:07I suppose.
35:08I mean, not 10 years ago, but like the bikes were pretty different is my point.
35:1110 years ago, the Multistrada was a 17 inch front wheel.
35:16It was pretty raucous and very, very sporty.
35:18And I mean, I remember taking a 2014, 2013 Multistrada 1200 to a track day and I just
35:24ripped around all day and had a blast.
35:26It was an incredible track day bike.
35:28Really, really good.
35:29A 2015 or whatever BMW GS on a track?
35:33Not so much.
35:34The BMW GS I think has become more touring focused.
35:38I think it has become less off-road focused.
35:40I do think that it is still a pretty darn good off-road bike as I learned with the trophy
35:44package spec that I tried with crash bars and knobbies and blah, blah, blah.
35:47Is this bike probably better off-road than a Multi V4?
35:49Yeah, probably.
35:50Is a Multi V4 better on a track still than this bike?
35:53Yeah, probably.
35:54But I think that they're merging.
35:55I think they're getting closer.
35:56And I think that you might be surprised at how similar a Multi V4 and this bike felt
36:01riding them back to back as far as capability on-road versus off-road.
36:07Really good question.
36:08I appreciate that.
36:09I appreciate all the questions.
36:10I appreciate all the questions about which Starbucks drink would the GS be.
36:15I'm not a coffee drinker.
36:16I don't know.
36:17It's like the original, right?
36:18So is it just like the Pike Place Roast maybe?
36:20I don't drink coffee.
36:21I get the Starbucks joke.
36:22It's very funny.
36:23But I don't know what to say.
36:24Sorry.
36:25Thank you legitimately for all of your awesome questions.
36:27It was really great to see what people wanted to know.
36:30Bear with me, please.
36:31We're going to put this sucker on the leaderboard.
36:33Here we go.
36:34Yokey-doke.
36:35Yokey-doke.
36:36Everybody, here we are inside RevZilla West and we are at the Daily Rider leaderboard.
36:42We have a BMW R1300GS ready to go on there.
36:46You can see I've got a little dollar sign logo there because it's very pricey.
36:50And I considered putting a Fire logo on there too, like a spicy, because it's pretty fast.
36:55But it's not fast like these other bikes.
36:57The LiveWire Del Mar gets a Fire logo because it's so much faster than everyone was expecting.
37:02Really that's why that happened.
37:04More to the point.
37:05Where does it land on the board?
37:06Well, the podium, just a quick review here, is KTM 890 SMT at the top, a KTM 1390 Super
37:12Duke in second place, followed by the Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello rounding out the podium.
37:18So is there a bike on the board here that you think is better than an R1300GS?
37:26F900GS, off-road, probably, probably.
37:31It's lighter.
37:32It's got the 21-inch front wheel.
37:34It's rugged.
37:35It's tall.
37:36It's sort of mean.
37:37I think if you were going to take part in an off-road rally, you'd go for an F900GS.
37:43Arguably even a Ducati Hyper 698 Mono with some knobbies on it would probably be a better
37:49off-road bike than a 1300GS.
37:51As for outright comfort, not seeing anything on here that's more comfortable than GS.
37:58So what about touring capability?
38:00You want to take a long ride, far as the eye can see, farther even than the eye can see
38:05what bike you're taking on this whole list here.
38:08SMT, again, would be quite good.
38:10Super Duke, pretty comfortable, though no wind protection.
38:12Mandello, pretty good, though the seat's not great.
38:14M1000R, pretty good, though that's not really what it's for.
38:18F900GS, pretty good, but not better than a 1300GS.
38:22The BMW R1300GS is fantastically expensive, $25,000.
38:29Base price is under $20,000, but like I said, I'd be surprised if you find one on dealership
38:33floors that is actually under $20,000.
38:35And it's complex, which a lot of people seem to have trouble with, as we talked about on
38:38Instagram questions.
38:39And that's totally fair.
38:40It is complex.
38:41It's got so many options and whiz-bangs and things, and probably not even as adjustable
38:47as it should be, considering how advanced and complex it is.
38:52The Super Duke does a good job of that.
38:54But it is, in 2024, the best daily rider that I have swung a leg over.
39:02It's incredible.
39:03It's really good.
39:04And the reason it's good is not because of the whiz-bangery, and it's not necessarily
39:07because of the touring comfort, it's not necessarily because of the off-road capability.
39:12It's because of all of it.
39:13It just carries itself so incredibly well.
39:17The fact that it involves that mechanical technology in the front end that just changes
39:23the way, changes the attitude of the motorcycle when you ride it.
39:27The engine is state-of-the-art.
39:29It's good.
39:30It's an antiquated design that has evolved into something that still feels unique, it
39:35still feels special, and yet it feels powerful and versatile in all the ways that it needs
39:40to be in order to carry the torch of the flagship GS.
39:45And the fact that it's sprinkled with, or at least offers, availability and access to
39:50basically all the technology that you can get in a motorcycle today is not just important,
39:55but worth the tip of the cap for the 2024 King of the Leaderboard.
40:00So far, that is.
40:01Halfway through the year here.
40:02Some people might disagree with that assessment, and unfortunately those people are wrong.
40:07I am very sorry to tell you.
40:09And with that, I'll let you get on with your day.
40:10Thank you so much for hanging out on yet another ride.
40:13I hope you enjoyed yourself.
40:14I hope you had fun.
40:15Don't forget to read the Commentrade articles on this bike.
40:18They're great.
40:19See you next time, everybody.
40:49Bye.