First impressions after a 500 mile day on the BMW GS1200 Adventure

Decided to break the bike in this weekend, and charted a 500 mile day for myself.

As horrible as Illinois is, I love the proximity to good riding. Galena territory, SW Wisconsin is loaded with beautiful two lane twisty roads with some great rolling hills.

I rode from Chicago 'burbs to Portage WI taking the extreme long way, and didn't stop until I clocked 500 miles.

Now on to the bike.

Handling:

Handles better than some "sport bikes" I have ridden. Extremely agile, tons of ground clearance, and very flickable. The suspension was set on soft to preserve my bad back, yet never bottomed out. On sport mode, the suspension made the bike even more responsive.

Comfort:

Ergos are perfect (for me). A slight pitch forward from sit up and beg and lots of leg room. Wind protection with the stock screen set in it's highest position was perfect (I'm 5'11). Even the stock seat was tolerable with my Aerostitch suit on after 500 miles.

Performance:

Well, it's not a sport bike, and straight line speed is not what inspires me with a bike. The boxer is dead smooth, with bags of low end grunt. Transmission is very smooth, but I would have liked a taller 6th gear, as I typically cruise at 85-90mph on the interstate.

I averaged 42 mpg on the first tank, which gave me a 365 mile range on one tank of gas. It should get better with time.

Practicality:

Great "do it all" bike. BMW panniers are roomy and load from the top, but really create drag. nothing "aero" about the Adventure.

Hrm....I swear that I responded to this already today! lol

Anyway, that is a great write up. Glad to hear you are back on a bike my friend.

Those are some nice bikes man. What are the mod plans? Wind screen, exhaust, power programmer, air induction...etc? BMWs are noted are they not for lacking a tall 6th gear? I think the write up of the BMW vs Kawi Concours 1400 said the same thing. BMWs run forever though. Pics?

My girl and I recently took a 212 mile ride together, it was a great day. We filled up 2 miles from the house and it took 4.29 gallons to fill the tank when we got done. That kind of mileage is UNHEARD of for a sport bike, let alone an 1100 and we were keeping good pace most of the day.

Very nice. I had a '95 R1100GS, which I owned until 2002, when I went back to a sport-touring bike, the K1200RS.

I do get the urge every so often to buy another Gelande Straße (literally "Dirt Street") and do some camping trips.

Oh I used to ride the GS into Boston every day as my commuter bike. It gave a nice commanding view of the street!

Quote: Originally Posted by TLS_Addict... Hrm....I swear that I responded to this already today! lol Anyway, that is a great write up. Glad to hear you are back on a bike my friend. Those are some nice bikes man. What are the mod plans? Wind screen, exhaust, power programmer, air induction...etc? BMWs are noted are they not for lacking a tall 6th gear? I think the write up of the BMW vs Kawi Concours 1400 said the same thing. BMWs run forever though. Pics? My girl and I recently took a 212 mile ride together, it was a great day. We filled up 2 miles from the house and it took 4.29 gallons to fill the tank when we got done. That kind of mileage is UNHEARD of for a sport bike, let alone an 1100 and we were keeping good pace most of the day.

Probably a Russel Day long saddle, and maybe an Akrapovic exhaust.

I already added a BMW tank bag and panniers.

pics

Sounds nice, Most of the Beemers I've had were/are happy eating highway miles.

I found out years ago during an 800 mile day on a bike trip that I have a 500 mile butt.