cool bikes

[goo]

thinking about one or the other.

...
see link,

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=631883

[RT-Mike]

For myself,I would go with a Standard GS...the Adventure model and that HUGE gas tank make that one top-heavy beast....I know many will argue that.

I feel the new yammie is just another BMW clone.

My 2 cents

[Kieran R1200R]

The reason these bikes are popular at all is due to Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman.
If you remember Boorman wanted the KTM's because they wore lighter.
Look at both movies they did and count the times they fall off, that was on camera, and imagine the times they fall off that wasn't on camera.
Plan and simple, if you buy these heavy bastard bikes and go off road, be prepaired to be falling off.
They are heavy even for the road. They make good tourers for the road and the occasional graded dirt road, but anything serious off road and you will be arse over turkey many times.
The whole thing with these bikes is the romance of the 2 films.
There are plenty of lighter off road/trail bikes that will out perform these juganourts.
Go off road AND YOU WILL FALL OFF!!!
If you wore like me and started out on dirt bikes back in the seventies do you remember falling off. Now load the bike up with all that touring gear and try to do the same riding. Add another 40kg for the bike and you will start to realize that gravity plays a very big part!

[angellr]

The reason these bikes are popular at all is due to Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman.
If you remember Boorman wanted the KTM's because they wore lighter.
Look at both movies they did and count the times they fall off, that was on camera, and imagine the times they fall off that wasn't on camera.
Plan and simple, if you buy these heavy bastard bikes and go off road, be prepaired to be falling off.
They are heavy even for the road. They make good tourers for the road and the occasional graded dirt road, but anything serious off road and you will be arse over turkey many times.
The whole thing with these bikes is the romance of the 2 films.
There are plenty of lighter off road/trail bikes that will out perform these juganourts.
Go off road AND YOU WILL FALL OFF!!!
If you wore like me and started out on dirt bikes back in the seventies do you remember falling off. Now load the bike up with all that touring gear and try to do the same riding. Add another 40kg for the bike and you will start to realize that gravity plays a very big part!

Have watched both series ... and agree 150%!! I would not go with anything more than the F650GS (or F800GS) off-road, as that is something I could keep upright.

[Caroanbill]

Ugly pigs, but to each his own.

At least the pic was taken in the Aussie bush ... I can see a grasstree (Xanthorrea australis) behind the Yammy-pig ...

[deilenberger]

I always think of them as the Hummer of motorcycles. Great in the mall.. not so great in the wild, and rarely used for what people think they bought them for.

See Joe Finn's (Chitown) photos to see what a real rider can do with the R12R..

[rockbottom]

You could always buy one of those Russian bikes Claudio picked up in Mongolia (an IZh Planeta 5).

[angellr]

You could always buy one of those Russian bikes Claudio picked up on Mongolia.

Now, that is funny!!!

[mogu83]

Without getting too deep into it, I'll pass on one of my old friends quotes 'The Beemer GS is the new Harley Davidson'.
I recently saw a three or four year old GS with aftermarket stuff on it that cost more than my bike. The 300lb+ rider stood back and when someone stopped to look at the bike he attacked, and explained how much each item cost. The bike didn't have a scratch or dent on it and I'm sure my Roadster has spent more time off the pavement than his Adventure Tourer.

Naturally it's none of my business how someone spends his/her money (or gets their kicks) but the GS thing is becoming humorous.

[sky_sailor]

I don't get it. The remark about the "Long Way Down" chaps was bang on. Somebody please share with me ONE thing these behemoths will do, that a 5500$ Suzuki DR650 won't?? Got a kick out of the "New Harley Davidson" remark as well. I've seen more than a couple of these road yachts at Starbucks.

[Jed]

Since when do the aesthetics of a bike mean anything? If Goo likes these bikes, more power to him. I like the look of the R1200GS. I don't want one because I dig my R12R more but I've always liked the look of the GS. Chances are I'll get an F800GS but not for any kind of hardcore adventure touring, just because I like the bike and the R12R could use a stablemate.

Who are we to judge? There isn't much our bikes can do that can't be done for much less money from another marque. I don't bother to try to defend my decision to ride a BMW. I paid dearly for the privilege, but it wasn't so much a logical decision. More like I had the means to get what I wanted and I got it, logic be damned. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret my choices but I'm keenly aware that I could have spent much less to have been just a little less happy.

cheers,

[sky_sailor]

I could compare them to the capabilities of a BMW G650GS....if that's easier on your sensitivities?
I was talking about comparative capabilities, not on the actual make of the bike. It is the real or perceived capabilities that drive you to purchase a bike like that, is it not?

[Jed]

I could compare them to the capabilities of a BMW G650GS....if that's easier on your sensitivities?
I was talking about comparative capabilities, not on the actual make of the bike. It is the real or perceived capabilities that drive you to purchase a bike like that, is it not?

I'm not concerned about my sensitivities, but the R1200GS's obviously float some people's boats. The R1200GS is the best selling of the R1200's is it not? I agree that it's likely the perceived capabilities, or rather the desire to project a certain image that drives so many non-adventure riders to choose the R1200GS's. But so what? From a pure cost vs performance perspective any BMW is hardly the most logical choice.

My point is that a significant component of my desire / lust for the R12R is/was the boxer engine and the images it conjures up from my youth. I suspect I'm not alone in my desire to ride the marque that has been the object of my desire since the '70's. If I could I'd also ride a Norton 850 Commando. Are we to pretend there's a lot of logic there? You may well disagree, but I think we are consciously or unconsciously influenced greatly by the images to which we were exposed during our youth. I just don't see the point of pissing on someone else's parade. YMMV

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7110381/

cheers,

[mogu83]

[quote="mogu83"]
Naturally it's none of my business how someone spends his/her money (or gets their kicks) but the GS thing is becoming humorous.[/quote]
Jed - maybe you missed this.

I'm sure their are GS riders out there that could out ride me in the dirt even when I was doing it on a regular basis (a while ago). I think we started off wondering why someone would buy a machine so unsuited for the use it was advertised for and then drifted off to the Walter Mitty thing. Actually it's a great piece of marketing by BMW they must be taking lessons from Harley Davidson.

[deilenberger]

Harry - I think BMW could give lessons to HD.. BMW sales are up, and have been each year for the past few. HD sales are in the toilet. New product is driving people to BMW even in hard economic times, while HD retreats into the "HD classic lifestyle" bike image products.. dumping Buell and MV.. I think BMW got the program - HD seems to have missed it. Unless you can get people excited by your somewhat overpriced (BMW and HD) products in hard economic times, you'll be loosing sales. Talk about blowing a chance - KTM did with the original Charley and Ewan adventure.

[Kieran R1200R]

I'm just trying to point out that if you buy this over weight off roader and go off road with it be prepaired to fall off.
It's got nothing to do with price or someones fanticy. Buy one by all means and have heaps of fun.
They are very tall to the saddle about the 870mm mark, extreamly heavy, put that together with a rough and unstable surface like dirt and it will go over. Remember once you get over 40 years old you don't bounce like you did before, not to mention over sixty. Ewan McGreger is a very good bike rider, and early thirties when doing the movies, and whatch how many times he puts the thing over. Some of them left be bewildered how it went over. It's mass and weight on the move and NO room for error!

[dav]

Love them or hate them, but without the GS models would BMW still be making a boxer motor & our beloved R12R???

btw well spotted Bill

[Caroanbill]

Love them or hate them, but without the GS models would BMW still be making a boxer motor & our beloved R12R???

VERY good point. I get a lot of teasing from a couple of long-legged GS poseurs who've never, ever taken their pigs offroad. Next time I shall reply along the lines of " Thanks! Without all you guys w*nking and posing, I might not have this sweet roadster!"

[mogu83]

Whoa Bill what are you drinking. I was dancing around it but you went right for the P word. Careful you might be censured.

[goo]

i guess i just better keep my r12r.