African Adventure
CW RIDING IMPRESSION
African Adventure
BMW’s all-new R1200GS roosts through the southern tip of the Dark Continent
MARK HOYER
WE’RE NOT SO DIFFERENT FROM BABOONS, REALLY. THIS thought occurred during a field trip to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, courtesy of BMW and all the grand celebrations surrounding the introduction of the new and greatly improved BMW R1200GS. As we waited tor a lighthouse-bound tram by the snack bar, a wild baboon crept out of the bushes and scaled a wall into the counter area. Our hairy friend made quick for the condiment bar, grabbed a handful of sugar packets (opposable thumbs, baby!), stuffed them in his mouth and bailed back into the bushes at speed. That must have been why signs all around read, “Baboons are dangerous and attracted by food."
Aren’t we all? Actually, we higher forms are attracted by good roads, especially good bad roads. Which is why we were in South Africa in the first place. It is hard to imagine a better place to ride BMW’s 2004 GS adventure-tourer-the scenery is stunning, the people are friendly and the exchange rate is fabulous.
This new RI200GS, shed of some 66 pounds by a total redesign, signals at least a partial spiritual return to the lightness and ease of han dung provided by the first R80 G/S of the `~ early l980s, rather a - compact, minimalist adventure-tourer when compared to today’s great big offerings.
But while the old G/S might have been easier to push around the garage, the savage treatment we gave the 1200-jumping waterbars on dirt-road mountain passes, hammering bumpy gravel roads of the Little Karoo Desert at near-triple-digit speeds-would have buckled the old airhead, and probably even this bike’s 1130cc predecessor. The 1200 (really 1170cc) is still essentially a two-wheeled SUV, even with its dramatic weight loss, but virtually everything is changed, power is up, agility improved...the list goes on.
Styling is notably altered, too, yet true to GS lineage.
“We wanted it to be a completely new familiar face,” said BMW Motorrad design chief David Robb, an American living in Germany who also happens to fly competition aerobatics in his own Pitts SIS biplane.
Noting the airy nature of the new frame, the more tightly drawn bodywork and tricks like the 2-inch-diameter hollow rear axle, he said, “The bike is so much lighter, we felt the styling should communicate the difference in the bike’s engineering.”
Said engineering results in what may be the first truly airworthy street-going BMW Twin. Obviously, you should leave the double-jumps to kids on dirtbikes, but landing from seemingly larger-than-prudent leaps leaves no craters, causes no femur-jarring shudders, no spine-compressing blammo’s, no untoward plate-tectonics on Earth or in engine/transmission cases. You just land. Pretty softly, too.
There are plenty of opportunities for this kind of ill-advised dirt mayhem in the Western Cape Province, even though South Africa is a fairly developed country. Lots of nice roads, too, not to mention the variety of exotic snackfoods available.
“Hey, you want some ‘wall-meat,’” I offered to the other gents gathered at the Cape Town airport, pointing to some dried, Slim-Jim-looking meat-sticks hanging on wooden racks behind the checkout lady in the gift shop. No takers.
As a further advantage to motorcycle trekkers, South Africa is large and the population not particularly dense, even around a big city like Cape Town, which has about 3 million people living in the area, roughly one-third the population of greater Los Angeles. Once you’re out of town, though, you are out of town. Spaces are vast, the scenery grand and the sense of this being a Big World profound.
Also profound is the degree of poverty. Here at home, we’re all struck by want of material things. We all want more motorcycles, right? Looking at the townships (slums) near the airport (and smelling them), noting homes made essentially from garbage, you realize how fabulously wealthy most of us “poor” souls up here are. The feeling is underlined as you roost by on a brand-new BMW, still digesting an ample lunch. We lead incredibly privileged lives.
Which is easy to forget when you’ve overcooked a blind comer on a graded gravel road and you’re looking at a bikeswallowing culvert and body-shredding barbed-wire fence as you two-wheel drift toward the edge... Is my medical coverage valid down here? Do I want it to be?
It turned out not to be a problem, as the 1200 tumed-in quite nicely and held its line. That’s one of the main differences between the old and new bike: off-road responsiveness, a willingness to do more, and do it more quickly. In some ways, the 1150 always seemed a reluctant cohort when the going got really rough or fast in the dirt. And even on the street if really hustled. It was nonetheless impressive, particularly because it was so comfortable over the long haul. But it is now completely outstripped by the capabilities of the new bike.
Thanks in large part go to the new steel-tube trellis chassis, a design that in addition to being more rigid and lighter, moves the rider closer to the steering head to improve handling and front-end feel (not to mention get him closer to the larger windscreen for better wind protection).
Add to this a dramatically improved, preload-adjustable fork, better both in terms of damping and rigidity. It is torsionally stiffer, as well as being more resistant to fore-aft flexure thanks in part to the new forged Telelever A-arm. This pays dividends on the street in the form of more precise, quicker-feeling steering (the rake is unchanged at 27.1 degrees, while trail is now 4.3 inches,.2-inch shorter) and in the dirt, where tracking and feel are profoundly better. Of course, with a 19-inch front wheel and the 7.5 inches of offroad-ready travel, the GS will never steer like a GSX-R600, but you can still motor right along.
The shaft-drive-effect-canceling Paralever swingarm is a lot lighter than the old design, and underwent simplification in the tweaking process, too. There are fewer joints, and the geometry is such that the driveshaft no longer needs a length adjustment and so is a single, lighter piece. (Ask your mechanic...) A big change is that the bracing structure has been flipped topside, so that if you are Jimmy Lewis taking a 100-mph vacation across the desert, you don’t rip it from the gearcase on rocks. Rear spring preload remains a toolless hydraulic adjustment, while damping from the positionsensitive rebound-adjustable shock was excellent, providing a smooth, controlled ride on dirt and asphalt alike.
Ergonomically, the main difference is the feeling of being closer to the new tapered steel handlebar. Also, footpegs are lower, but use narrower mounting to retain cornering clearance. There is definitely all the cornering clearance you’ll need, especially considering the squirm and vagueness at extreme lean provided by the stock open-block tread pattern on the sort-of dual-purpose tires. Ride this bike well on the street and pass sportbike squids in perfect confidence and comfort, then turn abruptly on a dirt road and take a shortcut straight over the mountain. Ha!
The Boxer motor, with its new “hex-heads,” provides power ample enough to wheelie the bike in first gear without a tug on the bars. Can’t remember any BMW ever doing this. Said one insider, tongue firmly in cheek, “The wheelie ‘problem’ was noted in one of the review processes, but we said it was inherent to the design and could not be rectified.”
Good work!
The 1170cc mill features twin-plug combustion chambers (using separate ignition maps for primary and secondary plugs!), oxygen sensors in both headpipes, a knock sensor so that even the low-grade fuels you might find in the wilds won’t detonate the engine to death, and a three-way catalyst for lowered emissions. Despite the 2.5mm increase in stroke to 73mm, the overall width of the engine is the same as that of the 1130cc predecessor.
The 101mm bore is unchanged, while compression is raised to 11.0:1, a mighty good figure for an air/oilcooled Twin of these dimensions.
That compression has helped bump power up, but further aiding this are lar_ er valves (exhausts sodium-filled for better heat dissipation) and improved porting.
Power is up a claimed 18 percent to 101 bhp. The heads are cooled significantly by oil flow, which on these new lighter heads has been increased. A gear-driven counter-rotating balance shaft (finally!) significantly reduces vibes felt through the footpegs. The overdrive sixth gear of the previous bike kept vibration at cruising speeds from being a big issue, but now it isn’t even a small issue. Overall, this engine has a lot more personality than oilhead Twins of the past.
Thank the louder, more melodious exhaust note and, essentially, performance tuning.
We called the 1150GS’s old motor, “quietly competent, if somewhat humorless.” This new 1200 laughs out loud. The six-speed gearbox, in BMW terms, is a revelation. The mechanism for gear changes has been fundamentally changed from a sliding-gear to a sliding-sleeve engagement, with needle and roller bearings stuck in all over the place. Gears are now helically cut for much quieter operation than with the old straight-cut cogs. The net result is short lever throws, the possibility for smooth, clutchiess upshifts on asphalt or dirt, and no missed shifts over a long, very aggressive day riding in a wide variety of conditions.
It was surprising to learn that the electrical system has no fuses, and only one relay. The function of all circuits and components is controlled by a central brain, through simpli fied (read: lighter) wiring similar to Ducati's Controller Area Network. In BMW's case, however, this is a propri etarily designed CAN-bus setup called the Single Wire System. If a component suffers malfunction or failure, the brain that feeds juice to the component detects the abnormal current flow and shuts down the circuit. Only the starter main power circuit retains a conventional relay, simply due to the high current flow demanding a mechanical switch, rather than an electronic one.
Options abound, from the mechanically expandable side and top cases (an mternal .. lever moves lids m and out a few inches) to a new - ... talking GPS system that was easy to use and is definitely the wave of the future for touring bikes. Stock seat height is adjustable from 33.1 to 33.9 inches-with optional seats as low as 31.9 inches or as high as 35.
The BMW R1200GS lives up to its Gelande/Strasse (off roadlstreet) moniker better than ever. It is perhaps the only motorcycle upon which you could attack a transcontinental trip on either street or dirt and ride with confidence, speed and comfort-and have serious fun-either way. It's an adven ture-tourer in every sense of the word, the kind of bike that makes you want to ride to Africa, just to get a handful of sugar packets.
