As someone has rightly said, life is either a daring adventure or nothing, and time on a motorcycle is never wasted; it is an adventure into the soul of the journey. BMW Motorrad has given all adventure seekers a perfect canon to let loose for almost four decades, starting with its first motorcycle, the R80GS. After many iterations and transformations, we finally have the R 1300 GS. It's also the most significant disruption in the 40-plus-year history of BMW's GS legacy. The all-new R 1300 GS–is by all means an 'all-new'. Almost every single component on the bike – is more powerful, torquier, lighter and technologically advanced than the R 1250 GS it dethrones. First, it's lighter by 12 kgs than its outgoing 1250 GS, which stood the time and has a big fan. Following second, we were given the R 1300 GS 17,000 above sea level to ride from Ladakh to the Warla pass does tilt the opinion in its favour even before starting.
The beautiful landscape of Ladakh is a dream for every motorhead to ride or drive solo. The snow-capped mountains, army-maintained great winding roads, and fewer vehicles will start a soul-searching process. The nitty-gritty of a review honestly takes a backseat, and all you are thinking is that if four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul.
Verdict
It Competes with the Ducati Multistrada V4, Harley Davidson Pan-America 1250, Triumph Tiger 1200, and Honda Africa Twin. Still, honestly, the R1300 GS has set the bar very high, and it will now be a catch-up game for the rest. It's the most enjoyable GS ever, which is lighter and less intimidating than before, it's also safer and a little easier due to technology updates. The only thing is Indicators in the handguards could prove costly to replace. It's almost a flawless ADV that lots of money can buy. Price yet to be announced but the 1250 starts at 21 Lakhs before taxes and all customisations.
First, it's less intimidating than the 1250 GS, and the new matrix LED headlights & the flasher have been smartly integrated and look gorgeous and less menacing. The aluminium fuel tank has also been shaped sleeker and is lightweight. The new gearbox was placed below the engine earlier; 1250 used to be in the rear, has made the weight concentration more centralised and as a result, you have more free space for your knees and legs and it is more symmetric on either side. The longer drive shafts with bigger joints for extra durability, and BMW now claims that you don't need to change that up to 80,000 km earlier; it had to be swapped at 60,000 km. Finally, a monocoque short rear frame opens up more levels of personalisation. The R 1300 GS is a clean-sheet design in a completely new chassis, with technology never seen on any production road bike before. It also looks dramatically different look from nose to tail, will take time to digest, and at first can come across as a less powerful motorcycle with less muscles, but in reality, it's a monster, and a small blip at the throttle can displace all these motions.
From exactly 1300 cc, it produces an output of 145 hp at 7750 rpm and a maximum torque of 149 Nm at 6500 rpm, making it by far the most powerful.
BMW boxer engine ever to be produced. The higher percentage of liquid cooling enables a high-compression engine, which is also somewhat present in the Ducati Multistrada V4. The BMW Motorrad EVO Telelever has improved the steering feedback and more direct response with its new system of rigid clamping of the upper fork bridge, and no tilting movement of the handlebar gives you a more sense of control of the steering.
There are a lot of standard accessories and tech that come with it, including electronic adjustment of the windshield, heated grips, etc, but I am sure that there will be no 1300 GS, which will not get added with tons of options in the configurator before it drops on the road. When it comes to options, the selection is vast, like quick shifter, radar-enabled active cruise control, blind-spot alert, which is a small warning light illuminated in the right or left mirror to warn of vehicles approaching from the rear and front collision warning. There's a standard LED headlight, but you can also get a brighter, adaptive LED headlight that illuminates corners when turning. Not only that, but you can add Pro ride modes also, like Dynamic, Dynamic Pro and Enduro Pro, offering configurability and more aggressive settings than their standard equivalents. Other options include an electrically adjustable windshield and suspension and heated passenger and rider seats, which I dont think is required unless you plan to ride it in Iceland.
Although it's not technically electric, a centre stand is optional, and when combined with the adaptive height control, the bike will automatically rise when you drop the stand to facilitate propping it up. However, I tried doing that a couple of times and failed. Another clever design feature is a folding foot lever that swings out of the way when the stand is retracted. There is also a smart sandwich button, which, like the smartphones, can be customised for direct access, like heated grips, for instance. Hill start control [HSC] is fitted as standard and enables convenient hill starts – even when carrying two people and luggage. And an additional 12 V on-board power socket as standard. There is a multifunctional instrument cluster with a 6.5-inch full-colour TFT screen, RDC, Keyless Ride, and there is a Smartphone charging compartment with an integrated USB socket. Phew!
It's so agile, nimble, direct and engineering that it is surely a masterpiece. It's a new bike, not just aesthetically but a new riding experience with more aerodynamic, low turbulence airflow behind the windshield. You can tackle turns aggressively, staying hard on the brakes well past the turn-in point. Even in higher gears, the boxer engine's instantaneous torque launches it out of corners. Steering is light, neutral, and precise, requiring no more effort at the handlebars than the initial turn-in. The suspension is exemplary, keeping the bike firmly planted through fast turns while absorbing sharp bumps without a trace of harshness, even at its firmest setting.
The bike feels noticeably less top-heavy with a full tank and transitions through esses quickly and confidently. Stability remains unwavering, whether leaning hard into sweepers or cruising at 140 kmph. The engine is the smoothest twin known to mankind, revving quicker than before, with almost no trace of the sideways lurch typical of a transversely mounted boxer when blipping the throttle. It boasts tons of low-end grunt, a flat, wide spread of torque, and continues to pull hard to the redline. Passing at highway speeds doesn't even require a downshift.
I rode both off and on the road at stretches that touched even 175 kmph, in Leh, there are roads where you can touch those speeds for a short while, and the 1300 GS had no sweat. It seemed to handle both high speeds on good tarmac and offroad at low speeds with equal aplomb. Although the heaviness of the motorcycle does not hit you once the ignition is on and you are riding it, when the patches are bad, standing on the footpegs and riding takes care of all the turbulence and manoeuvering white standing is also very precise. The only thing to keep in mind is to change riding modes. Even if you choose the base model, you get a good selection of standard features, included are four ride modes: Rain, Road, Eco, and Enduro. Enduro adjusts the suspension setting to handle your off-road needs. Also standard is the hill-hold control, adjustable, lane-sensing ABS and traction control, engine braking control, and cruise control. The bike also comes with a lightweight lithium battery and heated grips, which actually came in handy in the Leh region, not sure how much of that will be in use anywhere else in our country.
The BMW Motorrad EVO Telelever has improved the steering feedback and more direct response even from the 1250 GS with its new system of rigid clamping of the upper fork bridge and no tilting movement of the handlebar. It further gives you a better sense of control of the motorcycle.
