Necessary accessories for a new 1250 GS?

I placed an order for a 2022 R1250 GS in September. It’s been built and is in transit. I expect it’ll be ready for delivery by the end of this month or early in December. I’m planning an initial trip from Michigan to Atlanta then back through the Carolinas and Tennessee in May. I’ll set out for Alaska in June.

I currently own a 2013 F700 GS (which I love riding) and will transfer some of the accessories I currently have equipped it with to the new bike. That would include a Givi top box, A pair of SW Moteck wide foot pegs, a set of aluminum panniers and possibly an MRA X-Crene wind deflector.

In the meantime, I’ve been ordering what I think are necessary parts that I want to equip it with over the winter. So far, I’ve purchased and received a Givi aluminum luggage rack to accommodate the top box, a rotopax Jerry can, and SW Moteck lower and upper crash bars.

This time around, I am going to avail myself of some of the much less expensive Chinese accessories advertised on eBay and AliExpress including kickstand foot extenders, a brake pedal enlarger, handlebar risers, frame hole covers and various frame sliders. I’ve also got a TFT theft protection frame, screen protector film, a headlight guard, fender extender for the front wheel and a hugger style rear fender extension to protect the suspension and electronics.

I own a Garmin Zumo-XT and wish I could use the prewired charging bracket that will come with the bike. However, that seems unlikely since BMW continues to cling to outdated Garmin products which aren’t plug compatible with their newer systems. A friend has offered me his Zumo 5 that he doesn’t use. It may be plug compatible and fit the frame, but I’m not sure how operator friendly the older unit is compared to the new ones.

I’ll be ordering some bark buster hand guards, and a Happy Trails luggage rack since it fits my current pannier mounts. I feel like I should probably install cylinder head guards.

Eventually, I think I’d like some auxiliary lights; I just can’t bring myself to spend the kind of money that Clearwater and Denali charge.

Some questions:

Since this is a GS, not the GSA, are the upper engine guards necessary or will just the lowers suffice?

Any other thoughts about either fitting my Zumo XT, or using the older Garman 5?

Any lower cost, but quality alternatives for auxiliary lights?

There are various other engine and bike protector guards that I could be purchasing. It just seems like you have to cut it off at some point. Besides, all this Farkle adds weight. But if you think there is something absolutely necessary or that should be higher priority……

I am all ears.

Necessary acc. for new R1250GS

Definitely engine guards. I installed the Altriders lower and upper. Pricey, but sturdy! If you want to add running lights, the uppers will come in handy to mount them. I installed the Rigids -- bright and much less expensive than Clearwaters and Denalis. You might also consider a Hex Ez-can to control the lights and other accessories. I didn't like the stock windscreen so I got the VStream tall and trimmed it down 1" to suit me. The other stuff you can ad as you feel the need, such as seat, footpegs, bar risers, GPS, etc. PM me if you want more info about my setup or have questions. Enjoy the ride!

Check into guards for the front ABS sensor, the sidestand switch, and the rear brake reservoir. I think Revzilla sells all of those and they are also available direct from mfgrs. I put an SWMoto guard on my rear brake reservoir after snapping it at the mount in a minor bike nap, but I’m not overly impressed with any of the guards available for that reservoir since they all mount only at the reservoir mounting bolt and don’t attach to the frame tubes. I may fabricate something for that reservoir.

Best,
DeVern

Regarding the decision to use cheaper Chinese knock-off parts. I always ask myself, if the part should fail, would it jeopardize my safety? So frame plugs and a side stand foot? No problems. But handlebar risers...maybe. I'd think twice on that one. I recently ordered some foot peg lowering brackets for my K1600b. I could have ordered the cheap, Chinese knock-offs from ebay for a quarter of what I paid from the US manufacturer. But I've seen what can happen when a foot peg or bracket snaps off at speed...things can get real interesting if not outright ugly. Throw in an out-of-the-way location on a long road trip and I'll spend the extra $$ every time. They don't call Chinese metal "Chinesium" for nothing. I believe you get what you pay for.

motormike said:

Regarding the decision to use cheaper Chinese knock-off parts. I always ask myself, if the part should fail, would it jeopardize my safety? So frame plugs and a side stand foot? No problems. But handlebar risers...maybe. I'd think twice on that one. I recently ordered some foot peg lowering brackets for my K1600b. I could have ordered the cheap, Chinese knock-offs from ebay for a quarter of what I paid from the US manufacturer. But I've seen what can happen when a foot peg or bracket snaps off at speed...things can get real interesting if not outright ugly. Throw in an out-of-the-way location on a long road trip and I'll spend the extra $$ every time. They don't call Chinese metal "Chinesium" for nothing. I believe you get what you pay for.

Click to expand...

Agreed

Thanks for the input. Sorry I haven’t been checking in. I probably should set up notifications for threads that I start.

I’ve pretty much checked everything off my list of the things that I need for the bike. Most of the stuff is in route or already delivered. I’m going to go ahead and install the upper crash bars. My dealer will be changing out the stock tires for some more off-road appropriate ones. The only other main item on my list will be a set of bark busters.

The bike should deliver next month. I’ll put it on my lift table, and spend the rest of the winter getting it ready for some long-distance trips starting in the spring.

Do this first…

Join the GS Giants!

Here's what we do...

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I do not know if the same is true on the 1250 as it is for the 1200, but the Alt Rider lower crash bars allow removal of the valve covers with the bars installed. This is a very convenient feature to have.