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BMW GS articles

MJTRUEL

Club President
well I am fed up with articles about people believing the hype about what they can do with their GS. If you need a TEAM to go ride, you are the wrong guy in the wrong place on the wrong bike. Stop these stupid articles! I am never going to ride my GS off a clift. If I am going into the back country it will be on a dirt bike not some 800 lb pig. Best bike I have ever owned but I am not going to do that stuff and am tired of reading about the misled. Grow up.
 
And every Harley rider is a badass, rugged individualist and "lone wolf."

The GS isn't a motocross bike. It's an "off the beaten path" touring bike to me. Hence the name "GS" or "Gelande Strasse" which means "country road." You can't change people's beliefs about themselves or their bikes.
 
well I am fed up with articles about people believing the hype about what they can do with their GS. If you need a TEAM to go ride, you are the wrong guy in the wrong place on the wrong bike. Stop these stupid articles! I am never going to ride my GS off a clift. If I am going into the back country it will be on a dirt bike not some 800 lb pig. Best bike I have ever owned but I am not going to do that stuff and am tired of reading about the misled. Grow up.

Geez,there must be better things for you to get wrought up over. Say, oil/tires/battery threads. :wave
 
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IMO, Hard core dirt riders really know that if you are really "in the dirt", lighter is better. The GS series are certainly better in any dirt than a K1300 :) It's all relative it would seem. I like the GS's as they can take the punishment of the the crappy asphalt, pot holes in stride.
I actually think BMW has it right with the car ads-

The BMW X3 launched the mid-size Sports Activity Vehicle segment when it arrived on the scene in 2003. More than 1.5 million units of the X3 have since rolled off the assembly line and now the third-generation model is ready to take over the baton.
"Sports Activity Vehicle". Sure, a Pinto could do it........but it's would still be a Pinto :eek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjWP8tx_6pM

OM
 
The GS became BMW’s biggest seller because it can carry a rider from Miami to Fairbanks in comfort at interstate speeds, negotiate mountain roads in the Rockies with confidence and then ride to Deadhorse and back with ease. There are better bikes in each venue but no other bike does it all so well.
 
Team riding

I'm guessing the OP was triggered by the photo on the cover of the latest ON mag.
As an old dirt bike guy my first thought when it arrived was, how many riders does it take to do an enduro on a GS?
Then, when did "off" road (not off pavement) riding become a "team" experience.
I have been to 2 GS Giant events on my GS and have enjoyed them both.
After some thought "different strokes for different folks" comes to mind.
Especially for Prius drivers.
Bill
PS, BMW purists skip pages 46 & 47.
(My first new street bike was a '77 Bonneville)

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(I have a WR250R as well now, cause at 60 I don't want to pick up let alone retrieve a 500+ pound bike when out on my own)
 
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dirty GS riders

I had a GS from 2009 to 2017. Got to ride it to Platoro Colorado on NF roads and saw scenery I would never have seen on a strictly road bike. I think that is why they are so popular. Unfortunately the older I get, 66+ now, the more the seat height and Russel saddle made it difficult to get my stiff old legs on. Sadly it was totaled by floodwater and I replaced with the RT. Much easier to get on and off, but not more comfy than the GS. If riding a large motorcycle in the dirt is your thing, have fun. ON is member driven and obviously lots of folks like to do different things on GS's and write about what they like to do. If more people who ride strictly road bikes write about their pavement adventures, I bet they would be published, but face it, If you ride a road bike your articles will probably more about the trip than the bike. The thing that sets BMW apart from others is the variety of motorcycles and kinds of riding done on them.

ps, I love the airhead columns and articles in the ON.
 
...ON is member driven and obviously lots of folks like to do different things on GS's and write about what they like to do. If more people who ride strictly road bikes write about their pavement adventures, I bet they would be published, but face it, If you ride a road bike your articles will probably more about the trip than the bike...
This will probably be my last year as an MOA member. I might buy a GS later, but it will be a F800GS, not the over-priced, over-weight R12OOGS. As such, once again I will not get any acknowledgement from anything relating to BMW that I even own a BMW.

And you're right. I would write about the trip and the friends I was with, and not about how I survived my BMW being stuck in some place more suited to my Subaru Outback.

I am in love with motorcycling. But not with continual articles about the GS. I could be riding a Yamaha or Honda and feel as much identification with the BMW MOA as I do as an F-800 owner.

It's not like we are an after-thought. It is like we don't exist.

Chris
 
IMO, Hard core dirt riders really know that if you are really "in the dirt", lighter is better. The GS series are certainly better in any dirt than a K1300 :) It's all relative it would seem. ...
We traded a K1200S for a 2014 GS, took the GS to Colorado and did what a GS does, came home and traded back for a K1300S. I'm a hp junkie, but I get the GS thing. I don't get the GSA thing, but I get the GS thing.
 

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This will probably be my last year as an MOA member. I might buy a GS later, but it will be a F800GS, not the over-priced, over-weight R12OOGS. As such, once again I will not get any acknowledgement from anything relating to BMW that I even own a BMW.

And you're right. I would write about the trip and the friends I was with, and not about how I survived my BMW being stuck in some place more suited to my Subaru Outback.

I am in love with motorcycling. But not with continual articles about the GS. I could be riding a Yamaha or Honda and feel as much identification with the BMW MOA as I do as an F-800 owner.

It's not like we are an after-thought. It is like we don't exist.

Chris

It's a kind of shame that the ON has become the 'R1200 GSA' magazine, not to mention guess who's back with providing the cover and full-spread two page photos?! :dance

That being said, the OP seemed a bit hot under the collar, but you know what? Also entitled to his opinion. :deal

I can relate to your passion about the F800. In a world of massive cc's (yeah - I proudly own a Gold Wing, but hell - it takes 1,800+ to get that uber-locomotive in motion! :wave ), my favorite bike has been the Honda Pacific Coast PC800. Yup - a twin 800 cc bike that had a nimble weight, but toured everywhere and did everything I asked of it - and two-up to boot.

Glad your other mule is a Subaru. I was afraid you were going to tout owning that Toyota knock-off named for the power and acceleration of what came before the venerable mule - aka the "Pre-Ass." :dance
 
well I am fed up with articles about people believing the hype about what they can do with their GS. If you need a TEAM to go ride, you are the wrong guy in the wrong place on the wrong bike. Stop these stupid articles! I am never going to ride my GS off a clift. If I am going into the back country it will be on a dirt bike not some 800 lb pig. Best bike I have ever owned but I am not going to do that stuff and am tired of reading about the misled. Grow up.

Take a look at some of the faces that the GS Trophy event engages. Dude, it's a promotion. I could show you hundreds more from GS Giants events, but I hope you understand that these types of events attract the younger folks that we want to make a part of our community before we die as cranky old :gerg

And, fwiw, if the MOA would only listen, we could do essentially the same thing with sport bikes... another segment that we currently fail to attract. :banghead


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Ian
 
My mom used to say "going to cut off your nose to spite your face??"

Isn't the GS BMW's sales leader? Where are you going to go to equal the diversity of motorcycles, the diversity of riders, the diversity of forum topics in the ON? I am truly amazed that if my R90/6 needs pistons, they are available and I can depend on MOA folks to tell me how to install them! The original poster said that he would buy a F800 instead of an R1200. Isn't it great that he has that option? When he buys that F800 there is a sub forum for that particular bike. MOA covers lots of different topics and they might not all interest you, so just read the ones that you are interested in. Consider this, "how would your face look without your nose?" Hopefully you will reconsider leaving.
 
The roads, hiways, interstates, back roads, city streets, all inclusive are all in bad shape. Between that and all the junk coming off cars, trucks, big rigs, that's laying in the road way, you really need a GS style just to ride the so-called 'improved' roads in this country. No, I don't own or ride a GS style bike. I need to get one though. :wow
 
If a GS brings in more young riders than that is great! I'm with Ian on this.
Personally I rode my 1150 GSA for 90K miles all over creation incl. the TAT, CDT and to Prudhoe Bay. Was the bike a handful in some places? Yes, but with some careful planning and I never got in over my head.
Do you NEED a 1200 GSA? No, but does someone need a $100K watch when a Timex tells you the same? No, but it is about choice and for some it's a big bike and for others it's a smaller bike.
Go ride! :burnout
 
I sense some "GS-envy" going on here.

My wethead GS is simply the best touring bike available...for me. Most bikes are too small for me and remind of the kiddie tricycle on Laugh-In.
 
We traded a K1200S for a 2014 GS, took the GS to Colorado and did what a GS does, came home and traded back for a K1300S. I'm a hp junkie, but I get the GS thing. I don't get the GSA thing, but I get the GS thing.

Last I knew, the GS(A) model had a lowered first gear. That would be a "must have" if I was to purchase a GS. I have been avoiding the dealers so I don't come home with a GSA.
 
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