The All New LIQUID COOLED R1200GS threadfest

You know that journalist was paid off by KTM to say that, right?

Slipper clutch he say. Wonder how since the clutch crown is straight up and not helical (like Adler slipper clutches)...

Paul Jr

It was probably caused by a failing final drive.

Might be borrowing a page from what Aprilia/Rotax did for the Mille and Tuono, with a vacuum/hydraulic "psuedo-slipper".

Has BMW issued any info on when they will provide a liquid cooled R1200 GS Adventure? If not, whats your educated guess?

That would be something, but it will never happen. Woody will be able to lace up a proper sized front rim easy enough though. He has sold lots of 21" front wheels for the GSs.

Jim

If you look later in the catalog it is a completely new model, not a ton different but they are listed and can be seen. Built in carry handle in the top recess of the lid, new mounting/locking system on the box, and some screws built into the sides to install accessory holders/racks. I also noticed the plastic corner protectors on the bottom actual run all the way across the bottom edge of the box, not just on the corner. They have model numbers for the Zega Pro2s listed for many bikes, including the new GS. Nothing comes up on the actual website though, just found in the catalog.

EDIT: Just looked it up, page 1090 of the catalog

The Q&A on the MCN site said 12 months.

How much $$$$ and when will it be on the U.S.A. showrooms?

Thanks for the link.

A quote:

"It handles far better than the old bike, much more controlled, and the large 19inch front wheel almost feels like a 17."

Aha!

I am not sure what he is noticing there - it is hard to imagine the wheel is any lighter, given the wider tyre, and so it should steer just the same given similar geometry. But he's noticed something, and liked it.

A lot of it might be simply tyre construction and profile. Can make a huge difference.

Mark, is that a quote from Bike magazine UK? A special from their iPad edition? AFAIK they don't have an online presence and I'd not have thought they could have squeezed a review onto paper so quickly.


FWIW, here is a similar quote from the report at US webzine motorcycle.com:

"However, the GS did disappoint me during a casual ride down an open dirt road. I was standing up to get cool air through my riding gear, traveling about 45 mph, when I encountered a washboard section. In an instant and with seemingly no provocation, the bike went into a wild tankslapper that threatened to throw me from the bike. It was a very panicked second before the steering regained its composure.

"We can’t yet say for certain this is a problem with the bike, but another journalist reported a similar experience when he was riding while standing. This is quite unexpected considering the chassis geometry is essentially unchanged from the previous model, plus there were no stability issues whatsoever during high-speed road riding."


Edit: and one more related comment, this time from the piece at canadamotoguide.com:

"The only hiccup in the bike’s handling is a possible tendency to shake its head while standing on the footpegs over rough terrain. On a couple of occasions while standing, hitting a succession of sharp bumps causes the fork to shake just a bit. It isn’t alarming; it’s just that I don’t remember the old bike having any tendency to do this. A couple of the U.S. journos also noted this."


BTW: this is NOT to encourage speculation about the Kevin Ash tragedy. Speculation about the behaviour of the bike is a separate and perfectly relevant matter. I don't find those quotes particularly concerning, but OTOH their authors obviously were concerned enough to report them.

Not sure about that. This contradicts one of the reviews I read which said just the opposite and that many of the reviewers grew up riding motorcross.

Edit:

Here is the quote from Bart Madson of Motorcycle USA: http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/857/15409/Motorcycle-Article/2013-BMW-R1200GS-First-Ride.aspx

A disclaimer for the hardcore GS-ites here: I am a relative novice off-road, as compared to most of my editorial kin, who learned to ride in the dirt and at a young age (it would seem some may have exited the womb crossed up and roosting the doctors). My skill set found the Enduro mode’s gentle throttle encouraging on the loose stuff. I was able to initiate easy, controllable slides. Even more impressive is the ABS setting.

As previously posted by MarkJenn:

Just to put some specificity to this discussion of possible handling issues with the new GS, here is the quote from the Bike magazine article:

"The only unpleasant shock during the while 280-mile ride is a tankslapper so violent it snaps the lockstops off the frame. BMW chassis engineers seemed shocked to hear of it, claiming they never experienced anything of the sort in five long years and one million kilometers of testing. It does seem that I just happen to have stumbled on exactly the wrong combination of speed and road surface at the wrong time. Assuming it really is just a one-off - which, in all fairness, would appear to be the most likely explanation - then the new R1200GS is a remarkable machine."​

So, in two days of riding several hundred miles, we have three journalists out of a total of 20 bikes that we know of that have reported this handling issue. I'm a huge fan of BMW and the GS and am #2 on my dealer's list but I must say this is concerning to me.

Especially given Kevin Ash's accident on gravel and BMW's ensuing silence.

Yes and yes. It's Bike's relatively recent iPad edition in Apple's newstand. They mentioned at the beginning of the ezine that they managed to squeeze some new-GS coverage in that didn't make their dead-trees publishing deadlines.

As an aside, I have very mixed feelings about Bike's iPad app. It is very functional when it works, but after I initially subscribed and got the first issue, it wouldn't recognize my subscription for subsequent issues. Once I finally got through, Apple refunded my subscription money in full, then a few weeks later my subscription re-started and I've been able to download the last two issues. Well sorta.... it is so buggy, I seldom can read for more than a few minutes before the app crashes. If you decide to subscribe, be ready for a rough ride. Perhaps my "ancient" iPad 1 that won't upgrade past iOS 5.1 is to blame.

- Mark

Um, EJ? Methinks you quoted the same passage (from the Canadian journo) as the other inmate. So, not that counting is important, but that still makes two reports so far.

Oops, you are completely correct...it's been a long day and I inserted the wrong quote...just fixed it. I had meant to include MarkJenn's quote from BIKE magazine.

Correction, I think it is three if you include the quote from BIKE magazine that MarkJenn posted previously, I had just pasted the incorrect quote...

Just to put some specificity to this discussion of possible handling issues with the new GS, here is the quote from the Bike magazine article:
"The only unpleasant shock during the while 280-mile ride is a tankslapper so violent it snaps the lockstops off the frame. BMW chassis engineers seemed shocked to hear of it, claiming they never experienced anything of the sort in five long years and one million kilometers of testing. It does seem that I just happen to have stumbled on exactly the wrong combination of speed and road surface at the wrong time. Assuming it really is just a one-off - which, in all fairness, would appear to be the most likely explanation - then the new R1200GS is a remarkable machine."
You guys can argue about whether worrying about something like this with the amount of data we have is prudent or chicken-little.

- Mark​

Well I can't say I'm surprised. They have been shocked for years about final drive failures.

Anyway if it is a real problem it will be fixed....Eventually...Maybe..