What's the deal with a BMW?

[Afan]

Plus they had a support team to pick 'em up when they fell.

Mostly they had only Claudio to help them.

 

[TigerDude]

Mostly they had only Claudio to help them.

And that Mongolian dude.

 

[Oldbear]

And a truck load of spares. BMW builds a decent bike, but you pay dearly for it. Frankly having ridden since 67, and having raced motocross for several years and trail ridden for several decades, NONE of the big ADV beasts is a great “off road” machine imho-WAY too heavy. I love the upright riding position, and have ridden large displacement ADV bikes for years and love the ride, BUT I would never want to have one n any serious “off road” adventure. Fire trails? Sure. Rural roads? Excellent. Truly out in the toolies off road? No thanks. I’d be much happier, faster, and safer on a nice light CRF250 or WR 250 ( i can pick it up when/if it gets dropped, I’ll not destroy hundreds of $$ worth of plastic if it gets dropped, and it’ll go places the big ADV bikes just won’t fit). Ya pays your money and takes your choice.

 

[Lomunchi]

I have been told by people who do such things: if you're going to ride around the world, do it on a BMW. They're reliable and fixable in 7 languages on the side of the road. I do not know that from 1st hand knowledge.

 

[Bulitt]

They are big bikes for sure. I have owned several over the years. Had good luck with all of them.

I recently went to a rally in Ohio called Wailin Wayne’s Weekend which is on the outskirts of Wayne National Forest so there were a LOT of dirt bikes of every make there and yes…..lots of GS’s.

For the field events on Sat afternoon they has a fairly difficult “trials” course set up with deep single track ruts, huge tractor tires that had too be traversed, deep mud, etc, etc. It took a rider about 8 or 9 minutes to make one lap and most didn’t make it without at least one fall over.

What I was absolutely amazed at was what some of these young guys could do on their GS’s! A GS in the hands of a capable rider is really something to watch. Yeah, there are a lot of posers but the right GS jock can embarrass some of the DRZ and other dirt bike guys. They can do things on those pigs, I would never even consider…..

Plenty of video of You Tube of what I am describing if interested…..

 

[Deleted member 1183]

Experts can do all sorts of amazing things offroad with big bikes of any brand, but that does not necessarily make those good bikes. The vast majority of motorcyclists are capable, but not expert. I count myself reasonably capable, or at least I used to be.

I have only ever owned two BM's. One was a R100Gs. It was a good bike and I clocked up 130,000kms on it. Was it reliable ? Yes it was, but I put that down to my care and attention rather than the brand. During that mileage I replaced one clutch, two gearbox bearings and a shaft. I discovered all of these before they failed completely. It was a nice bike though and I enjoyed good times on it with some mild offroading.

I only ever rode one big traillie offroad with some agression. That was a 2005 KTM 950 Adventure. That was a very capable bike offroad and it sailed thru sections where I saw my peers struggle with GS's. I only parted with it because if I dropped it offroad, I struggled in my mid 50's to pick it up. I have long believed that I should be able to pick my bikes up in a drop, unaided.

I think the deal with BMW is good marketing, good after sales service, a sort of elitism associated with the brand, and a reasonably good motorcycle. However I firmly believe that Japanese engineering is far better and for that reason I have not owned a BM since the late 90's.

 

[melensdad]

I think the deal with BMW is good marketing, good after sales service, a sort of elitism associated with the brand, and a reasonably good motorcycle. However I firmly believe that Japanese engineering is far better...

I have 3 fancy German cars and 1 cheap Japanese pick up truck. I think the comparison with between German & Japanese motorcycles parallels the experience with German & Japanese 4 wheel vehicles.

The Germans over-engineer things in ways the Japanese never even thought of, with attention to nearly infinite levels of detail and when they are working they are amazing pieces of machinery. When they break you need to mortgage the house to repair them.

The Japanese make things work really well and very reliably.

Pretty sure I've spent more $$$ just maintaining my German cars than I spent BUYING + maintaining my Japanese truck.

 

[Oldbear]

I have been told by people who do such things: if you're going to ride around the world, do it on a BMW. They're reliable and fixable in 7 languages on the side of the road. I do not know that from 1st hand knowledge.

At one time that was true. In recent decades not so much. An over abundance of electronic sophistication kind of put paid to the “easy to fix” thing. Also, BMW used to be “the” bike for long distance. The Iron Butt guys all rode them. In recent times however the IB bikes have been largely Yamaha’s (last time I checked). The FJR and the Super Tenere were dominating.

 

[Bulitt]

Experts can do all sorts of amazing things offroad with big bikes of any brand, but that does not necessarily make those good bikes. The vast majority of motorcyclists are capable, but not expert. I count myself reasonably capable, or at least I used to be.

I have only ever owned two BM's. One was a R100Gs. It was a good bike and I clocked up 130,000kms on it. Was it reliable ? Yes it was, but I put that down to my care and attention rather than the brand. During that mileage I replaced one clutch, two gearbox bearings and a shaft. I discovered all of these before they failed completely. It was a nice bike though and I enjoyed good times on it with some mild offroading.

I only ever rode one big traillie offroad with some agression. That was a 2005 KTM 950 Adventure. That was a very capable bike offroad and it sailed thru sections where I saw my peers struggle with GS's. I only parted with it because if I dropped it offroad, I struggled in my mid 50's to pick it up. I have long believed that I should be able to pick my bikes up in a drop, unaided.

I think the deal with BMW is good marketing, good after sales service, a sort of elitism associated with the brand, and a reasonably good motorcycle. However I firmly believe that Japanese engineering is far better and for that reason I have not owned a BM since the late 90's.

Of course there are better ”off road” bikes. But if you could only have one bike….a GS would be a good choice. You can pack them like mules, they have great suspension, great gas mileage, they will run on the slab at 80 in 6th gear all day long and you can take the bags off and dazzle the crowd on the trials course at the weekend rally. It’s really no wonder they are so popular.

After owning my VFR which is a V4 engine…..my only problem with a GS is that every time I get back on one, it feels like it is only running on two cylinders…….

 

[Oldbear]

The real issue with the big ADV’s (all brands) is weight. You will never hear any serious off road rider say “gee I wish my bike was heavier ”. Even a little bike can feel like it weighs a ton when it’s on top of you (yeah, I endo’d a 125 Hodaka Combat Wombat years ago (can you say “ young and stupid”) many years ago when I was out riding by myself and decided to practice riding a wheel. That little bike felt like a Ton when I was flat on my back

 

[Bulitt]

“Only running on two cylinders”

That was a joke fellas……. Oh well.