BMW R 1300 GS long term review update: motorway comfort and slow-speed manoeuvres

ABR Editor James Oxley rides BMW’s new R 1300 GS for the first time on a 500-mile weekend trip to the southwest of England

At the stroke of five o’clock on a Friday afternoon, I switched off my computer, dashed out of the office, and swung my leg over the all-new R 1300 GS Triple Black stood outside.

I’m usually not a clock watcher at work, but I’m sure I’ll be forgiven this once because I was about to ride the latest version of BMW’s iconic GS for the first time, and I was darn excited at the prospect.

Ahead of me were 250 miles of A-roads and motorways as I made my way from ABR’s headquarters in the Midlands to the golden sands of Cornwall in the southwest of England.

It’s a journey I’ve ridden hundreds of times over the years to stay with my parents, but I admit that getting to grips with the new GS made the thought of slicing through the busy Friday night traffic more appealing than usual.

Having ridden the previous model R 1250 GS throughout the UK and France over the past couple of years and thoroughly enjoying every mile, I was eager to see if BMW had improved upon an already outstanding adventure bike, or if the German manufacturer had tampered with a winning formula.

So, what are my first impressions of the new GS after my 500-mile ride to Cornwall and back? To begin with, the new bike feels smaller than the old 1250.

BMW’s designers sought to create a more compact and manageable motorcycle and they’ve achieved it.

The result is a more approachable, less intimidating machine, especially during slow speed manoeuvres, and it feels liberating to enjoy the power of a big GS without quite so much bulk.

When it comes to power, the bike’s twin cylinder boxer engine excelled throughout the trip.

Now putting out 145bhp and 149Nm of torque, it has been refined and enhanced over the years to become an engineering masterpiece.

It was perfectly content cruising at speed, it felt punchy during high-speed overtakes in top gear, and it was docile when I needed to filter through lines of slow-moving motorway traffic.

Combine this with a new electronically adjustable screen which provided plenty of wind protection, heated seats and grips, and radar adaptive cruise control, and I was feeling nicely relaxed as I blasted down the motorway, despite the blue skies and sunshine turning into a biblical downpour over Dartmoor.

Thankfully, the bike’s factory-fitted Metzeler Tourance Next 2 tyres felt as grippy in the wet as they did in the dry.

It was clear from my weekend shakedown that the GS remains an excellent long-distance touring bike, although I do have one caveat: the new 1300 GS didn’t feel as comfortable as the old 1250 after a few hours in the saddle.

Bear in mind I haven’t ridden the bikes back-to-back, but the riding position didn’t feel as upright, and the leg bend angle appeared more acute.

As I neared the end of my return journey on Sunday night, I was doing a lot of leg stretching and standing to relieve aches and pains in my legs and backside. As someone who stands 6ft tall, I have to do this on a lot of bikes, but I didn’t do it as much on the old 1250. In any case, I’m looking forward to putting many more miles on BMW’s new GS over the summer.

This review was originally published in issue 81 of Adventure Bike Rider. You can read every ABR review of every adventure, touring, and trail bike over the last 14 years with a Digital Library subscription, available here.