What would put you off buying a GS1200/1250?

[petecam]

Like most things in life the devil is in the detail.

I don’t see the point in ranting “Its too big” “Its too heavy” “everyone has one” ............Without context…..So what ???

Whether the GS is a suitable steed for you depends on what you are doing and what you fancy! After all, most people don’t need a bike like they probably do a car. So on a very simple basis if you fancy a GS buy one…. If you fancy a Honda C90, buy one… and don’t let the forum police tell you otherwise.

As for the GS12 suitability as an off road/adventure bike. Lets be honest if all you are doing is green lanes every weekend then it’s probably not the best bike for you, go get a KTM EXC or the like. If you are doing a bit of travel to the lanes or solo touring/commuting then you might want to consider the Yam 700, 790 adventure and so on.

But the GS12 has its place also…..

My flirting with bigger bikes started with the 690 Enduro, and since then I’ve had the KTM 1190 adventure and the GS800. I have now moved on to the 1200GSA.

The 1190 was a fun bike and was good in the dirt for its size, it was also a hoot on the back roads. But its more of a mistress of a bike than a wife. I found it tiring after a while and for long distance work it was not that comfortable. Oh it had the power….probably too much but after a hour or so I got fed up on the motorway. I once rode from Yorkshire to France and it nearly killed me, could not wait to get off the thing in the end.

The GS 800 was a great bike and if I has still been solo touring I would have probably kept it longer, it was good off road and had just enough power to do motorway speeds with luggage.

However now my lady tours with me the GS800 is not enough so I went up to the 1200, I will be honest I’d never been a fan of the big GS until I rode it, once I did I fell in love with how it rides and how comfortable it is. It doesn’t rip your arms off like the KTM but has this solid “pull” that makes progress nicely. I can ride all day long 2up with luggage and arrive fresh as kitten…its deceptively fast for its bulk, as someone said above the weight just disappears.

I even kind of like the look of it now.

I use it on local trails and it does a fine job, I’ve even ridden it in the Peaks. It is a big bike and heavy but chose your lanes and lines with this consideration and its brilliant. I’ve had a lot of bikes and the GS 12 is the first one I have loved in a long time. Maybe I will get bored but for now she’s a keeper.

P

PS: Never been to Starbucks on it

[bikenav]

thank you somebody passing valid comment whom has a bit of honest experience.

[Steve T]

PS: Never been to Starbucks on it

So, not a REAL GS12 owner then

Good write up comparing some really capable bikes.

I've ridden most models of the GS that I fit on (the GSA'a are way too tall for me) from the 1100s to the last of the air/oil cooled bikes. Just don't get them personally. Eldest has a 1200WC in the garage which I have yet to ride. Maybe it will change my mind on the horizontal twin beasts

To the thread starter - go try one when you can and make your own mind up and then let us know.

Just my mutterings.

Steve T

[SteveW]

PS: Never been to Starbucks on it

So, not a REAL GS12 owner then

Good write up comparing some really capable bikes.

I've ridden most models of the GS that I fit on (the GSA'a are way too tall for me) from the 1100s to the last of the air/oil cooled bikes. Just don't get them personally. Eldest has a 1200WC in the garage which I have yet to ride. Maybe it will change my mind on the horizontal twin beasts

To the thread starter - go try one when you can and make your own mind up and then let us know.

Just my mutterings.

Steve T

I’m the twisted thread starter.....I’ve had a GS1150, a GS1200 and a GSA1200.....I love them!
Then I settled on a GS 800 then a GSA800 for some long mixed surface multi-month trips...I think the 800 is a better compromise bike.
Currently I have a an Yam XT1200. It’s in the same ballpark, but not quite as dynamic or character full as a GS1200

[Helicoptermanr22]

Good topic:)) ive had all sorts of great machines as we all have had over the years, none of them were good at everything so there was always a compromise and im not into mud plugging anymore as cant be arsed at cleaning shite if the driveway.

Ones that really stood out in the last 5 or so years.
XT660R brill for poodling along and trail riding
XDV750 for the grin factor and it’s different.
GS800 rallye good bike for a bit of everything.
GS1200 Rallye great at everything
GS1250 Rally all the above and great at everything plus a bit more!

With the 1250 i get 220 miles per tank where as the 1200 was dry at 207, ( i know it ran out)
If your in the wrong gear it just pulls 5th gear at 25 mph is ok.
Fantastic sound out of standard exhaust setup and as Garyboy said its a seriously capable all rounder that can out manoeuvre most riders!

[Steve T]

. . . Then I settled on a GS 800 then a GSA800 . . .

The F8GS is my choice of GS. I'm on my 4th one. Only onto number 4 cos I keep selling them, realising my mistake and getting another. You'd think I would have learned not to sell before now

Steve T

[SteveW]

. . . Then I settled on a GS 800 then a GSA800 . . .

The F8GS is my choice of GS. I'm on my 4th one. Only onto number 4 cos I keep selling them, realising my mistake and getting another. You'd think I would have learned not to sell before now

Steve T

I wish I'd not sold my GSA800......I fancied a faster road bike, I was doing a 100 mile mostly motorway commute, for 12 months so I PX'd it for a Multistrada.
Then I sold the Multistrada to contribute to a house build. Then I was back in the market for a big bike, but on a 6.5K budget.
The Super 10 is a very good value secondhand buy.....I got a beauty right on budget.
I should have just kept the GSA800!

[Spike941]

For me, they’re not too big, I currently ride a 1215 Explorer. They’re not too heavy, my last bike was an Electra Glide. They are too expensive, but there again, the new Explorers aren’t exactly cheap nowadays. They’re too common, well there’s a lot about, perhaps for good reason. I have test ridden, and to be perfectly honest, I loved it. So why wouldn’t I buy one? Simple. My Misses! She’d do her nut.

[gbags]

I’ve had the F8 GS, the 12GS and now the F12 GSA.

Like one of the previous people, I did the off-road course in Wales on the 800 as that was what I was riding at the time. One the first day I rode the 800 but the instructor suggested I try the 12 on Day 2 so I did. I was a bit apprehensive. A 1200cc bike off road!?
The truth is it actually does seem lighter and easier to ride. I pretty soon changed up.

The weight down low and the smoother revs make it much better but that’s been said before.
What hasn’t been said is that picking up an 800cc bike from the ground, up 90 degrees to vertical is harder than than lifting a bigger bike off its pot up to vertical. That first twenty or thirty degrees are the heaviest; on the bigger bike you just roll it up.

My bike is for two-up long, overland trips. I’m 61 and my wife is late fifties and tiny but we lift our bike up on the rare times I drop it on rough ground.
She does full her share of the swearing.

[phil_h]

I’ve had the F8 GS, the 12GS and now the F12 GSA.

Like one of the previous people, I did the off-road course in Wales on the 800 as that was what I was riding at the time. One the first day I rode the 800 but the instructor suggested I try the 12 on Day 2 so I did. I was a bit apprehensive. A 1200cc bike off road!?
The truth is it actually does seem lighter and easier to ride. I pretty soon changed up.

The weight down low and the smoother revs make it much better but that’s been said before.
What hasn’t been said is that picking up an 800cc bike from the ground, up 90 degrees to vertical is harder than than lifting a bigger bike off its pot up to vertical. That first twenty or thirty degrees are the heaviest; on the bigger bike you just roll it up.

My bike is for two-up long, overland trips. I’m 61 and my wife is late fifties and tiny but we lift our bike up on the rare times I drop it on rough ground.
She does full her share of the swearing.

Oh yes, those pots are god-given when its upside down ! I'm 64 and definitely not a body builder and I managed to drop mine uphill at sweetlamb, climb back up the 10m I'd slid downhill, spin it round and hill-recover all by my self. I was so pissed off later when I realised what a photo op it was but I'm still well chuffed that I remembered all the techniques (can you tell ?)