+ Click to Enlarge RIDERS IN THE STORM: The beginning of the "Rocky Steps" trail from Long Tom Pass to Horseshoe Falls and yes, the mist really was that thick. Picture: MARC BOWE

October 21, 2004
By Dave Abrahams

"What's it for?" is the question frequently asked about BMW's industrial-strength beetle-crusher so BMW undertook to provide some answers with a "lifestyle" tour that stretched the new 1171cc version of its GelandeScooter close to its limits and motoring scribes close to theirs.

Even after losing 30kg compared to the previous model, the R1200 GS is a very big motorcycle and at 225kg, fuelled and ready to go, it's still nobody's idea of an enduro tool.

Nevertheless, the latest version of the venerable flat-twin boxer engine gives you 74kw to play with and 115Nm of rumbling torque to get you out of trouble.

It's a potent combination, even if you have to rev the motor to get the best out of it on tar – maximum torque arrives at a highish 5500rpm. There's a noticeable step in power delivery there – and, for all its bulk, the GS will happily pull more than 200km/h even on the Reef.

BMW's first balance shaft (on a twin, anyway) has ironed out most of the shaking inherent in the layout. The only vibration is a tingle through the foot pegs at high revs.

A dozen journos and a couple of BMW staffers, including motorcycle division head Lachlan Harris (how's that for hands-on management?) left the Blue Propeller's futuristic lifestyle centre in Midrand, just north of Johannesburg, early on Tuesday en route for the spectacular scenery and seriously unstraight roads of Mpumalanga.

Trouble is, to get there you have to spend a couple of hours on the dead-straight N4 and part with a painful number of beer tokens for the privilege, right?

Wrong.

Harris led us north through the quaintly named village of Bapsfontein and along narrow backroads in a huge arc across the top of Mpumalanga, past little towns I'd never heard of and through countryside pretty even to my Cape-bred eyes.

The traffic was pretty heavy– we were still within 150km of the country's industrial hub - and on single-lane roads getting past the many heavy trucks could have been a problem on a less muscular bike.

BMW has listened carefully to customer feedback, however, and revised the gearbox on the R1200 GS so that sixth is no longer an overdrive and the top three ratios are closer. Drop a cog (two, if the obstruction in really crawling) and blast past with ease.

It's not only fun but far safer – you can get by a cattle truck with a 22m trailer and back on your side of the road with minimal exposure to oncoming traffic.

The latest box is also a lot slicker and clutchless upshifts are easy as the 7750rpm blood line gets close in a hurry. I even managed to hit the rev limiter once coming out of a corner that wasn't as slow as it looked going in.

That's something you only do once – the concept of the "soft" limiter has yet to find favour with BMW and the GS misfires alarmingly (and without warning!) as you cross the verboten line.

Adjustable screen

For the first couple of hours my head was severely buffeted by the turbulent air off the narrow, one-piece windscreen –often happens to me on big tourers.

Conventional wisdom says you need a taller screen – and the screen on the GS can be adjusted through about 50mm but I've been riding sports bikes with low screens for years so at the first stop I moved the screen as far down as it would go.

Then difference was startling – sure, I got a lot more wind in my face, but the flow was smooth and what was threatening to become a serious headache was gone in minutes.

That the screen adjustment can make such a profound difference shows how good the GS's aerodynamics are.

Off the map

Soon the group reached Verena, which is so small it's not even on the map, so I can't tell you where it is, and we took to a well-graded gravel road on which the more adventurous riders were soon up to 130km/h+, sliding the tails of the R1200s through long, smooth curves like they were on their way to Dakar.

Off-road instructor Jan du Toit of GS Challenge fame came past me, standing up, at well over 120km/h – with BMW's stylish PR lady Cora Forssman standing on the pillion pegs of his GS, one hand on his shoulder, perfectly relaxed.

Me, I just settled down to my normal 60km/h dirt-road cruise, sitting down, and found that the GS, while not as comfortable as the more supple F650 GS Dakar on dirt, was more stable because of its bulk.

After a while I was rumbling along at an easy, relaxed 80km/h at 2500rpm in fourth– and I reckon you'll get well over 300km on a 20-litre tank at that pace.

The weather broke just before lunch and we rode the last few kilometres down a rough road (and a short, but exciting, patch of thick sand!) to the fly-fishing resort at Lakenvlei through a crackling thunderstorm – which made the shelter of the lodge all the more welcome.

Mud, mud, glorious mud

The weather cleared with typical Highveld suddenness but the heavy rain had turned a normally smooth, hard-packed dirt road into a quagmire, so slippery even walking was difficult – as I found when I got off and walked the bike through the worst of the mud.

This highlighted one of the big twin's weaknesses; experienced riders simply gassed it and rode through the mud under strong positive throttle followed by spectacular rooster tails – but you need a lot of confidence to do that.

At low speeds the (road) tyres clog up and you have very little directional control as the front end does its own thing - every which way but where you want to go. A couple of times the only thing that stopped me going farming was the bank at the edge of the road - but at least I knew better than to try using the brakes!

Wet road wonder

Back on the tar, we switched the ABS back on (you switch it off on dirt because it simply renders the brakes inoperative on loose surfaces) and took off towards Dullstroom in the Mpumalanga highlands, riding in and out of rain all afternoon.

The GS is amazingly sure-footed on wet roads, given its height and bulk; the ABS comes into its own and we were able to keep up a smart pace, secure in the knowledge that we could brake hard if necessary.

We went over the notorious Long Tom Pass to Sabie in thick mist; with visibility down to less than four metres we were using the bikes' built-in hazard flashers so as not to punt each other from behind – and to avoid being run over by our BMW X5 sweep vehicle!

Rocky Steps

Just after the crest we turned off on to what soon deteriorated into a goat track, steeply downhill across slabs of wet stone and down rocky steps, rattling the fillings in our teeth and eliciting loud protests from the final-drive gear housings of the bikes' shaft drives – none of which actually seemed any the worse for it later.

At one stage I tried to stop because the bike seemed out of control and I was nervous of the sheer drop on the left – all you could see was the edge of the road and swirling mist! – but all that happened was that the wheels stopped turning and the bike didn't even slow down on the wet stones.

So I let the front brake off to get some steering and let the bike slide on down the trail; remarkably, it remained stable and I stayed upright.

Once again the riders who were confident (and experienced) enough to ride a little faster were able to keep both wheels turning, retain more control and get a less bumpy ride.

A little later, while we were stopped waiting for one of the BMW staffers to get going and catch up after his second fall, I received an SMS from my editor.

"Where are you?"

Hell, I had absolutely no idea – I was halfway down a rocky trail in thick bush, in thicker mist. So I sent him the GPS co-ordinates; thank goodness he took it the right way.

The 14km from the tar road to the overnight camp at Horseshoe Falls took the slowest of us more than two hours, which included getting lost in the mist a couple of times, GPS or not – but they were a striking illustration of just how capable a GS can be in difficult country.

I'm seldom glad to stop riding a motorcycle – but this was one of those times, as I sloped off for a hot shower and some fresh (read unmuddy) clothes.

GS country

That night around the campfire somebody made the point that 12 percent of South Africa is built up – the rest is GS country.

By 8am the mist had burned off and we rode out (the short way) through an experimental timber plantation with all sorts of exotic and beautiful trees, back to the Sabie road. The road was rocky and at times very bumpy but I was able to keep up a steady 30km/h and reach the tar with little trouble.

It's amazing what a difference bright sunshine and a little self-confidence can make.

Then we were on the country's most famous biking roads, the incredibly twisty, swooping, spectacular Devil's Knuckles and the fast, more open but still never straight road to Nelspruit. The sun was rapidly drying out the last damp patches and we were soon up to very naughty speeds as the GSs showed their tar-road persona at its best.

Super stoppers

The power-assisted brakes – unique to BMW motorcycles – are incredibly strong; just two fingers on the lever are enough to haul down this big machine like a grand prix racer while dancing up and down the slick gearbox will keep the motor spinning happily and give you enough stomp coming out of corners that you can sometimes feel the 150/70 rear Metzler deforming on the tar.

The Telelever front suspension with its single central shock absorber keeps the front wheel firmly on course and the wide bars enable you to throw this quarter-ton dirt-digger around like a sports bike – although they are a little sensitive to rider input.

You soon learn to point this thing exactly where you want to go because it goes exactly where you point it.

Biker's heaven

One of the best things about riding in the biker's heaven of Mpumalanga is that all the locals are thoroughly aware of just how much money these leather-clad nutcases on their sometimes unbelievably expensive toys bring to the area.

When you come blasting up behind them they always move over and everybody is friendly and polite when you stop in a town – in stark contrast to the treatment afforded motorcyclists in some other parts of SA.

The last section was a full-on blast down a section of the N4 I hadn't ridden before from Nelspruit through Mataffin (where the signs warning you about wild horses on the road are for real – I saw a couple!) to Machadodorp where we turned off to our final stop at Waterval Onder.

I got behind Pieter Osthuizen of Beeld, who seemed happy to cruise at much the same speed as I was. Some of the faster riders were way ahead of us but were living in the moment, enjoying every corner for itself.

I was very sorry to reach the lunch stop at Waterval Onder where we left the bikes and were ferried back to the real world in a luxury coach.

Bottom line

So, what is the R1200GS for?

It's simultaneously a superbly capable off-road tool (in the right hands), surprisingly comfortable on good dirt roads and an almost indecently fast sports bike, even if you're not sitting with your head down and your bum in the air.

It's not a commuter, although you could ride it to work if you wanted to (hell, some people go to work in cars) but its real strength is just that – its strength.

You can load a GS with two people and all their luggage and it'll take you to places you never even knew existed, places where even a big 4x4 SUV would struggle – and then blast off like a sports bike on the tar.

Think of it as a superbike on knobblies – it's probably the ultimate freedom tool.

Thanks to BMW SA for the invitation; the BMW R1200 GS costs R106 500 (R114 900 with ABS and heated grips).

BMW R1200 GS Specifications

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