While touches of pure and simple genius will provide fodder to evangelise to your friends, there will always be those ‘what were they thinking’ facets that tug at the back of your happiness, and which you hope no-one else picks up on.
The GS isn’t a balanced mix of the two camps, it’s firmly imbalanced in the evangelist’s favour, but there are highlights and lowlights that deserve a mention.
Clever simplicity
Panniers
The panniers fitted to the TE boast near genius levels of thinking. While they are, in every obvious sense, hard case panniers – they are also expandable. By simply pulling a bar on the inside of the pannier, the Vario cases expand outwards by a whole 9 litres.
With less luggage on board you can reduce drag and width, without losing out on capacity when you need it. There’s no compromise in their integrity or waterproofness, and the adjuster bar doesn’t rob any space either.
Screen adjuster
With just a few turns of the knob mounted next to the clocks, the screen will glide from its lowest position to its highest in a smooth stepless motion. There are no tools required, nothing to lock in place, no faff or fuss, no electronics adding weight or unreliability – just turn the knob with one hand, and keep riding.
BMW’s clever boffin types even sussed that popping the adjuster on the right hand side, angled to the left, means that you can operate the knob with your left hand, leaving your right to maintain its grip on the throttle and anchors.
Lockable Satnav
I’d always remove the satnav whenever I’m parked up, just to prevent opportunistic magpies from causing damage in trying to rip it off the mount. However, when you’re buying petrol, nipping into a shop, or stopping at an ATM, it’s great that you can leave the unit in place for a minute or two safe in the knowledge that it can’t just be clipped off while you’re not looking.
The other great feature is the integrated control and communication between the bike and the BMW-branded Garmin. For example: The bike’s clock will set itself from the satnav, and other information, like fuel consumption, flows the other way from bike to satnav. Deft rotation and rocking of the bar-mounted control wheel enables you to drive the unit without resorting to begloved fumbling, too.
Oddly frustrating
There are very few niggles with the big German, which almost makes them more frustrating. With over a million miles of testing under their belts, you’d have thought that these irritations would have been ironed out...
Muck flinging
It’s an odd phenomenon, and something I’ve not encountered before. But ride a GS on a wet road, or even worse a wet and dirty road, and you’ll dismount with comedic levels of localised filth clarting various parts of your body.
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