Reader Peter Thorne rates his R1200GS Rallye 6000 miles on
Born again rider Peter Thorne has always fancied the idea of touring, but swore he would never buy an R1200GS. Now, one year on from giving in and ordering a BMW R1200GS Rallye, he now looks for any excuse to go exploring in Continental Europe. He said: “There’s quite a lot of people like me. I rode bikes when I was younger and had various late 1970s and ’80s small bikes, with the biggest being a 250.
“I stopped riding because I had kids and then around five years ago, when they started growing up, I bought a VFR800, which I’ve still got and still ride.
“I was really into the idea of touring and went to France on it by myself and then to Spain two-up with my partner on the back around two years ago. In about a month’s time we are going to ride down to Romania and back through the Alps on the GS Rallye.
“I quite like my VFR, but I thought it would be nice to have something with a bit more torque and grunt for two-up, fully-laden touring. The VFR is quite a powerful bike anyway, but I felt I was working it quite hard for that kind of riding.
“I didn’t want a GS at first. If you ever go on a ferry, there will be 50 bikes onboard and 25 will be GSs. I used to say to my partner ‘shoot me if I ever get a GS!’ But then I started looking at adventure bikes around 18 months ago - originally looking at the Triumph Explorer, which my partner favoured because it had heated seats.
“I looked at the Ducati Multistrada too, but then I went to Wollaston BMW in Northampton for a test ride of the GS and it was a no-brainer; there’s a reason why half the bikes on the ferry are BMWs.
“I’ve never had a new car or new bike, so I thought that for just once in my life I would buy a new one. I looked at plenty of reviews before buying it, however these things are almost like a cult now, aren’t they? They’re so well-known after 20odd years of BMW making them in various guises.
“I also thought the Multistrada’s power might be a little bit mental, however I haven’t actually ridden it, so I don’t really know. Maybe that power is all under control, but it makes something like 160 or 170bhp. It was probably the chain drive which put me off the most, though.”