It’s a robot with personality
The GSA is the world’s most unremarkably remarkable bike
I really wanted to find a flaw in the R1250GSA’s skill set this year. It’s nothing personal, but having covered 35,000 miles on GSs over the last five years, the cachet of being the one who finally manages to whinge (with supporting evidence) is an attractive lure. Of course, the GSA isn’t perfect. Nothing is. But picking holes in it is a bit like criticising a supermodel for having a mole on her arse. I’ve said it before, but the genius that’s laced into every molecule of the GS is hard to pin down. It’s the sum of all its talents that impresses.
I would argue that 2019 has given it a bit more of an edge in one regard, though. That new 1250 ShiftCam engine is a thumping peach of an evolution. At any speed, in any gear, it’s transformed the engine. While many mourn the old air-cooled unit, I reckon the new one has it beat. There’s drive everywhere, stick the GSA in 6th at 40mph and it’ll drive harder than most can if you go back two cogs. I did say it’s not perfect, though. The engine still suffers a little with vibes that can cause whitefinger if you do a long schlep on the motorway at constant revs. You can dial them down a bit with heavier bar weights (I used Evotech bar weights and guard bars). Another benefit that ended up as an irritation was the new Connectivity TFT dash. In normal use as a device to tell you all the things you need to know while riding, it’s superb – but it’s the ‘connected’ part where it falls down. If your phone is in a pannier, then the dash can’t hold on to the Bluetooth signal. That means you have to have your phone in a pocket, tankbag, or mounted on your bars. Even then it’s less than seamless. It regularly forgets my iPhone and Cardo headset, meaning you have to pair both again, and even when everything is hooked up it’s reluctant to play music through the dash to your headphones.
My only other big gripe is the sheer complexity of every angle and facet. It takes two hours to give it a thorough clean, and you need the hands the size of a new-born baby. Come on BMW, simplify it a bit. Gripes aside – if you need the undisputed do-it-all go-anywhere king, I’d struggle to recommend any other bike more highly.