BMW R1200GS Exclusive

£15,565 + 1170cc flat twin + 123bhp + 244kg + 20-litre tank + 850/870mm seat + Miles so far: 2080

A LUGGAGE CHALLENGE? It’s in the bag. Or the boxes. My trio of BMW Vario panniers and topbox are all expanded to their full cavernous capacity – easily enough for a week’s worth of clothes for two – and quickly swallow a staggering number of bottles. The secret, I discover after much fannying about, is to take the panniers off, lay them on the floor, fill them up and THEN mount the side cases to the bike.

I cram 30 litres into the two panniers, nearly 20 more in the topbox and feel pretty smug. But I’m not done. Last year I bought (yes, bought) a RIDE Recommended Givi GRT705 tankbag for my own F800GS, which last night I swapped on to the R1200GS. That bumps my total to 55 litres of water – more than Si’s balanced on his Blade, but looking over at the other Si gleefully filling his Z1000SX makes me nervous.

I’ve got one last trick: a 90-litre Held drybag I reveal at the last minute (after the photographer’s put his camera away, hence its invisibility). I shove a further 50-odd bottles in, strap it on the pillion seat (despite a disappointing dearth of bungee points) and declare myself the winner. The judges add it all up to 92.5 litres – insurmountable.

And unmountable. I’m way over BMW’S stated 10kg limit for each pannier, and have almost four times the 5kg limit in the topbox, all of which could cause stability issues. If I cut it down to a safe weight, I can still carry 68 litres, so I still win on capacity – though not on value. MARTIN FITZ-GIBBONS

“I’m way over BMW’S stated limit of 10kg”

The GS’S capacity shows that just because you can doesn’t mean you should