‘I crashed my GS in a river’
Adventure by name, adventure by nature. When you own BMW’s range-topping overlander, you find yourself with some tales to tell. “I wrote a previous GS off when I crashed into a river in Argentina” says MCN reader Steve Buck. “I was on a Globebusters trip through South America and encountered a flooded road. As I tried to ride through it, the wheels washed away and both me and the bike ended up in a river. I floated downstream and grabbed hold of a branch, it was really muddy so I was lucky to scrabble out, and doubly lucky that the bike didn’t hit me. I was battered and bruised but essentially fine.” Unfortunately, Steve’s R1200GS Adventure wasn’t so lucky and he was forced to spend the rest of the trip in the support vehicle. “When I got back, I had to buy another GS and all they had was dark blue ones, which I wasn’t so keen on but bought it anyway. Then a yearand-a-half later, BMW brought the Adventure Rallye out and I thought it looked quite striking so I traded up to that,” he said. Opting for the range-topping TE model with extras such as Dynamic suspension, hillstart assist, two-way quickshifter, heated grips, traction control and more, Steve’s now racked up over 5000 miles in his first 12 months of ownership, here’s how he’s got on.