Half the price, all the adventure
The latest flagships from BMW and KTM don’t just move the adventure game on – they also help make all of these fantastic used bikes even more affordable
FIRST DYLAN WENT electric, then Royal Enfields went fuel-injected, and then came the biggest shocker of all: BMW’S boxers went water-cooled. After 90 years of resolute air-cooling, the famous flat twin finally embraced a pair of neatly hidden radiators that helped boost power, reduce emissions and – perhaps most importantly - futureproof BMW’S most popular model for years to come.
The 2013 R1200GS was probably the single biggest leap in the model’s history: throttle cables became ride-by-wire; the engine layout rotated forwards 90; the crank direction was reversed; the shaftdrive swapped sides; the frame was all-new and fatter tyres sat on wider wheel rims. What survived the total top-to-tail Trigger’sbroom transformation, however, was the previous R1200GS’S sense of unquestioning, universal purpose. It wasn’t just a two-up tourer, or just a daily hack, or just a go-anywhere adventurer, or just a comfy cruiser for sunny Sundays. It was all of them – the definitive all-rounder.
Buying a used liquid-cooled R1200GS can be a bit tricky, as changes were made between every single model year. Some of the updates are significant, some are subtle, and it can be hard to pin down exactly what each bike has. The original 2013 models came without a steering damper and have a lighter crank, which spins up more aggressively than later bikes. The damper was added in 2014 to keep a closer eye on stability, while the heavier crank, first seen on the R1200GT and the ’14 GS Adventure, came fitted to the 2015 R1200GS to improve manners at low speed and when off-road. Updated options for the 2016 model year included cornering ABS (known as ABS Pro in Bmw-speak), then halfway through the year a kind of ‘2016.5’ model emerged, which came with some improved gearbox parts as well as a Euro4-compliant engine and exhaust. This only lasted for a matter of months though, before the full 2017-spec bikes landed, with tweaked styling and options including the new automatic-preload suspension.