‘I still think of it as my ‘new’ bike’
Dermot Horan’s 225,000-mile R1150GS is no longer his only big-mile bike: this is his 100,000-mile R1200GS
Name Dermot Horan, 69 Bike 2008 R1200GS Total miles 103,000 Miles per year 15,000
“THE 1150 IS what I call my proper GS,” says Dermot. “It’s a medieval, weighty thing. It’s done 253,000 miles now.”
That’s dedication. So why’s Dermot now got a 1200GS as well?
“I put my hand up to do the Trans-am, Alaska to Argentina, with Globebusters in 2018. They were uneasy about me taking the 1150 with such a high mileage, in case it broke. So I found the 1200 with a friend, Brian Giles of BGM BMW in Pembury, Kent (bgmbmw.com) — he’s a genius with the flat twins. It had 25,000 on it when I bought it, recommissioned by Brian after two years in a garden.
“So I did the Trans-am; 25,000 miles in four and half months, from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska down to Ushuaia in Argentina, then back up to Montevideo. Hell of an adventure — life-changing. And the 1200 was the right bike. For the most part we were on roads, with 10% off-road — still plenty of miles. The bike took a lot of punishment — I dropped it about a dozen times, and it’s a heavy thing to pick up. But in Patagonia, with 90mph side winds, it was the right bike.
“As for prepping, Globebusters don’t recommend cast wheels because they’ll get broken,” Dermot says. “But I was a cheapskate, took cast wheels — and guess what? I buckled them both over speed bumps in Mexico. Savage.”
Dermot got the wheels straightened; they’re still on the bike. “It’s been pretty reliable,” he says. “It’s the last of the first air-cooled so it’s a fairly simple machine; no fragile electronics like the newer GSS. I had the ABS reconditioned, upgraded lights to HID, put a touring screen on, had the service upgrade on the final drive but nothing else has gone wrong.”
“I have a strategy for my bikes now,” says Dermot. “I’ve developed a bond with the 1150, so I’m keeping it for winter hacking — I recently put a new engine in it — but for foreign trips, which I still do a lot, I use the 1200 because it’s easier to get breakdown insurance. It’s been to Scotland three times, including the NC500, Nordkapp in Norway, Slovenia, Croatia, Ireland, Luxembourg; all over.
“I’m thinking of doing London to Beijing with Globebusters but I’d need a lighter bike, like Triumph’s Tiger 900. But I’ve no room in my garage so one of the GSS would have to go. Which one? Aaah... I’m putting off making that decision.”
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