Dude, this is the most accurate and insightful review and comments i have seen to date on the 1250 GS. I have ridden 11,000 kms on my 1250 purchased the day before xmas and you point out, very eloquently i must say, the subtleties of this bike. For example the beautiful smooth & linear transition from open to closed and closed to open throttle transition due to the spot-on fueling. In this regard i just had my bike serviced and TFT update only ?? that took more than 2.5 hours and the fueling is is slightly better than before. It is now near perfect with no drive-train transition slack at all. I had a 2017 1200GS before this 1250 and the 1250 is basically the same bike but improved and different in many ways. Engine, power, torque, smoothness, less vibes, suspension damping, quick shifter, idles better, muffler has a different note and even the way the engine starts and idles at high revs then quickly reduces to idle revs. Same looking bike externally but different internally. More refined now. I will have to check your site out some more.

Best GS review out there, by far. Thank you. I agree with all your points, as a GS owner. I love mine.

Appreciate all the nice cinematic footage of the bike with the review

I’m one month and a thousand miles into my grey 1250 GSA, your observation and articulation skills are top notch. Thanks for this review.

I am liking your bike reviews more and more - more insights than any other, way better off-road ride footage than anyone else and you make this near 600lb ride look amazing off-road like it might be a good enduro ride - much thanks for all you and your team do!

A competent & solid review. Thank you.

As always, outstandingly thoughtful, balanced, interesting, and useful reviews.

Great video, excellent detail and coming into the GS world from other bikes, I had decided on the R1250 GSA Rallye HP and really good to hear you backing up my decision- thanks for the review. 👍

I’m rewatching your review now in 2022 and still think this is the best review on R1250GS on KZfaq 👍

Your channel has some of the best reviews and most meaningful content out there. I've been watching for a while. Keep it up!

Great review, thanks. I've just purchased (but haven't picked up yet) a R1250GS Rallye so it was great to listen & watch your review. Also, good to read some of the many positive comments below. Cheers from Australia.

Very informative and done in a classy style. Good job BM

Spot on review!! Captured my thoughts on the bike exactly. Very good presentation with awesome camera work and cinematography. Great work!

Thanks Llewelyn. Couldn’t agree more. Having ridden in Portugal with you guys a few weeks ago I bought an ex off road skills bike when I got home. A few scratches but a great bike and amazing value for money.

Thank you ! Great review... a lot of the properties of the bike addressed very well !

Great review, great videography. A rare review that properly addresses off-road capabilities (and has footage to prove it). That and the other content in your channel doesn't doesn't allow me to figure out why don't you get more subscribers?!

Awesome review . Do more of such reviews of other bikes

As a new owner of the BMW R1250GS I find this review spot on. Further my old bike was a 1995 BMW R1100GS I am blown away as to the heritage and long term planning of BMW. These are well thought out and engineered motorcycles.

Best all round non-BMW review of the bike I’ve seen. Thankfully being a current owner of a ‘14 GSA LC i wont be looking to Upgrade just yet

Great review as always. Love the rallye colours.

Best 1250 guide so far, all correct as far as I am concerned. Had a GS 1200 for 4 years, now two weeks into the 1250, first service is due on Monday, then I can have a proper play.

Great review, I love the colour scheme, sold my 2017 GSA for the GS Rallye.

Well done, great review, thank you..

Just bought a GSA Exclusive, my third GS, it was good before, now superb. The fuelling is faultless and the power is everywhere...love it.

beautifully shot and Well reviewed

Would love to hear your thoughts on the lowered versions GS and GSA. Whats your experience on and off road ? Thanks ! 😎👍 Keep up the great work !

Definitely agree with you on the hand guards and seat. I added Touratech spoilers to my hand guards and they are better for weather protection but yeah, they're gone as soon as they hit the ground I think. Great video, can't wait to see the next one, cheers!

Just bought 2022 R1250GS. Awesome bit of kit. Agree with the review.

I've had mine for 3 weeks now. I love the new engine. It's my first GS and it is the best bike I've ever had up to now. With the Akrapovic it sounds really good too. The brakes are really progressive and powerful at the same time.

Great review ol mate

Great comments, spot on. I just bought a 1250 gsa yesterday and comparing it to my 2008 1200 gsa it is as can be expected way more refined and easier to ride but on the same vain still holds characteristics of my older bike. My first change will be adding oversized grips and Rox pivoting risers, later a possible new seat.

I enjoyed riding yours down in Wales earlier this year. Hopefully we’ll be down again in a few months if the boss signs it off. Fantastic machines. My DCT ATAS does me though. Can’t justify the extra expense to upgrade. All the best Lel, Smalls. 👍🏻

Just bought one love it

I test rode one of these in January and really loved it. The only thing that threw me off was the rev matching. Coming from a "dumb" bike the fancy rev matching really through me off with trying to ride it. But it was such a fun bike. Reminded me of an SUV where you'd be going 80mph and it felt like you were going 30mph - buttery smooth and stable.

Good review. I still only 12 months into GSA Rallye X ownership. So the honeymoon is still on. But the 1250 is def a super evolution.

Great review. First one I have seen that reviews the entire bike not just the motor and let’s us know where the bike is better or changed from the 1200. Great work mate.

Nice review LP thanks

Well presented review.Thks.

Great review, thank you. I own a bike exactly like the one you rode. I am extremely happy with what is a very finely crafted machine. Only downsides: 1) on very warm days, the engine will get hot, 2) at 5000 RPM, the handlebars vibrates noticeably, 3) the gearbox is much improved, but it’s still not as smooth as those in japanese bikes, 4) the user interface in the TFT is not intuitive and at times is even confusing, 5) it is heavy. I weighed mine today at a sugar mill. With a gallon of fuel, crash bars, and a heavy duty bash plate, it came in at 590 lbs. Lately, I have been riding the bike in Dynamic Pro mode, which is equivalent to Sport mode in other bikes. It’s a lot of fun; the bike feels like a Ninja. Here are my (long) comments on the bike as I drove it across the Panama Canal about three months ago kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fZlhnK53qNmWpWg.html&feature=share

Very interesting, and informative video. Loved it. The BMW gs 1250 is beautiful in all colour schemes. I think BMW have simply returned to the early years, yes the gold wheels are controversial, but that’s it for me. The rest is original. I have ridden this bike, I’m no pro rider, but forgiving is exactly what it is. Thanks Brake Magazine, excellent. 👍🏻👍🏻😎

Great review

Great Review! Where was most of the riding video shot?

I have one. It's the best one. Good job on the video.

I’ve had my r1250gs exclusive since October but tossed up buying the KTM 1290SA. You review is spot on re fuelling and smoothness. This is one thing that swayed me. The other was the handling. I just love it. The KTM was fast with a crazy motor but down low it was lumpy and chuggy. The KTM also threw error codes on test ride. However the quick shifter is better on the KTM.

Got it and love it...

I’d love one. I have to wait for my wife to leave me first.

I just traded my Harley and bought one last week my first ever BMW, wow what a machine! The two things I don’t like as you mentioned no heated seat and trashy hand guards. At this price point they should have done these two item right. Nice review BM.

Great bike sure, for me to expensive and quite big to look at, I did ride the 1200 GS sure that goes away when you ride it. I love my new Vstrom 1000 XT, all I need, user friendly, light, extremly comfortable, great tourque, brakes and with Remus titanium exhaust great sound... Adventure bikes make me smile when I ride...

Not sure I understood all the detail, but looking forward to trying one of these when I hand back my 1200 Adventure at the end of the current contract. Thank BM.

That remark on heated seats in Ducatis though... :) "... You get one (heated seat) installed with the second cylinder on a Ducati Multistrada" at 10:30. Nice one...

Hey team! That was a decent review. It's good to know that BMW succeeded in actually upping the ante instead of making the motorcycle worse. Liked your cinematics as well. Though I was left wondering - why didn't you put Lle right there with the motorcycle rather than put him behind the table? For reference, it felt better to see him in the Himalayan review, even though he was basically standing with the motorcycle at places. Looking forward to more of your videos! :)

I test rode this bike and the wind protection was lacking, so I opted for the GSA 1250 that cost me over $32,000 fully loaded with many options that were not part of the bike, like GPS, panniers, adjustable foot pegs..., worth it? Only if you love riding very far from civilization without worrying about getting back! The needed information provided on the TFT was what made me buy the NEW BMW GSA!!

Solid

Looking a 18 used GS or new GS.... thank you for your great input.

Spot on! 1000miles into my ownership of the same Rally version in your review. Plenty road, plenty gravel, a bit of off-road: very, very good. Engine is brilliant. Power curve is damn near perfect, but I'd like a bit more power at smaller throttle openings - not much happens for quite a twist! Brakes very good - ABS well sorted - and great off-road. Grip and traction are fantastic, but I think the step to ZF suspension (said no-one, ever!) has been a backward one. Mushy on road in anything less than Dynamic, but Dynamic suffers on broken roads. Enduro good on rollers, but terrible on repetitive hits. All in all it's ideal for smooth, fast roads, then transitioning to gravel. Nadgery, bumpy roads and broken trail (eg baked-in braking bumps, broken cobbles, submerged repetitive rock) - less good. That said, still a fantastic, engaging, fast, versatile, hugely capable bike and better than anything else similar. Its range of ability is frankly, astounding.

Picked up the GSA 1250 a couple of weeks back, moving from the 2016 GS and boy what an amazing change, this is so much more refined from the older bike and I am so pleased with this bike I simply can't express it, I really don't know how BMW will improve this bike. I added the Givi hand guard extenders and the Hepco & Becker hand bars to add all round protection so this is now a superb bike and hopefully one i will do many miles on

I have and love my k1600GTL, arguably the KING of the asphalt road. I just bought a 2019 gs 1250 adventure bike fitted with the best knobby tires. I am planning via (garmin gps) an 1800 mile trip to break in and evaluate. . .

Could I ask your help with deciding between gs and gsa? I really want the wind protection of gsa but I also want to do a bit of Trans Euro Trail and off-road with it. Is gsa significantly harder off-road?

Excellent review and lovely production values. If you've ridden the new GS850 and/or GSA850 - how do you guys feel about comparisons with the GS1250?

Hi, thanks for the very common sensed review ! I am the proud owner of a fully loaded 2018 BMW R1200 gsa, and I would like your input on settings.. How do you set the bike up for a day of dirt and gravel riding? I am still reading the manual on all the different settings the bike has.. and basically, its still over my head ! I just finished an Enduro school so am getting comfortable with tossing a bike around. I used a school bike, which had no settings. Thanks in advance, and keep up the great video’s.. I’m learning a lot from you guys!

Excellent review, as usual. Many thanks. I guess you got the point absolutely right : it is a better bike than the R1200GS in all respects, but probably not to the point where all 1200GS owners should get rid of their 1200 to buy this 1250 instead.

Torn between gs or gsa,probably don't do enough miles to warrant a gsa but do like the look of it, wondering what your views are weight and handling between the two.

From where im at ive heard that a bunch of 1200 owners are selling theres even 2018 models to get the new 1250. They say its that good so its worth upgrading.

OMG !!! Keep money a long time for this one ☝️

Bike could do with heated seat as mentioned, plus back illuminated controls for night riding, electric larger screen and larger hand guards with integrated indicators. Plus I would like an extended front mud guard and mud sling as standard included in the exorbitant price.

Couple of guys took BMW 1250 GS on a world wide ride. We saw what happened to those two bikes !! One got rear rim cracked and the other bike's piston busted. Their entire journey is documented and they did not do any extreme ride.

I think the Hayes front brake is just as good as any Brembos I've ever had on my previous bikes. Considering the sheer mass of the 1250GS, they might even be better.

I want one

Finally a concise analytical review from someone with real experience rather than the plethora of pseudo, look-at-me-look-at-me, lend-me-a-bike-for-the-day KZfaq so called bike reviewers. Keep up the good work.

Since I bought my 2020 1250 GS Adventure hp.....any and all comparisons seem fun to hear if yor are a bike lover; however , the razor thin differences that are pointed out by the "Uber knowleadgeables"....seem so uterly non important and vanish as you are roaring away in your 1250. Love your reviews and admire your serious knowledge about the competition. That's why we don't all marry the same girl but can secretly appreciate others. Cheers !!

The only thing I don’t understand for 2019 is why the GSA didn’t get all the cool color options that the GS got? 🤷🏻‍♂️ other than that I love both so much.

Africa Twin with DCT - best choice

I have ordered mine, first week in may 😁 any recommendations for the engine bars? Was just going to get lowers....? Need uppers? Nice to see another good review.

I am about to commit to the 1250 - I’m trading in triumph explorer -

Warning, long post, but if you are interested… Navi Niggles when migrating from R1200 GSA to R1250 GSA So having covered 970 km on my new ride and still smiling from ear to ear, what are first impressions compared to my recently traded 4 year old R1200. Don’t get me wrong the good really does outweigh the bad as you would expect. For example the hill start thingy, what a bonus that is and could even be my biggest like of the improvements. The smoothness of the engine, the power is noticeably different, the right angle tyre valves, the sound (even better than the old bike and that was pretty awesome), you still get that lovely bubbly noise too when decelerating. I am sure something changed as well because to me, cornering is a lot smoother, she glides round the corner and I am sure that is not only down to the more rounded profile of the Anakee Adventure Tyres over the Heindenau Scouts I previously loved so much. The TFT display is so crisp and clear and one of the bains of my previous life, the indicators, they turn off so much quicker than the old ones. My brain seems to hate turning indicators off after making a turn. And the Navi?…I will get to that soon. So, coming up for the 1000 service what is on my snagging list, four things need attention (nothing on my R1200 ever needed attention); • Front wheel noise, probably brakes binding. I get a sh-sh-sh-sh with every rotation of the wheel and it is driving me fucking nuts. I did not pay 20k for a machine that goes sh-sh-sh-sh and audible over the engine. • Suspension, while ok, they may need to adjust it a bit, confirmed when I went back a couple of weeks ago, it is riding a bit soft they think after a short test ride to observe the sh-sh-sh-sh. • SOS - system to be checked as I get an intermittent warning on the TFT saying it is not working and to return it to a dealer. • Oil “OK” display - try as much as I can, it has NEVER illuminated as described in the manual and I only see “- -“, BMW agree it seems odd and will investigate. Dislikes, or rather, to be checked. I need to carefully compare the screen to the R1200 screen. I suspect it is a different size or profile as I am feeling noticeably more buffeted around by the wind on the new bike and I certainly have not suffered a growth spurt, upwards or outwards. And THE NAVI… As far as the Navi goes it is still awesome, however things have changed concerning the way it integrates with the bike and being a Nerd by nature, I used to love some of the functionality that is no longer there. In summary, due to the TFT display and functionality, some of the data shared with the Nav VI on the R1200 is no longer there or functioning correctly on the R1250. Here is the list and mainly found on the Bike Stats page on the Nav VI that can show up to 16 different statistics.; • Current Trip (or Auto Trip) - this used to reset to zero with every new calendar day. I loved this feature because at a glance I could see the daily coverage at any time. Still selectable on the Navi display but never displays anything other than “- - “ o Probably because the TFT does not have this function in it. • Trip 1 and Trip 2 these are confusing and I am still trying to get my head around this one. Trip 1 does not align with Trip 1 on the TFT. They show different values. I am still trying to work out what maps to what between these two devices. o Probable cause incorrect mapping between TFT and Navi data (poor programming / code) o The TFT has; • “My Motorbike” data covering Odometer etc. • Trip 1 and Trip 2 • It DOES NOT have Current Trip (but the phone app does) • The phone app ONLY calculates Current Trip when it is connected via Bluetooth. So any disconnect means you do not get an accurate reading, plus you need to get your phone out of wherever you hide it, to see this. • Current Consumption no longer works on the Navi. o The TFT does not have Current Consumption, only Average Consumption for Trip 1 and Trip 2 (which don’t map correctly to the equivalent data items on the Navi - see above bullet). I am sure there are other quirks on the Navi that no longer work like they used to on the R1200, it is just that I have yet to find them. Bluetooth connectivity, I knew this before I purchased the bike, but yes, it is a right royal pain in the arse to get working well. You just have to play around and accept the best connectivity you can. Part of the issue is the phone connection. • Your phone needs to connect to the Navi for the Garmin Smart Link to work with the Navi • Your Phone needs to connect to the TFT for the BMW Connected App to work • The two devices will fight over which one handles the phone for calls and your phone based media. IT DOES NOT WORK. As a result I have kept all my media on the Navi and linked to my Sena 20S, can at least listen to music, hear the GPS directions, and talk to my pal on another bike. I can no longer make or receive phone calls or hear Turn By Turn directions from the TFT display.

Looking at buying a gs or a tracer 900gt and trying to justify the $10,000 price difference are they worth the money.

You didn’t mention about differences in sport suspension package, it is way better then standard and definitely worth the money. Actually it is unjustified to buy 1250 without sport suspension :) Overall good review.

Any plans on reviewing the 1260 enduro and 790r?

In the market and looking at this vs. the Honda Africa Twin AS. Other than the obvious price difference, what brings more to the table for a experienced street rider that is looking to migrate over to the Adventure World?

In a comparison with the 1250 GSA, which one do you pick? Is it worth the extra money?

Love the bike I think BMW knocked it out of the park .. That being said the bike is just so damn big and heavy not to mention the price but you do get what you pay for ... I'll be keeping my tiger 800 , at least for now ... Good review

the original r80 was the one that changed everything.

Purchased my first BMW 1250 GS a few weeks ago. Been riding HD’s but I’m not stuck on a brand. Love this GS! Coming from a Milwaukee-8 I wasn’t sure I’d feel satisfied with the 1250, Milwaukee-8 is ove 1700 cc. I have to say I’m not disappointed in the least. This thing carves like a knife and moves like a jet through the air. Not to crazy about the beak, but everything else is top notch. Easy to read display is great, my HD display looks great but it sucks...analog dials and a few tiny digital numbers. With the BMW I can always feel what gear I’m in...not so on the HD. I guess each bike has its place and I enjoy both of my bikes, but I’m growing to love the experience of being one with my GS 1250...2019. Great review by the way. Where are you riding and filming?

What do you mean that the telelever doesnt like big bumps? It is actually made to absorb bumpss big bumpss.. and give maximum comfort..

Just bought a 2018 V-strom 1000 XT 3 months ago because I'm poor, and i absolutely LOVE it! Put some 50/50 tyres on it and full offroad protection, It handles it incredibly well for almost half the price of a GS. Although If i could justify the price of a GS within my budget I would probably get one.

Wunderlich is selling a heated seat version for the bmw

NUMBER ONE THING I WISH THE NEW GS HAD. A reverse gear.

Better than tiger 900 and afric twin 1100????

What about the risk of breaking all the additional shift cam technology in the middle of nowhere?

Actually the "BMW" brake was made by brembo they put BMW on it but its actually a brembo 👍

"They haven't Honda-fied the bike." LOL

These bikes need a 21 inch stock front wheel

It’s the best all rounder, but it’s wide and bulky, don’t have the easiness of an Africa twin. Wide engine may stuck in tricky terrain. How much is it’s ground clearance - I was told and I found in google 185 mm - is that true? If it’s true how they manage to tackle serious off road with such a low clearance , even a multistrada v 4 is 220 mm

Those two negatives that you guys have pointed out aren't actually negatives lol...every ADV comes with the plastic handguards and wunderlich makes heated seats for BMWs..apart from triumph nothing comes out with a heated seat from the factory!! So that means that this bike is flawless?? Hmmm !!

My new GS1250 te does have heated seat as standard?

Advertises Ktm scott color combo on a bmw review

Curiosity: the sound at the exhaust changes or it is the same?

Why stop at the heated seat. Throw in an electric wind screen too.

I'm sure it's a nice bike but the KTM 1090R suited me better.

You forgot to mention the terrible, clunky, embarrassing shift assist on the new GS 1250.