While most people who have never really travelled on a GS will try to make you believe it’s the worst bike for that purpose because of all the electronics, I’d argue it’s really not a big deal. Even the electronic suspension was mostly fine and it was amazing to be able to switch from a pretty stiff road mode to off-road mode with the push of a button and have soft and plush suspension on dirt.
I brought a device along for reading the bike’s computer but never had to use it. Even running on 80 octane fuel the bike never had any major issues. On low quality fuel you just need to be very careful with the throttle otherwise it’ll start to knock/detonate.
The only two things that really broke are the front shock and the headlight. The latter because the dealership in Baku “washed” the bike with a very high pressure washer and they must have pointed it straight into the headlight area.
The front shock started slowly leaking and then finally blew out in Deosai National Park, Pakistan. This was the one thing I thought might break before starting the trip, and it did.
Even BMW’s “sports suspension” package is not really that good for days and days of off-roading in places like Central Asia where there’s hardly any (good) tarmac.
Luckily, the BMW dealership in New Delhi swapped it out under warranty. If it were to break again today, I would swap it out for an ESA compatible kit from Tractive. That way the electronic suspension still functions normally but you get a much beefier shock which also is rebuildable.
Having said all that, the most common thing I saw breaking on other people’s bikes were shock absorbers. From KTM to Honda to Kawasaki. Most stock suspension is just not up to the task of day in, day out off-road riding.
Excellent review and really good to know. I love what you said (and think you’re very right) about having a bike that’ll actually be fun to ride AFTER the trip as well. Good luck, Sam.
My wife and me Had done around 65 countries on a BMW R 1200 GS adventure with out any issues. Our last trip we crossed Africa and part of Europe and Turkey with out having a flat tire over 24000 kms and 7 months of traveling. Now expecting to the reopen of borders to ship our bike from México to Europe and go to Central Asia and if possible to cross China.
Wow, that’s mega impressive! Very interesting as well that you’ve had no issues after covering so many miles. Your next trip sounds impressive. I’m interested in the China part of your plan, are you talking about quickly crossing from Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan via China, or actually crossing the country? Cheers
We world like to cross China and enter Laos. If possible aug or Sep 2021. De are in contact with o there perdón that Also want to do this, in order to Lower the guide cost.
Impressive, that’s going to be a serious undertaking and rather expensive, but it would also be pretty amazing to ride across so much of China on your own bike. I would be very, very interested to hear how you get on with this, so please do let us know how it goes – and how you get on with planning too. Best of luck!