Ready to Take on Anything

It should come as no surprise that just one year after launching the all-new and highly acclaimed BMW R 1300 GS, BMW have introduced the R 1300 GS Adventure, a go-anywhere, do-anything GS ultimate, complete with a 30-litre fueltank and a distinctive look that is quite the talk of the adventure bike community

PUTTING THE NEW STYLING ASIDE FOR a moment, the Adventure is far more than a GS with a colossally large tank. In fact, BMW stress that it is a new model in its own right, offering something different from the standard R 1300 GS. The lightweight frame first seen on the R 1300 GS remains but attached is a completely new subframe for a greater payload and more room for both rider and pillion.

The EVO suspension is similar but has revised settings to compensate for the Adventure's extra weight and suspension travel (210 millimetres front, 220 mm rear). The wheelbase extends, there is more weather and crash protection, and, as we have heard, the fuel-tank is as big as some car's.

There are four model variants, a new catalogue of optional extras, and, for the first time in GS Adventure history, an optional automatic gearbox care of Automated Shift Assistant (ASA) technology (see box).

The numbers are impressive: 30 litres of unleaded, 269 kilograms with that petrol onboard, a 870-mm to 890-mm seat height, and a price tag that starts and we do mean starts-at £18,870 (Rs 20.75 lakh). The two models on test are the GSA TE ESA, which is priced at £22,610 (Rs 24.857 lakh), and the £23,880 (Rs 26.27) Trophy.

BMW provided us with two days of touring in southern Spain, both on road and off it, on bikes with both manual and automatic transmission.

First, let us deal with the large grey and trunky mammal in the room and that is the looks and sheer size of the new GS Adventure. The Internet went into minor meltdown when BMW first unveiled images; the planet, if not the entire universe, was outraged by its distinctive and rather boxy deign, a clear result of BMW wanting to create a clear divide between the standard R 1300 GS and the Adventure.