Australasian Dirt Bike – May 2019

infamousTomGrogginRiver

crossing.Iwasalittledisappointed

whenADVsuperheroMilesDavis

answeredmyShiftcamquestionwith:

“Well,Iwouldn’tsayitkicksin.”He

saidyoujustfeelithasmoreuptop.

MOREUPTOP

Ihadfourdaysand 1400 kaysontheGS

andGSAdventuretofindoutwhetherI

couldfeelituptopandtoponderifthe

ADVcrowdwouldseevalueinthenew

tech.NottoomanyADBreaderswould

becryingoutformoreuptopona

1254cc249kgbikebutIamalsoaroad

riderandabitmorewouldbewelcome.

Ourfirstdaywasallontheblacktop

whichwasagreatwaytowearinthe

newMetzelerKaroo3sandplaywith

themyriadofoptionsonthebright,

clearandsuper-detailedTFTdash.I

hookedupmyiPhoneandSena20s

commssystemwithease,askedSiri

kindlyto“playmusic”andcruisedeast

fromCanberrainthesunshinewithno

glareofftheslightlymatteandveryflat

instruments,checkingoutmyalbum

artwork,thetyrepressures,planning

mycoffeebreaks(yes,youcanactually

dothat),checkingoutthefourride

modesandvarioussuspensionoptions.

Somesettingsareavailableonly

whilestopped,suchasadjustments

withintheridermodes.Theuser

interfaceisveryintuitiveand,with

onlyashortbriefing,Ididn’tneedthe

manualatall.

Myrelaxedridingandmusic

interludewasinterruptedwhenwe

stoppedforphotosatthebeginningof

sometighttwisties.Iwouldhave

preferredafewmorekaysundermy

beltbeforewindingitup.

Thetyresstillhadasheenonthe

edgesandIwasstillincruisemode.

Afterbumblingthroughafew

cornersIrealisedIhadn’tcheckedout

theShiftcam!Someofyoumayknow

theKingsHighway.Westartedon

ClydeMountainandfinishedatClyde

River.Ican’treallysaytoomuchabout

that 30 kaysdueto,ahem,notwanting

toincriminatemyself,butlet’sjustsayI

amahugefanofdirt’sgrippiercousin.

Twentyfiveyearsagowhentheoilheads

werereleasedIwasscrapingthepoton

Turn 12 atEasternCreek,Inowknowit

wasn’tthefastestaroundacornerbut,

thepointis,GSshandlewell.

Backthenitwasanoveltytohavean

adventurebikedoingsowellon

bitumen.Now,itisexpectedandthere

isstiffcompetition.TheGSstillloves

beingcrankedover,onlynowitreally

goeshard.Suretherearemore

powerfulbikesandIdon’tthinkithas

quitethetop-endoftheMultistrada

EnduroorKTM 1290 butitsurefeels

quickerthantheR1200GS.CouldIfeel

theShiftcam?Hmmm,maybe.

Thereisapowersurgeintherev

rangewherethecamshifts.Itisquite

noticeableandIwoulddefinitelymiss

itridingmyoldman’s 2015 R1200GS.

Theengineisnowevensmootherthan

the 1200 wasserboxer,andthatisa

smoothengine!Itisatallbikeand

doesn’tflipfloplikeaDucatiPanigale

yetitisabrilliantroadbikethatdeals

perfectlywiththatmid-cornerbump

thatfeaturesonsomanyAussieroads.

Withthepowerincreasethe

engineerstweakedthetractioncontrol.

PreviouslyintheroadmodesIwould

turnDynamicTractionControloff.

Whilecornering,littlebumpsinthe

bitumensurfacewouldmaketheTC

droppowerandIhatedthat.Itwas

muchbettertoletitslideandre-gripin

anaturalway.OntheKingsHighwayI

foundafewsuchbumpycornersand

proceededtocrankitoverinthird-gear,

full-throttlewhichusuallygetsaslide

going.Wellsomethinghappened,I’m

justnotexactlysurewhat.

Therear-endfeltalittlefluffy,itslid

abitbutnotlikeIwasexpecting.Itried

afewmorecornersandhadsimilar

resultsandcametotheconclusionthat

Ireallylikethenewtractioncontrol.It

willremainoninfuture.

THROWINGIT

ForanADBreaderitwouldbeeasyto

goforthemostdirt-orientedversion,

the$30,240RallyeX,butIwasgiven

thestandardGS($23,565)andGS

Adventure($25,540)topuntthrougha

billioncornersandamillionerosion

mounds,downthecoastandoverto

Alburyviabucket-listcountry,akathe

SnowyMountains.Thefirstchallenge

wasuphillonadry,dustyandrocky

power-lineroad.

TheGSjustfeltamazinginsecond

whileweightingandunweightingthe

suspensionfortractionandsettingup

forsmallmonosoverthemounds.It’sa

70 |MAY 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au

We’reguessingthatthisisn’tthestockmuffler

Justincasethepanniersaren’tbigenough

Increaseto1254cchasbroughtmanybenefits

TFTscreenrunstheshowforyou

Carbon-fibreprotectionforthemid-pipe

Spotties burn holes in native marsupials

ADV TEST I 2019 BMW R1250GS