His Bike
BMW Motorrad Marketing Manager,
Miles Davis has left his position to
pursue other interests and we wish
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Motorrad Australia was also the bike
he had a hand in helping to design.
Miles was quite chuffed and humble
to see and ride ‘his’ bike in its
element. Miles also attributes a lot of
the Rallye X to ex-world enduro
legend, Geoff Ballard.
To show the might of the new Rallye
X, Miles is going to ride the bike with
some customers to the Finke Desert
Rally, race the Finke Desert Rally and
then continue through the Simpson
Desert! We wish him all the best, as
that will be one tough gig.I must admit that even I think that a
couple have come close, but none have
taken over the throne as the top royal
of big boy adventure bikes. That crown
has remained with the R 1200 GS and
now with the release of the Rallye X
version, the 1200 GS has made the step
up to the throne even higher for others
to try and reach.
I headed to the Australian launch in
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rain and snowfalls throughout the
Victorian High Country. Any adventure
bike except a seriously capable one was
going to mean an ambulance ride to the
local hospital. The trails we rode were
more suited to 450 enduro machines
rather than a big, heavy (in comparison)
adventure bike like the R 1200 GS.
Even with fresh knobby tyres, the red
clay on what seemed every corner really
tested my skills. The other participants
on the launch were all hotshot off-
road riders, whereas ‘little’ old me was
thankful that the new Rallye X is such
a good bike in the dirt. I didn’t crash
(thankfully) and I can tell you: that’s
all to do with the new GS Rallye X! I
felt out of my depth a couple of times
but still rode on through the other side
with a big grin on my face. Hey, my
family was not going to have to come
visit me in hospital!
But enough of my carrying on, let’s
get onto what BMW Motorrad has
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AWESOME
For this model year, BMW offers four
variants of the R 1200 GS. You get
the ‘standard’ which is essentially a
bare bones GS with cast wheels – a
bit like a GS of a couple of years ago.
This is priced at $21,850 (+ orc). Next
up comes the Rallye which is again a
pretty much bare bones GS with the
addition of wire wheels and a Lupin
Blue Metallic paintjob – this retails
for $23,050. The third GS is the Tour,
which has loads of BMW fruit and
really is suited to the majority of GS
owners who may only ever see well-
maintained dirt roads. Finally comes
the Rallye X which sees the biggest
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Australia Marketing Manager Miles
Davis has long asked for a GS with the
longer travel suspension of the GSA,
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dirt bike like seat, no centre stand and
short sports type screen – and this year
he got it! The factory listened and they
came through with this awesome off-
road adventure machine.
Trying to decide on potential
customers I see the standard model
being for someone that isn’t fussed
with loads of electronics and just wants
the essentials of what makes the GS a
great machine. The Rallye is for those,
again, that want a basic machine but
will see a bit more dirt action than
normal, and who will be thankful
for the addition of the wire wheels.
I mentioned the Tour and it really is
for someone who wants the versatility
a GS can offer as a tourer. Lastly, if
you’re going to be doing 80%+ dirt
riding, go the Rallye X, the longer
travel suspension and slightly lower
weight are noticeable and make it better
in the rough stuff.LAUNCH