It didn’t matter if it was
dusty, wet or a mix of
both, both the front and
rear tyres offered huge
amounts of grip, even
from cold
FORGOTTEN WORLD HIGHWAY
It was on the stretch of SH4 just before
Otorohanga that the first noun was applied
to the GSA – waft. Yep, the GSA can only be
described as a motorcycle that wafts along, quite
effortlessly. With the suspension and engine
both set in Dynamic modes, the GSA was able
to cut through the fast flowing corners in a way
that you might not expect. Composed and…
umm… dynamic.
From Otorohanga the Forgotten World Highway
threw everything possible at the big GS. Twists,
turns, ups, downs, patches of gravel on the seal,
cow shit, mud, you name it, it was all there. The
GSA’s motor and handling here made it feel like
a big, wafty supermoto – just absolutely hilarious
fun. I wouldn’t have believed this bike could be
so composed while riding fast if I hadn’t been
experiencing it myself.
Next up, the 12-odd kilometre section of gravel
saw the GSA and Mat’s little Honda CRF250L pull
away from the road bikes. While the tyres were
ok here, a set of something like Conti’s TKC80s
would have made things more sure-footed. A
quick press of the ABS and TC button had both
systems switched off to help in the gravel. It’s only
really here that the GS let the facade slip and its
62 KIWI RIDER
weight be noticed felt, but the faster I rode the
better it felt – fortune favours the brave here.
The 1250GSA runs on Bridgestone Battlax
Adventure A41 tyres, which are described
Bridgestone as 90% road and 10% off-road.
They were certainly adequate for the gravel on
the Forgotten World Highway but where they
really shone was on bumpy, twisty tar seal. It
didn’t matter if it was dusty, wet or a mix of
both, both the front and rear tyres offered huge
amounts of grip, even from cold. Bridgestone
says the A41 has a nine percent higher friction
coefficient in the wet and a five percent bigger
contact patch. All I know is this tyre can be
hooned on from cold and there’s a huge amount
of grip. As an all-round tyre this is a cracking OE
fitment for the BMW, which would allow you to
do all the road miles you like and not have to
worry too much when you get to some gravel
sections.
An obligatory lunch in the Republic’s hotel went
down well before we struck out for Opunake via
New Plymouth for the evening’s beer supplies.
The boys paused for fuel in Stratford but the GS
said it still had another few hundred kilometres
before it needed a splash, so I didn’t bother.