because it gets great traction , acceleration is strong and tyre wear reduced . The Tele-lever front end does still shake its head crossing bad corrugations , but is much improved from the earlier iterations . The rear is not happy on corrugations at all . I especially like the one press on-the-fly traction control ‘ off ’ button when hitting gravel or it ’ s wheelie time and I want to disengage the linked braking – it ’ s easy to use and an awesome feature . Overall , while great at most things , particularly tar-seal , it will never have the giant dirt bike feel of , say , an Africa twin or KTM 1290 R offroad .
HOW ABOUT THE NEW ? However , all of the above goes out of the window because the R1300GS has landed and is a genuinely all-new machine , both motor and chassis . So , is the 1300cc motor better ? I would have to say a resounding ‘ yes ’! Is the suspension better ? Yes , absolutely . Is the handling better ? Yes , but with a similar feel . Are the electronics still cool and easy to use ? Err , yes and no . The whole
machine has become even more electronically involved which I believe is unnecessary for an Adventure bike . The big , important things are better , but the electronic faff on the new bike is over the top , in my opinion . And ... disturbingly ... the one press on-the-fly ‘ TC off ’ button has gone . One of the GS ’ best feature has been deleted . A complete backwards step .
THAT MOTOR ! The engine is simply more of the same 1250 ... much more . It ’ s still very smooth , but now it ’ s even more responsive and even more powerful - with pretty serious punch and top end . From the new 1300cc motor , tractor-like torque levels of 149Nm are reached at 6500rpm and there ’ s 107kW ( 145hp ) on tap at just 7750rpm . To get to the new 1300cc , BMW engineers have upped the bore by 4mm but reduced the stroke by 3mm , which in theory should make it a revvier machine , which looking at the figures does bear out slightly . While peak power is at the same 7750rpm , but with an extra 7kW or 13hp , peak torque is 250rpm higher in the revs , with an extra 6Nm . Compression has been upped from 12.5:1
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