BMW’ s, quite literally, all-new R1300GS Adventure has presence like no other adventure machine on the market today. It’ s big and bold in an industrial way, and more than a tad masculine; not only to look at, but to ride as well. It’ ll make you feel like you could conquer any road sitting astride this beast. It’ s not unlike the feeling derived from driving large, heavy machinery – all in front of you is a mere annoyance- you are king of the road. I rode the automatic gearbox version, with two of our other testers trying both the auto and the manual.
AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE? So, the BIG question I feel needs answering is: does a person need an auto? Well, yes, I think they do. Do all riders need an auto? No. While all people are created equal, their desires are not. I liked the auto very much. It is intuitive, it learns the way you are riding and adjusts the electronics to suit. When I first jumped aboard, the gear shifts didn’ t match what I was doing. But as I increased the speed and rode more, the BMW seemed to learn and understand what I was up to and the result was great, the bike
seamlessly working with me. It genuinely is a very impressive system. However, the engine auto-blip feature under brakes is frustrating, in fully auto mode it revs the engine while braking for a turn … pushing the bike into the turn a little faster. Not a huge deal, but slightly unsettling the first few times it happens. Manual shift mode is very similar in use to a quick-shifter, but the down shift is much smoother. Manual mode is awesome, except for at low speed on a downhill, where the bike will freewheel until the speed catches up with the gearing as you downshift. This characteristic reminded me of some farm trikes from back in the day. It would make downhill work with a trailer very interesting. So, while overall the auto gearbox is pretty amazing, I would still like to have a clutch for the freedom to slip the clutch and rev the engine in gear with the clutch in or out, something that 50 years of riding has hard wired into my brain. It’ ll just be a steep learning curve for long-in-the-tooth riders. There are four engine ride modes. Rain, Road, Eco and Enduro are the standard options,
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