with the Riding Modes Pro Package adding Dynamic, Dynamic Pro and Enduro Pro. Dynamic Pro and Enduro Pro are customisable to suit the rider. The Riding Mode button can be configured to quickly scroll through up to four modes. You could have, say, Dynamic, Dynamic Pro, Enduro Pro and Rain. Or it could be kept simple with just Road and Eco. All up to you. The traction control is very well calibrated for gravel and road use – the best I have used. It gives excellent drive without being too invasive and with the TC off it would take a very experienced hand to outperform it on gravel. Unless you want to slide. Being able to disable TC completely on an Adventure bike for real offroad work is vital and I found no way to do this. I imagine it is possible through a menu I didn’ t manage to find. To my mind, an Adventure bike must be able to spin the rear wheel for dirt riding and cornering safety.
ERGONOMICS AND RIDE The chassis is a big step-up from the 1250. The forks, and whole front end in general, are bigger and stronger, the steering feels more planted and accurate and makes for plusher riding, not that the 1250 was bad in any way. The shock action from both ends is more plush too, resulting in a much more comfortable ride on poor surfaces while still retaining good bottoming resistance. Dynamic Suspension Adjustment( DSA) is a step up from the previous Dynamic ESA, now offering spring rate / stiffness adjustment as well as damping. This allows for better ridingstyle adjustment and allows the bike to apply true
load-compensation. The reach to the bars and their height is similar to that of the R1250GS Rallye I had, and the foot peg placement feels about the same too. The standing position, however, is a bit of a step backwards because of the plastic frameguards below knee height which bow my legs out and compromise gripping the bike while standing. A forwards step is the adaptive ride height which can lower the bike by 30mm at a standstill and when riding slowly. Braking, as ever, on the GS is a strong point with a light feel and excellent performance. The linked system works very well, so most of the time only the front brake lever is required for stopping. This is particularly nice on gravel. Alternately, you can use the rear brake and it actuates the front. Having switchable rear ABS is the best option to operate properly off-road( which can be done in the ABS Pro settings). This should be easy to select, preferably onthe-fly, which you could do on the older bikes with the dedicated‘ ABS’ button on the bars. Did Euro laws kill this great feature? Possibly.
54 KIWI RIDER