Today's steed - 1250GS Triple Black Edition

[richtea]

Painting it black doesn't make it better. Or faster. But it does cost you £830 extra.




Makes a pug look pretty.



Beauty is definitely in the eye of the bee-holder, not the wallet-holder at £19k.
£19k, I'll just write that again.

Also surprising is how many vibes it chucks out, making the mirrors pretty useless at high speeds. Mind you it's only done 700 miles so maybe it's not loosened up.

The tyres are in the 'interesting' bracket compared to the Road 6s I just put on the K1300S.

In terms of pros, the things I'd love to see on a modern K1300S:
- Dynamic suspension is excellent
- TFT dash is very clear and usable
- jog wheel & USB charger are also welcome

That's about it though.

[TomL]

What about cruise control?

[Matt]

Ah excellent. I'd rather triple any other colour than black.

I'd imagine it'll loosen up a bit, my mirrors were surprisingly stable on my 12k mile example.

Also yes, I think I had those tyres when I got mine. Lot of noise from them and I switched pretty quick to PRn.

Make sure to enjoy the nice 3k rpm torque and those great wide bars.

[black-k1]

I quite like the tripple black but I still don't get the adventure bike "thing" and the BMW boxer is still lacking in basic bhp for me.

In terms of pros, the things I'd love to see on a modern K1300S:
- Dynamic suspension is excellent
- TFT dash is very clear and usable
- jog wheel & USB charger are also welcome

I know a bike that offers at least 2 of those and, as Meatloaf said, "Two out of three ain't bad"!

[TomL]

You're brave not having crash bars fitted.

[Matt]

Yeah you'd think on a demo/courtesy the bars would be on before letting short people like Richard on it!

Anyway, its replacement is getting released either next month or next year or sometime. Unless they've gone complete Audi and made their numbers random, it'll be 1300 with hopefully a nice bump in hp. And a free cup of tea with every purchase.

I had the KTM serviced today and they gave me "free" RAC breakdown. Confidence or mitigation?

[richtea]

What about cruise control?

I tend not to frequent roads that need it. The few times I've done long motorway runs (Scotland) it's not been a problem, but then again I tend to stop every 2 hours or so anyway, to 1) stay awake and 2) bend zee knees.

However, ask me again after the ride down to the Alps.

[richtea]

Make sure to enjoy the nice 3k rpm torque and those great wide bars.

It feels less torquey than a K in some circumstances - I have to drop to 3rd for 30mph limts to get the same feel as a K in 5th.
However, it picks up quick enough for overtakes outside the 30s.

And the great wide bars are disturbing. I can wriggle the front at 70mph, when I'm used to complete stability at speed.

Oh, and when I put the balls of my feet on the pegs for better balance I kick the bloody centre stand tang/thing on the left. So that's a no-no for spirited riding. Grrr.

It's a very capable bike, just not for me. But thanks for letting me try it, Mr BMW.

Off to get the proper bike back now...

[chriscanning]

Always fun reading threads like this,completely leaves out ‘The I’m so superior injection up the arse that all GS owners have clearly all had 😄.

From a practical view point I currently run 6 bikes,my 4 what I class as as my frontline bikes are 1050 SpeedTriple ,S1000XR,KTM1290GT,K1200r Sport,now I could ramble on about each of their strong points cuz non are remotely stock but the one thing for sure ‘I can say look after your K’,BM show all the signs of making us wait a long time for anything remotely like as a replacement.

[Matt]

Make sure to enjoy the nice 3k rpm torque and those great wide bars.

It feels less torquey than a K in some circumstances - I have to drop to 3rd for 30mph limts to get the same feel as a K in 5th.
However, it picks up quick enough for overtakes outside the 30s.

And the great wide bars are disturbing. I can wriggle the front at 70mph, when I'm used to complete stability at speed.

Oh, and when I put the balls of my feet on the pegs for better balance I kick the bloody centre stand tang/thing on the left. So that's a no-no for spirited riding. Grrr.

It's a very capable bike, just not for me. But thanks for letting me try it, Mr BMW.

Off to get the proper bike back now...

Aha I have muscle memory flashbacks to the centre stand thing even today when riding! Although once I got used to it I didn't find it caused any issue. Although I suspect my feet are much smaller than yours.

The wiggling at speed was one of the things I liked, I felt much more confident flinging it about .

Glad you got to try it anyway, variety is the variety of variety, as my nan used to say.

[andym2]

What about cruise control?

I tend not to frequent roads that need it. The few times I've done long motorway runs (Scotland) it's not been a problem, but then again I tend to stop every 2 hours or so anyway, to 1) stay awake and 2) bend zee knees.

However, ask me again after the ride down to the Alps.

I was following someone down the B4368 a few weeks ago. He said he was using cruise control, on a S1000RR. I couldn’t keep up…

[chriscanning]

It’s were this motorcycle lark gets complicated,having done Barcelona/Birmingham in 16 hours and that includes the Dover/Calais ferry crossing my old 955 Tiger with Ohlins and 17” Dymags and will still cover ground as good as anything and it’s stuffed up the back of the garage under a dust sheet,get on either Tiger or 1050 SpeedTriple after riding 1280 GT that has no end of bells and whistles’s they both feel the motor has fallen out of them.

[Phmode]

I think there was a mandatory recall on that triple black colourway cos it didn't make it faster. It makes my K wayyyyy faster and it's only double black...

[richtea]

I was following someone down the B4368 a few weeks ago. He said he was using cruise control, on a S1000RR. I couldn’t keep up…

Yeah, but you and I know he's not normal to be able to do that. In a good way, not a weird way!
I'm sure he would show my K riding up very very easily even if he was on a chugging boxer.

Which reminds me, the best loan bike so far (and probably close to a K1300R) was an S1000R. Now that was fun, and quite a nice seat <--> bar position. So does the S1000RR - it feels v close to a K shape and compactness if you sit on it in the showroom with your feet on the floor. But I can't actually fold my legs up to the pegs without creaking. Gonna have to get a reduction operation so I'm 5'9".

[chriscanning]

I’d be interested to try my XR with a K motor in it,but in all fairness the big plus of my XR I ordered a NON ESA bike and as soon as it turned up fitted a Wilbers shock.