WORDS: Jock McLauchlan
PHOTOS: Geoff Osborne
WANDERLUST
MADE METAL
BMW’s GS models are the quintessential adventure machines.
Jock McLauchlan tried both versions out for size.
I AM A WALRUS, YOU ARE A MOLLUSC
o doubt about it, the BMW's
R1200GS models are big. But the
Adventure version is real big. I
don’t just mean engine capacity
either; physically it’s close to huge with
the frontal area almost that of a small
car. In the true silverback category of
the adventure world only KTM's Super
Adventure 1290 is a realistic challenger
to the BMW behemoth – these are BIG
bikes with massive fuel ranges, serious
power and top shelf everything. So, when
Vege our esteemed publisher and long
time BMW GS owner dropped off the the
R1200GS Adventure and R1200GS test
beasts, the discussion went like this; how
does one genuinely and meaningfully test
BMW’s crème de la crème and founding
father of the adventure bike world?
Well, to start with, posing around town
was out – KR is not here to just look
the part; and so clearly, relaxed Sunday
touring was out too; even a state highway
Auckland to Wellington blast was out.
No, this is a real man's bike with genuine
around the world expectations and
capabilities. So, the test needed to treat it
with the respect and dignity it deserved. A
plan was hatched.
A bunch of similarly-minded adventure
types would tour the far north over three
days via the most abominable, hidden
away, butt f**k nowhere gravel roads
imaginable. The maps came out and we
linked together a rough clockwise circuit
taking gravel roads up the west coast, the
Rawene ferry and on to Pawarenga. Then
across the Island heading north-east to
Mangonui and finally home south, more
or less down the middle to Maungaturoto
and from there, the tarmac trek back in to
Auckland.
Now this all sounds great in theory and,
of course, it was, but I still had some
reservations about the standard fitment
road-oriented tyres and the overall size of
the machine in tough gravel conditions.
After all, it was the end of winter and
we were going to encounter some
boggy forestry roads that are normally
the natural domain of 100kg dirt bikes.
However, I needn’t have worried, she
may be a big girl, but she has a heart of
gold and a miraculous ability to shrink
in size and shed kilos dramatically
once underway. What in fact is a 263kg
machine with a 30-litre fuel tank capacity
could easily pass for a low 200kg bike
such is its balance, light steering feel and
ease of use.
KIWI RIDER 35