BMW R 1300 GS (2024) - Long Term Review

Mileage: 7966 | Economy: 51mpg | Power: 134bhp (measured) | Torque: 104lb-ft (measured) | Weight: 250kg (measured with extras) | Price: £23,770 as tested

Part One - June 2024 

Ninety minutes in, the rain just gets worse and my Pinlock has started to fail. The left side of my visor is fogging, there’s two inches of standing water on the M25 and the spray from the trucks is like being jet washed with greasy cold filth. Splitting the traffic in lanes three and four, I can see cars aquaplaning ahead, gently slithering from side-to side. It’s been a long while since I rode in conditions like this for so many miles.

Somehow, the Big GS plots (or should that be ploughs?) an other-worldly, almost dream-state path like one of those sci-fi action films where exploding cars fly in slow motions over our hero’s head. I feel calm, relaxed and in total control. Apart from the ever-decreasing fog-filled vision I could sit here and enjoy this all day.

Forget the heroic off-road rooster-tail marketing and jumping over muddy bumps, this is why BMW’s Telelever GSs deserve their reputation as best all-round road bike in the world. Because, they are the best all-round road bike in the world and have been since 1999 when the R1150GS gained a sixth gear and 45cc more midrange. 

Back home, drying out, my thoughts gather on whether this is the moment that semi-active suspension comes of age. BMW’s new EVO-ESA system is stunning. I can’t emphasise enough how comfortable and confident I felt and how much feedback I seemed to be getting from a road surface submerged under water for mile after mile. It might not have been the ride we all dream of, but it was certainly my most memorable journey on a bike this year.  

The BikeSocial R1300GS has done around 2000 of its 2500 miles in the last six weeks. I haven’t had chance yet to really play with the settings, and I’m aware that most people reading this will have read dozens of other opinions on it already. Which is why I’ve taken my time, given it some thought to really get to know the bike before warming up my typing finger. 

Here are my first impressions.

R1300GS engine is all new. More compact, more powerful, more speed but not a lot more acceleration

Is the BMW R1300GS engine better than the R1250GS?

The new engine feels more lively, more powerful and more modern (or at least, less old) than the outgoing R1250. Our giant comparison test showed it goes 8mph faster, makes 14bhp more with additional midrange everywhere but doesn’t accelerate significantly quicker. It still has that lovely transition between bottom-end, midrange and top-end that BMW’s ShiftCam does so well. But if power and speed are your criteria for buying an adventure bike there are orange bikes, red bikes and BMW’s own S1000XR that do power, speed and modernity much, much better.

With the prospect of petrol bikes being banned in the next ten years, this might be the last all-new motorcycle engine BMW ever build and if so, they’re  going out with a flourish. It’s a technical masterpiece packed with clever design and when we see it in the R1300RT, R1300RS and R1300R I think we’ll appreciate it more because all those models are sensible, functional choices in a way that the big GS has never been.

The new engine is mechanically very noisy. Those of us that lived our early biking lives with tired, old Honda CB900Fs, CBX550s or CX500s will remember the sound of a grumpy cam chain all too well. The R1300GS appears to have a very happy cam chain but still does a very passable CB900F impression to poke at our irrational nostalgia.

Fitting then that the appeal of the big GS has always been its irrationality. In the days when we rode sports bikes it was the anti-sports bike. In the era of 180bhp adventure bikes it was the 120bhp adventure bike whose friendly charm made the frenzied buzzsaw hooligans look unnecessary.

The whole GS package has always been brilliant in a completely different way to the competition and people who bought them had consciously opted-out of all that regular marketing nonsense that plays to the lowest common denominator of power and speed. GS owners are an odd bunch.

So, by popular measures, the R1300GS is a better engine than the R1250, but is it a better GS? I need more time.

Pillion seat is well padded and plenty of legroom. Only tested for short trips so far but our pillion enjoyed it

Pillion comfort on the BMW R1300GS

Our bike has the pillion pack fitted which has a better padded pillion seat than standard and comfort rear footpegs (whatever they are). My wife rides her own bike and has no desire to go long distances on the back with me, so, I haven’t done a big trip two-up and probably never will. She’s hopped on for a few half-hour blasts including motorways and urban riding that brought favourable comments. Julie doesn’t have pillion experience of a recent 1200/1250GS so can’t compare the new one’s comfort, but her view on the R1300GS pillion provision is as follows.

“It’s easier to get on and off than other big adventure bikes because the seat is lower until the ignition turns on and the footpegs are reasonably low too. This bike doesn’t have luggage so I can’t judge how that might change with luggage fitted. The lack of suspension dive when changing gear and braking reduces helmet bonking and there’s enough room between rider and passenger to feel like you have your own space. The windblast isn’t too bad with the screen fully up, but we only did very short distances at high speed so don’t quote me on that if you’re planning a long trip.”

BikeSocial’s R1250GS-owning John Milbank is planning a proper pillion test on it with his partner later in the year. Watch for updates. For now, all I can add to this discussion is that this rider found the adaptive ride height function very useful at a standstill while your passenger gets on and off.

BMW R1300GS pillion review

Helen and John test the 1300's touring abilities...

19 litre fuel tank is good for 180 miles of loopy backroads or 250 when cruising on the motorway

BMW R1300GS fuel consumption and tank range

My overall average for the 2000 or so miles I’ve ridden has been 52mpg but there’s a story behind that number. 

Most bikes take a few hundred miles to bed-in. Fuel consumption for the first 500 miles can be lower than you’d expect and, in my experience running long term test bikes from zero-miles for the last 30 years, I usually wait till around 1000 miles before viewing fuel consumption figures as representative.

Road tests I read on the R1300GS quoted late-40s mpg which seemed very low to me. Road testing isn’t like normal riding. There’s a lot of stop and start for photos and video, a leaning towards fast, twisty back roads using more throttle and gear changes and usually not much motorway or urban riding.

Getting back on a BMW boxer when you haven’t ridden one for a while is a mixture of pleasure and frustration. The R1300GS, took longer than most to enjoy. I found it clumsy, cumbersome and awkward to ride for the first couple of hundred miles. The engine was too revvy, the riding position too sporty, the gearbox was stiff, the quickshifter inconsistent and it used to much fuel for the speeds I was riding.

And then…

And then…

It started to make sense. I remembered how to change gear on a shaft-driven flat-twin. I remembered to use the torque as much as the revs and as I did this the fuel consumption went from 40-something to 50-something. It took about 300 miles before I switched from yelling ‘Why-won’t-you-do-what-I-want?’ at it, to looking forward to any excuse to be there instead of here. And now, I’m enjoying every ride and looking forward to a summer with the most radical re-invention of the GS since 2004. This new version isn’t just an update, but an all-new motorcycle that just happens to look a bit like the old one.

Now, with 2500 miles on the clock I’m getting somewhere around 45mpg on the back roads and into the high-50s mpg on the motorway. If I mostly keep below 80mph on the motorways that figure can go as high as 61mpg over a 150-mile ride while averaging 67mph for the whole trip.

Radar sensor is a styling challenge whether you pay for the optional Rider assistant or not. We think the cruise is brilliant, not so sure about the sensor

Is the radar cruise control worth having on the BMW R1300GS?

The TE spec bike like ours comes with regular cruise control as standard. BMW’s Rider Assistant radar cruise costs £760 extra. It’s a very slick system that gradually decelerates the bike if you come up behind a car in your lane going slower than your set speed. Once that car in front moves over, speeds up or you move out to overtake it, the bike speeds up again quickly. The system feels odd at first, but once you’re tuned in it makes long stretches of average speed camera roads more relaxing than regular cruise control. On long journeys it allows the rider to relax and rest your throttle hand without the on/off/on/off behaviour that regular cruise brings.

The rear radar also illuminates an amber light in the bike’s mirrors when a car is in your blind spot on either side. The system works really well, almost to the point that it worries me that I’ll become reliant on it. Whether those features are worth £760 is your choice. Of all the options available it’s certainly one of the more useful (and most-used so far).

The differences between the new and old GS look tiny but on the road the R1300GS feels like it has a lot less legroom.

How does the adaptive seat height work on the BMW R1300GS?

Climb aboard and the R1300GS feels lower, less wide and easier to manage than other big adventure bikes. With the ignition on the ride height rises 10mm and then another 15mm when speeds reach 55mph. As you slow down it lowers again. It’s a slick system that you don’t notice in operation. At a standstill the GS feels like a manageable bike giving confidence to waddle around a gravel car park. Once moving, you only realise how far off the ground you are when cramp sets in and you dangle your feet to find a few inches between toes and tarmac.

The handlebars feel in a similar position to the previous bike, but footpegs feel higher and further back, which gives the new GS a stance more like BMW’s sports/adventure XR crossovers.

On the picture above the changes look tiny, but on the move the R1300GS feels very different. The new riding position gives plenty of control and ability to move about more on the bike in corners. That’s really useful on twisty roads but the trade-off is that long motorway journeys are harder on your knees. On the R1250GS raising the seat increases the gap between seat and footpegs, giving a little more legroom. On the R1300GS the gap stays the same as the bike rises up on its suspension.

Like the radar cruise control, adaptive seat height seems pricey at £490 when all the hardware is already in place (you need the ESA suspension) but it makes a huge difference in rider and pillion confidence.

All-new chassis, all new suspension and the re-assurance of a steering damper just in case…

What riding modes are on the R1300GS?

Road, rain, Eco and Enduro on the standard bike are boosted by Dynamic, Dynamic Pro and a whole load of clever off-road modes on the TE-spec. You’ll spend much of the first few weeks playing with the riding modes, suspension settings and configuring the many options on the TFT display.

I’ve settled mostly on Dynamic-Pro mode because that’s the one with the sharpest, most direct response and greatest feedback. Even in horrendous riding conditions like the trip described at the top of this article the R1300GS felt easy to control, responsive but predictable and consistent too.

As much as I wish for a mode named ‘Lethargic Idiot’ to suit my abilities, I know that I wouldn’t use it. And even for a fool like me all the other road modes (I haven’t tried the off-road yet) are like riding a bike that has a chest infection. They feel woolly, soggy and unresponsive in comparison, like that used Honda Varadero you bought a few years back thinking it was a cheap adventure tourer.

How does BMW’s Evo ESA work on the R1300GS?

BMW’s electronically adjusted suspension celebrates its 20th birthday by getting even smarter. The new system adds variable spring-rate adjustment to the previous system’s damping adjustments. In reality it’s something that is hard to review because for 99 per cent of the ride you don’t notice the suspension at all. It gets on with the job of helping the tyres stick to the road and manages weight transfer on the way into and out of corners. The bike feels confident in every situation and that’s it. Suspension? What suspension?

The illusion is dented when you hit the three enormous bumps on the M25 clockwise by J17 after 50 miles of relatively smooth motorway (regular M25ers will know them well) which reminds you that the semi-active system is predictive, based on recent data and not quite foolproof.

Handling is also helped by the new chassis. For the last 30 years BMW’s GS has effectively had no chassis. The front suspension and rear swing-arm bolted to the engine with a little additional engineering to connect the hardware. It’s the reason no one else has copied Telelever because you need something tall and flat, like a Boxer engine to attach the front wishbones too. You can’t do it on an across-the-frame engine.

The R1300GS has something resembling a proper frame at the back and a triangulated trellis at the front. It also has a shorter wheelbase and less weight than the old 1250 model. The compact new engine allows the R1300GS a longer swing-arm for more stability. It also has a slightly more relaxed steering head angle and a little more trail than the outgoing R1250GS, all of which adds up to a much more stable chassis that still steers relatively quickly because that’s what Telelever allows (Telelever suspension doesn’t dive under braking so the wheelbase remains constant when you brake) ‘Quickly’ is a relative term here given that the wheelbase is already four inches longer than a sports bike.

Definitely a great bike, definitely an improvement on the R1250GS in measurable terms. But is it a better GS for long term GS lovers?

2024 BMW R 1300 GS Long Term Review - Interim Verdict

The new bike has swapped some of the old GSs character for clinical performance and even more usable technology. Part of the appeal of all the GSs I’ve tested or owned in the last 28 years was how a bike so big and clumsy-looking somehow managed to get you through anything with an animated puppy-dog character of ‘a-bike-that-shouldn’t-handle-this-well-but-somehow-goes-the-extra-mile-because-it-loves-you’. The R1300GS still handles every situation with a clinical competence, but now it's because of the design and that’s a big change. The goofiness has gone.

And that’s it so far. Part one of a long term test that I imagine is going to be enjoyable, functional and a reminder that it might be time to buy another GS. I am really looking forward to bonding with this bike and mostly, it’s all going well. But 30 years of GS genius brings very high expectations. I remember being absolutely blown away with the 2013 liquid-cooled R1200GS when they launched it and this one hasn’t had that effect. Yet. But I suspect it might.

If you’d like to chat about this article or anything else biking related, join us and thousands of other riders at the Bennetts BikeSocial Facebook page.

New frame, longer shaft drive, same old British weather. The new R1300GS chassis and suspension is superb when it rains

Part Two - August 2024

BMW’s R1300GS is the most important new bike of 2024. The best-selling machine across many countries has not just been updated but re-engineered from the ground-up. Forthcoming legislation banning the sale of new petrol engines from 2035 mean that this all-new engine and gearbox is very possibly the last all-new motorcycle engine that BMW will build. If Mad Max was a prophecy and not a movie, this is the bike we might all be charging around on in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

But not until BMW have fixed the teething troubles…

Since we last reported on it, BikeSocial’s R1300GS has ridden another 1700 miles. It would have been more if it hadn’t spent two weeks being repaired.

Screen adjusts for angle as well as height making more from less plastic. Optional wind deflectors are very effective

BMW R1300GS TE long distance comfort

I mentioned in part one about the seat-to-footpeg relationship and how it is slightly more cramped than previous GSs because the footrests are positioned a little higher and further back. Also, the adaptive ride height lifts the whole bike and there is no ability to just raise the seat like on older models. So long-legged riders who previously would have put the seat on its higher setting and gained a little legroom can no longer do this.

BMW lent me an R1250GS Adventure while the 1300 was being repaired and the difference in knee-comfort over long distances was noticeable. The flip-side of that was that the GSA’s increased seat height was a wobbly reminder of just how useful the new bike’s adaptive seat height is in day-to-day use. And with the extra 10 litres of fuel, the 1250 Adventure felt much clumsier filtering through slow traffic.

The other interesting thing about comparing the two bikes was how much better the screen and wind deflectors are on the R1300GS. In its highest setting the new bike’s more upright (but physically smaller) screen almost allows motorway riding with my visor up. On the R1250 where the screen is wider but at a shallower angle, I struggled to find any position noticeably more useful than any of the others. It’s ok, but never quite right.

Unplanned comparison with an R1250GS Adventure proved really interesting this month

BMW R1300GS TE riding impressions, mpg and running costs

I mentioned in the last report how it takes a while to get back into the groove of a big-GS. 4000 miles-in we’ve become a very slick partnership. The new bike really is a big improvement in all areas. It’s not about individual parts being massively improved, but more like the sum total of all those little improvements that makes the new bike feel sharper, more modern, how do I put this… just better.

Riding the R1250GSA was an interesting experience. The last thing anyone needs is another R1300/R1250 comparison so all I’ll add to the millions of amps being used to store internet articles on this subject is that the R1250 – shift cam and all – does still tip-its-hat to every other GS before it. It has that indefinable something deep in the crankcases that’s made every GS since 1994 feel like a GS.

The new bike has many qualities, but it doesn’t have ‘that GS feeling’. It’s more like the best bits of a Honda and KTM combined. That’s not a criticism, it’s the thought that pops into the head of someone who has ridden pretty-much every variant of GS since 1994 and owned five of them. If that lack-of-GS feeling bothers you, make sure you get a good test ride before putting down your cash. But also, open your mind too because this is a bloody great bike to ride.

Tank range and average speed over distance have both increased with familiarity, which is a neat trick if you can pull it off. I’m averaging low-mid-50s mpg, 230 miles to a tank and getting from here to there in the kinds of times that only bikes that give you real confidence can manage. 

I also owe the BMW riding-mode design team an apology. In the last update I was a bit rude about some of the settings, but as I’ve settled into the bike and started to use it for different things on some of the smaller, busier roads where I live, I’ve also found myself using Road mode a lot more and enjoying it. That’s the benefit of a long-term test, I guess.

What hasn’t got better is the BMW gear-shift-assist (quick-shifter to you-and-me) which continues be a hit-and-miss shifter. When it works, the shift is everything a quick-shifter should be. But often it isn’t, and I’ve mostly gone back to just using the clutch.

Other running costs seem to be reasonable. The Michelin Anakee tyres have plenty of tread remaining at 4188 miles and are still a couple of mm from the wear bars. The rear might be just starting to square-off but not so badly it affects the handling.

I’ve seen several posts online about the new bike costing a lot more to insure than the old R1250. So, I asked my colleagues on the insurance side at Bennetts if they’d heard this. They reminded me that the cost of bike insurance (and car and home insurance too) has risen a lot in the last 12 months for all kinds of reasons that don’t usually all come at once, but this year has seen a perfect storm in the insurance industry causing pricing upheaval.

So, if you’re comparing a quote for a new R1300GS with the amount you paid for your R1250GS last year, then yes, the premium could be significantly higher, but it would (will) most likely be much higher for your 1250 this year anyway.

On average the premium coming back from the insurers right now is around six percent higher for the R1300GS than the R1250GS because the 1300 is a newer bike with a higher value and, even ten months after launch not every underwriter has the R1300 on its system.

Lots of chatter on social media about owners seeing these and many other messages. Software updates fix many of them (The R1300GS is on it’s fourth update so far). Our bike had a faulty sensor in the front suspension

BMW R1300GS TE warning messages and electronic issues

I’d seen reports from other owners on Facebook groups about warning messages and the potential causes. One of the more common is about suspension faults. Damping not adjusting, adaptive ride height not adjusting and load stabilisation not working. Some owners report it happening after riding in hot weather, but we didn’t have a lot of that in the UK until recently. When we did, I was riding home on the M11 in 29 degrees C, sweating with all the liners in my riding kit (because it was cold when I left home at 5.30am). After an hour I stopped for an ice cream, a drink and to strip out the liners leaving the hot bike to percolate in the car park for half an hour. Five minutes after getting under way again the dash lit up in a matter-of-fact, Germanic manner.

‘Damping adjustment failed.

‘Limited onward journey possible’

‘Drive carefully to the nearest specialist workshop’

I don’t know what constitutes a ‘limited onward journey’ but with 94 miles remaining, England in a semi-final that evening and no desire to be stranded on the hard shoulder in 30-degrees and full riding kit I had two choices.

1. Carry on, see what happens and hope

2. There was no choice 2. BMW dealers were all closed, the bike was still running, the suspension hadn’t collapsed, and nothing felt dangerous. Let’s ride sensibly and see what happens.

93 minutes later I’m home safely. I switch off the bike, watch the footie and the following morning switch it back on again. No warning messages. So, I ride around the block. No warnings. Ride a lap of my 24-mile test route – still no warnings. Take my wife on the back for another lap of the test route with the added load of a pillion – all fine.

Maybe it had just overheated. But… it wasn’t that hot – this is a bike designed for epic world adventures. Peterborough to Harlow should be achievable in late June.

I called BMW who booked the bike into their press workshop – handy as it turned out because it was due a software update, which the technicians hoped would fix it.

On the way to BMW in  cool, early-morning conditions, the dash lit up again. Same message but also a warning about the adaptive height device not working and load stabilisation failure too.

Again, the bike was riding ok, so I carried on, left it with BMW who called a couple of hours later to say it was sorted. The latest software was installed, they’d looked over the suspension, couldn’t see any issues and had test ridden the bike for 25 miles with no problems.

Seven miles after collecting it, the dash lit up again. Same problems. So, I took it back, rode home on the borrowed R1250GSA and waited for the call.

Initially they thought it was the hydraulic suspension pump but the actual cause was a wonky ESA sensor on the front suspension (which is new on the R1300GS, on the R1250 it’s on the rear shock).

The bike has been fine since, but there are plenty of owners posting on the FB groups with this and other warning messages.

Before getting too carried away we should take some perspective. BMW has already sold thousands of R1300GSs across Europe and even if the FB groups are highlighting just 10% of the actual number with problems, it’s still a very small percentage of all the bikes out there. BMW know a thing or two about making bikes and sophisticated electronics too. There are clearly some teething troubles with the new bike, but there are also plenty of owners racking up big miles without issues.

You might have to wait for your perfect spec R1300GS but if you want a bike right now, there is stock out there. And discounts too…

BMW R1300GS availability

How long is the waiting list for a new R1300GS? It depends on the spec you want. I’d heard stories of long waits and difficulties getting hold of bikes but as I write this in early August BikeTrader’s website shows 50 brand new R1300GSs available, in stock at BMW dealers around the country. Some of them are even being discounted.

Most of them are the higher-spec TE models with the ESA suspension and all the riding modes. Some have additional features like the adaptive height or the radar rider assistant too. There are also around 25 ex-demonstrators in dealers, which are also mostly TE-spec but priced around £4k below a brand new bike.

The round plastic cover hides the power connection for pannier central locking. Teething troubles with the system means pannier delivery won’t be till 2025.

2024 BMW R1300GS luggage

BMW’s new Vario luggage system promises a new era in hard luggage. Electronic central locking linked to the rest of the bike, the ability to charge your devices in the luggage on the move and internal lighting too to make packing and unpacking in a dark hotel car park (or the middle of Africa) easier.

None of the bikes for sale (at the time of writing in early August 2024) have this latest BMW luggage fitted. There were some issues with top boxes and pannier locking systems earlier in the year prompting either a recall of existing units or delays to outstanding orders.

BMW tells us that the top boxes are now available, but panniers will probably be delivered in early 2025. Customers have been offered goodwill gestures.

Looking on the forums and Facebook groups customers are disappointed, but largely accepting and there’s no shortage of conventional aftermarket luggage systems already available. BikeSocial is hoping to get one of the new top boxes to review on our test bike shortly.

The more I look at it, the more I like the styling. Only the radar unit above the headlight looks out of place.

2024 BMW R1300GS TE summary

I’ve reached the point where the R1300GS feels like my bike. I refer to it as my bike and I have those occasional moments in the garage where I just stand and stare at it, taking in the shape and the detail like it is my bike.

It’s hard to quantify what makes the difference but it’s about familiarity. When I ride it the GS does what I want it to do without thinking. I know how much pressure to put on the bars to make it steer, understand how it balances in slow-speed traffic and how clutch and throttle hands work together to make difficult journeys feel seamless.

Some of this waffling might seem like detail, but it’s important because these are the moments when I see myself buying one. This month, for about 20 minutes I almost did.

When looking online for availability of stock I found myself lingering over the pics of a smart ex-demonstrator in a dealer not too far away in the right spec for me, with a couple of thousand miles on the clock for just under £16k. I got as far as calculating the finance on it before remembering that I have one…on test…in the garage… till the end of the year. I had exactly the same experience the last time I had a GS on long-term test. They get you like that.

I love the styling, especially the side-on view of the standard bike with the shorter screen. There’s an aggression and purpose to it that lessens as you pile more stuff on the bike like a two-wheeled game of Buck-a-Roo. The new engine is a step forward and with the adaptive ride height it feels much more manageable than other big adventure bikes.

The electronic issues are a nuisance, but they will get fixed, and BMW dealers are good at looking after customers with warranty work and updates. Equally the luggage issue is annoying but mostly for the dealers and their margins because their customers are buying  aftermarket kit instead.

I still haven’t done that big trip I promised myself last month because I didn’t have the bike for half of July. But that’s on the list as soon as the top box arrives.

Adaptive ride height makes this the most accessible GS for years.

Part Three - A 1300-mile tour of Scotland

Updated October 2024

250kg, wet roads, shaft drive. The template for no great sports touring holiday ever and yet, somehow, the R1300GS makes it brilliant.

2024 BMW R1300GS - Touring Comfort and Riding Position

BikeSocial’s Partnership Manager Andy Shewbridge puts the ‘long’ into long weekend riding  our long-term test GS from Harpenden to the Highlands and back in four days

BMW say that ‘the ergonomic triangle of the new R 1300 GS has been optimised for a sporty, relaxed riding position’. I say they’ve done a cracking job. 1,300 miles in four days was a good test of that. The seat, although narrow is comfy and allows plenty of room to move on the bike.  No sign of a ‘numb bum’, despite being in the saddle for 8 hours plus each day.  That said, I’m 6ft 2ins tall and I did find the leg position a tad cramped on long motorway stints where you sit still. The adaptive ride height lifts the whole bike with no ability to raise the seat independently of the footrests to gain more leg room.  Something for taller riders to be aware of.

The new electrically adjusted screen and wind deflectors offer excellent protection from the elements, especially with the screen in its highest position. The wind protection is noticeably better than my own BMW S1000XR.

The weather was awful on our way up to Gretna Green. Strong winds, heavy rain, and a lot of surface water, with poor visibility due to the spray from trucks. On the GS everything felt safe, manageable, stable and protective. Plus, the heated grips, seat, adaptive cruise control and blind spot detection system made for a comfortable journey despite the wild conditions. My one criticism is that the switch gear is not backlit, which makes it difficult to navigate so many controls in the dark.

2024 BMW R1300GS - Engine and Gearbox on twisty roads

The engine and gearbox on the GS are seriously impressive.  The new 1254cc boxer engine has a shorter stroke and wider bores than its predecessor making it compact and very responsive. The engine feels sporty, perky and more importantly, there’s extra grunt across the entire engine speed range.  The result is bags of torque and effortless performance. It’s responsive and flexible on twisty roads. Progress needs just a tickle of the throttle and acceleration is smooth and predictable without any noticeable lag.  The engine’s character makes it easy to predict, giving confidence in tighter corners and the mid-range power means fewer gear changes and smoother riding. That said, if you feel the need to ‘gas it’ there’s plenty of power too. It’s deceptively quick when you want it to be.

The gear box is not as slick as some out there, but with the shift assist pro it still provided precise gear changes... most of the time.

Latest generation Telelever and ESA semi-active suspension is superb. Lean-sensitive ABS is a game changer

2024 BMW R1300GS - Suspension and Brakes on twisty roads

This is where the GS excels, the suspension and brakes are outrageously good, making it a joy to ride on twisty roads. The new frame and 12kg weight saving on the previous model make it agile, lively and very manageable. The Dynamic ESA (Electronic Suspension Adjustment) soaks up the bumps and holds its line superbly. It makes riding effortless and so much fun.  In fact, the handling is that good, it feels more like a sport tourer than an adventure bike.

The brakes deliver strong, reliable stopping power and the cornering ABS is a game changer on twisty roads, particularly in damp or wet conditions.  It’s the first time I’ve used this system on damp, twisty, bumpy roads and it provides an extra layer of safety while you’re enjoying those bends.

The advanced suspension with responsive braking creates an epic riding experience. You can push on through twists and turns, with the confidence that both the handling and stopping capabilities will rise to the occasion. Our route took us on some of the most technical and challenging roads you’ll find anywhere, and the GS handled everything in its stride. Regardless of varying road conditions, the bike always felt planted and fully in control.

Scotland. Never disappoints.

2024 BMW R1300GS - Technology and Navigation

The new GS is loaded with advanced technology that enhances both safety and your riding experience. Here are just a few of the features that our long termer boasts; a 6.5” full-colour TFT display, four riding modes, Evo suspension, up & down quick-shifter, LED headlight, keyless ride, hill start control, heated seat, heated grips, electric windscreen, adaptive cruise control, front collision warning, blind spot detection, adaptive vehicle height control, ABS Pro, traction control, tyre pressure control, the list goes on…

As you can imagine, with this amount of tech the bike is very versatile.  I won’t bore you by going into detail on all, instead I’ll highlight a few of my favourite features. 

Adaptive cruise control – Superb, I love it. Makes motorway riding so much easier on long journeys.  It was a god send when heading home on the motorway on the final leg of the trip.  It is one of those things you don’t know you need until you’ve used it.

Adaptive ride height control – At 6 ft 2” tall I didn’t feel the need for the adaptive ride height system, where the bike seat height drops by 15mm when you come to a standstill. However, the system is so seamless that you don’t notice it working when riding. It’s a real advantage to be able to have both feet flat on the ground, particularly on the wet, gravelly, sloping car parks in Scotland.

Hill start control - I wasn’t a fan at first, however, once I’d got used to using the system it was really useful. It’s great if you stop unexpectedly on a steep hill.  Once activated, the system will prevent the bike from rolling backwards, giving you time to compose yourself and move on safely.

Heated grips & heated seat – In my opinion a must for this sort of touring in chilly and at points, cold conditions.  Keeping warm and comfortable makes the whole experience so much more enjoyable.

Navigation – the bike is equipped with the latest BMW Motorrad Connected Ride Navigator. The 5.5” touch screen is clear and easy to read in all conditions thanks to its anti-glare screen. The most impressive thing about the new unit is the intuitive and user friendly integration with the BMW Motorrad Connected app.  You can easily plan routes and customise your journey and send GPX files directly to your Sat Nav from the app. As you’d expect the new unit also integrates with your smartphone allowing you to access calls, messages and music. 

I did have a few issues with the unit where I was forced to download maps on more than one occasion. This may have been because our sat nav unit didn’t have a sim card - I’m not 100% sure. I’d want to do some homework before buying.  If a sim card is required to run the sat nav properly, that additional cost needs to be considered.

R1300GS is smaller, lighter and carries less stuff in the world’s most technically advanced top-box.

2024 BMW R1300GS - Top Box

The new Vario top box looks great in its brushed aluminium finish. It also has some cool features; soft closure lid, central locking linked to the bike, a USB charge point allowing you to charge on the move and an internal light to help when packing and unpacking in the dark. 

The box can expand from the 28l standard capacity to 36l. However, despite its slick looks and cool features, it is small and narrow making it a challenge to pack anything more than a few essentials. It was definitely not big enough to accommodate my kit for a 4-day tour, even when consciously trying to travel light.  In fairness having the accompanying panniers would have provided ample space for the trip, but they are still unavailable (late September 2024). BMW expect them to be available in early 2025.

With that being the case, I implemented plan B and strapped my Oxford AQUA T50 all-weather roll bag to the pillion seat, providing an additional 50l of space.  It’s not ideal due to the faff of strapping and unstrapping the bag at the start and end of each day, but it resolved the issue.

Ridden carefully you’ll get 230 miles from the 19-litre tank. Ridden like Scotland demands you can still get 200 miles.

2024 BMW R1300GS economy, fuel range and verdict on twisty roads

In total the journey time (ride time) of the tour was 34h45m, covering 1,293 miles. That’s averaging over 8 hours on the bike each day.  That sounds like a huge amount, but it didn’t feel like it on the GS. The average fuel consumption for the tour was 49.5 mpg, pretty good, considering a lot of the time was spent riding enthusiastically on challenging and fun roads. 

I also found the GS to be very economical on the motorway.  On the way home I filled up with fuel at Moto Lancaster services on the M6.  It was 216 miles from home in Hertfordshire and I fully expected another stop would be required to reach my destination.  However, cruising at normal motorway speeds, I made it back with 14 miles range left in the tank. That’s an impressive 230 miles range on a 19-litre tank, by my calculations, the fuel economy was 55.03 MPG for that final segment of the journey.

On this tour we enjoyed some of the best roads Scotland has to offer, and I genuinely loved every minute.  I have to say, I wouldn’t have wanted to do it on any other bike.  The new GS is extraordinary. The engine and handling are superb and the new technology (now the initial teething troubles seem to be sorted) makes it a fantastic package. It was the perfect bike for this tour. If I could afford it, I’d be heading down to my local BMW Motorrad dealer and placing my order. Sadly, the price is a bit beyond me right now, but it has made me look at swapping my S1000XR for an R1200/R1250GS – that’s how much I enjoyed it.

Part Four - The Final Chapter

Updated December 2024

The styling grows on you – this is a good looking bike

BMW collision warning system - pros and cons

I didn’t see the point of motorcycle cruise control for years. Average speed cameras changed all that. Now I see cruise as a licence saver for impatient, distracted fools…like me.

The first radar cruise I used on BMW’s 2021 R1250RT was really well-executed. The bike slows approaching a slower vehicle and accelerates back up to speed sharply enough when either the car moves over or I move out to overtake it.

The latest system on the R1300GS is called BMW Riding Assistant and has rear-facing radar and collision warning too. The rear radar links to amber lights in the mirrors to warn of vehicles in your blind spots. The front-collision-warning system intervenes to, as BMW describes it, ‘support the braking process’.

The mirror warning lights are superb on a busy motorway or twisty roads when you get a now-or-never (yes, I know…) opportunity for a ‘precision’ overtake and might not have time for a lifesaver (yes, I know that too).

But… and my English teacher told me never to start a sentence with ‘but’, however, this is an exception. I do have issues with the front-collision warning system because, while I’m sure it has its uses, it also has an occasional habit of interfering when filtering just at the moment I need a burst of acceleration.

That enormous slab of plastic above the headlight is the radar sensor. It works great for cruise control, less so for the collision warning system

Mostly it’s fine. Sliding out of the middle lane to slink between vehicles in lane two and three is like any other bike. But just occasionally, if I pull out at a slightly sharper angle, the radar detects a vehicle in the way and gives what’s described as a ‘haptic pulse’ through the brakes via the ABS pump. Ordinarily, in open traffic approaching a hazard, this would be fine, but in close proximity to trucks and vans with a split-second to accelerate between them, a pulse of braking (or at least, ‘not-accelerating’ is the last thing you need for two reasons.

Firstly, it distracts me right at the point when I’m threading 250kg of bulky motorcycle through a gap that’s only just big enough. Secondly, for a fraction of a second, I think ‘something’s broken, why am I not accelerating?’ BMW claim that it doesn’t slow the bike down at all and that might be true, but it feels like something briefly shut the throttle and re-opened it and that’s enough to unsettle the bike and the rider.

It's happened to me seven times this summer. Considering the amount of time I spend filtering (my regular commute involves 300 miles of mostly-gridlocked motorway) that could be seen as a system that is almost infallible. But (sorry to English teachers all over the world…again) when it does happen it’s really unsettling and it’s hard to predict exactly when it will trigger. Six out of those seven times were un-nerving but otherwise ok. On one occasion when I was hot, bothered, tired and had been filtering continually for 33 miles of M25 rush hour horror, it caught me off guard and the bike dropped momentarily to the left, taking the wing mirror off (ironically) an enormous BMW X5 adventure car.

It was my fault – I was riding badly - tired and over-confident from 33 miles of getting away with it. But it wouldn’t have happened on last year’s bike without FCW.

Sometimes technology is brilliant and for some people, FCW will be the reason they are glad they paid extra for Riding Assistant. But for me, it adds nothing. The thing is though, that I’d still probably opt for the Riding assistant on my lottery-winning-spec R1300GS because the blind-spot warning in the mirrors is (once you get to trust it) a genuine boost to motorcycle safety when you are riding like an idiot who should know better.

Metzeler Roadtec 01 tyres were superb at full lean in late summer, brilliant in the wet in autumn and proud of their motorway chicken strips in winter.

BMW R1300GS TE long term test verdict

And that’s it. The last significant observation of my (our) time with the R1300GS on long term test. Such tests are worth doing on bikes like this because when a bike is as genuinely a good an all-rounder as this is then you need to give it chance to shine (and squirm) at every discipline.

Overall, the GS has shone. The undoubted highs were its ability to carve through traffic, horrendous weather, any chunk of rural countryside you threw it at, whatever the state of the roads or amount of traffic. It did all of this with composure, confidence and charm too thanks to an easy, flexible engine, electronically-controlled suspension that finally lives up to the hype and clever technology that makes riding easier without taking away any of the satisfaction and enjoyment.

Every journey was memorable. Even those that weren’t a pleasure were safe, composed and trusted. Running costs were reasonable for a 250kg, 140bhp torquey twin. 51mpg average over 7966 miles. The OE Michelins lasted 4500 miles and still had plenty of tread left when they were too square to enjoy. The replacement Metzeler Roadtec 01s were superb road-only tyres – no pretence at off-road, the clue’s in the name. They gripped…hard, wet or dry and suited the GS steering geometry when chasing lost youth down a twisty road.

They were starting to square off a little after 3000 miles, which was a little surprising, but they had done a lot of high-speed motorway miles as Autumn turned into winter.

The lows were a few too many workshop visits in the summer to fix the gremlins, the inability to control any of that tech in the dark because you can’t see the switches and the apprehension of filtering from a collision warning system not fully developed for motorcycles yet.

Would I buy one? Yes, absolutely. But it would be a fairly basic version bought on the understanding that this was my main transport to be used all-year round, doing high mileages and hang the depreciation. That’s fine because the pleasure of doing routine humdrum journeys on a bike like this justifies the costs compared to a car, public transport or many other less suitable motorcycles. A GS as everyday transport is good for the soul. I knew this from my previous experiences and the R1300GS is the latest in a talented line of accomplished all-rounders.

Too gushing? Sorry, but before you comment, answer this simple question. Have you ridden one for 7966 miles?

£554 top box leaks when it rains

If it were my bike, I’d definitely choose the ESA suspension, heated seat and grips (a given), adaptive seat height and Riding Assistant. I’d fit aftermarket luggage because the top box we tested was very small even fully extended and leaked badly when it rained. I’d also save money by sticking with the alloy wheels and staying away from the cosmetic Option 719 bits and pieces. Gearshift-pro can stay off the option list too until BMW find a way of making the benefits consistent. When Gearshift-Pro works I really like it, but that’s not all the time and that’s not good enough in 2024.

Let’s finish on a high though. BMW took a gamble by moving the R1300GS away from hardcore adventure territory and closer to being a sports tourer. We know now that they had the more focused R1300GS Adventure waiting in the wings with a bigger distinction between the two bikes than previously.

I think they succeeded with that standard bike. The styling has grown on me, the performance is still accessible and useable and the R1300GS still has that confidence and dependability even if it’s lost the puppy-dog playfulness.

I guess we all have to grow up sometime.

Lots to control and a reasonably simple system to control it…until it gets dark and you can’t see any of it. Backlit switchgear should be standard on any bike designed to cross time zones

2024 BMW R1300GS - Accessories

• Option 719 Tramuntana package - £2,820

• Adaptive ride height control £490

• Seat heating £150

• Radar cruise control (BMW riding assistance) £760

• Top case carrier £235

• Vario Top Box - £554

2024 BMW R1300GS TE  - Technical Specification