BMW R 1300 GS tour and track review: Is this ADV just for the dirt and road or can it hold its own at a race track

It was 6 AM, the sun was just about peeking over the horizon, there was a nip in the air and since I was in my own little bubble, the stereo (read helmet intercom) was blasting some filthy Gojira riffage. There I was, astride a Goliath of a machine – the BMW R 1300 GS – with a 3000km road trip ahead of me. Called for under the pretence of a ‘road test’, I was riding the icon of adventure motorcycling from our base in Pune to Coimbatore and then taking the long way back via Chennai to ‘evaluate’ the touring capabilities of this machine. But this is evo India and we’re all about the Thrill of Riding. And so, to make things interesting, I decided to sneak in a track day. Buckle up as I discovered what the GS is best suited for – Indian highways, dirt tracks or whether it likes to salsa round a racetrack. Touring is not my forte, neither is it something that ranks high on my list of desirable activities to do with a motorcycle. It’s something I’ve done on occasion in the past and more often than not, for the sole purpose of transporting a vehicle from point A to B. Over the years with all the different machines I’ve been privileged to ride, some much more than others, certainly feel a lot more adept at handling long distances. The BMW GS ranks very, very high on that list. I’ve been lucky enough to spend quality time with the previous iteration – the R 1250 GS and know very well what that’s like. Armed with perspective and a list of things to look out for, the journey began with some trepidation and a lot of excitement because a bike such as this is the last thing you think of when the conversation is about a track day. All that was to come, but first, we needed to get to Coimbatore!

The plan was to cover the distance between our home base in Pune and Coimbatore in two days, giving us ample time to create the content that you see here and soon on the evo India YouTube channel. Luggage mounted on the luxurious pillion accommodations, I set off and it immediately became apparent why the GS is regarded as one of the best motorcycles to traverse continents on. The riding position is spot on. You’re sat upright on a throne, reaching out to a wide handlebar while your feet reach out to a very neutral, mid-mounted footpeg setup. The Germans are generally tall and the ergonomics reflect that the bike has been designed with that in mind. The 850mm seat height, though daunting, is actually quite approachable and the waist of the motorcycle being narrow, relatively speaking, does allow you to get your feet down well. The seat itself is extremely comfortable and firm enough to delay the onset of fatigue for as long as possible.

Day one of riding was from Pune to Tumkur, on the outskirts of Bangalore and over those 800-odd kilometres, the 1300 did a very convincing job of changing my perspective on touring. I’ve done Pune-Bangalore in a day in the past on a tiny-by-comparison ADV and the difference is night and day. BMW clearly believes in excess and the first indication of that is the new boxer-twin engine that feels like it belongs in a freight train. With 143bhp and 149Nm of torque, the likelihood of there being something faster than you on the roads is really slim. We had a 600+bhp super SUV for company and that could barely keep up. No, I’m not talking about sheer speed. What I’m trying to say is that the chassis setup and the engine come together to ensure that you need to slow down for absolutely nothing. Potholes or speed breakers in the way? Just stand and let the suspension handle that for you, ensuring that you don’t need to roll off a millimetre. The ShiftCam technology, BMW’s take on variable valve timing, makes the experience that much more effortless. Open the throttle in any gear and irrespective of where the tachometer is resting, there is a wall of power waiting to be exploited. Everything on the bike has been designed with rider comfort in mind. Take for example the new ‘sandwich’ button on the left switch cube. That in tandem with the up-down rocker switch works as a hotkey with customisable parameters. The button itself can be assigned to multiple functions – windscreen adjustment, suspension damping levels, heated grips, ABS and TC levels and more. I set it to windscreen adjustment for the most part, allowing me to use the rockers to extend or shorten the ’screen. Otherwise it was being used to change the suspension damping, whenever there were a set of nice corners that would unfurl ahead of me.

The three major points of upgrade that differentiate the R 1300 GS from the 1250 are the design, the larger engine and the suspension. The design was something that wasn’t to everyone’s liking right from the get go. As with the S 1000 RR, the asymmetric face was replaced with a more uniform front end and it took some getting used to. That however didn’t stop people from gathering around me at each of the many fuel stops on this 3000km journey. I for one still miss the asymmetric front end but I must admit that the ‘Option 719’ colour and kit package on the test unit did look pretty good. Speaking of fuel stops, if you are really enjoying the full potential of the Boxer engine, you’d get close to 260km in between stops. Ride at a more mellow pace and the figure could go up to 300-320km easily.

Every time I’d stop by the side of the road for fuel, or a snack or a drink of water, I would look at the bike and think just how foolish I’d been, trying to take this to the track. The sheer size of the bike is scary. But swing a leg over, get going and the GS, it shrinks around you in a way that’s really hard to believe. The 350km dash to Coimbatore on day two took me through the BRT Tiger reserve, famous for 29 hairpin bends and an assortment of corners on a narrow two-lane road. This gave me the first taste of what the GS would be like on track. The boxer engine, despite sticking out in a way that seems like the simple act of parking the bike will scrape it, actually has loads of clearance. I read somewhere that some guys, presumably not in possession of all of their mental faculties, leaned the GS as much as 52 degrees without the engine touching. The bike was nimble and handled the ghats like an absolute champ and suddenly, dismay and fear of tracking the bike, turned into sheer excitement. 

While everything about the GS was phenomenal on the highway, one thing I wasn’t too fond of was the windscreen. At the fully extended position, that works best for my 5ft 10in frame, the screen is so effective at blocking the wind that suddenly you find yourself sweating buckets because there’s no air ventilating your helmet. A little port in the ’screen should rectify this. In terms of electronics, this being the Option 719 pack kitted bike, all the ‘Pro’ riding modes and aids are unlocked and you also get radar assistance. While the rider aids are calibrated perfectly for our road conditions, with ABS and traction control not intervening even when road surfaces change, the same can’t be said for the radar-enabled features. While blind spot detection is helpful, the forward collision warning and adaptive cruise control are too sensitive for our Indian highways, and I was much more confident in my riding with those turned off or dialled way down. I say down, because the sensitivity for the forward collision warning can be set along with enabling the ability for the bike to autonomously brake. So I kept the braking turned off but the warning on.

With nearly 1200km on the odo added by yours truly by the time I reached Coimbatore, I had a good sense of what made the 1300 so special. Especially over the 1250. Design aside, BMW has ensured that the 1300 is an update in every regard and has managed to extract more power while significantly cutting down on the weight. The new bike weighs close to 12kg less and makes nearly 10bhp more. At 237kg, the R 1300 GS is not light by any means but it certainly feels more manageable than its predecessor. The way the bike makes its power, also means that it is easy to use, without expending much energy. We reached the hotel early and from then on until the next morning it was all butterflies in my belly and I had to force myself into bed. I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to take this behemoth to the race track. The track of choice was the latest in the country – CoASTT – just on the outskirts of Coimbatore.

Touring gear and saddle bags off, leathers and race boots on, it was time to do some hot laps around the fast, flowing track. That was when my helmet had to work extra hard to keep my jaw from falling out. On track the R 1300 GS is deft and feels almost athletic, hardly words you’d use to describe what is essentially a sofa with a big hulking engine underneath it. But that’s exactly how it felt. No, I won’t be trading a Panigale for it any time soon but it certainly shattered a lot of illusions. The GS handles quick direction changes with poise and it holds its line with surefootedness. I was really worried about hauling 237kg around a track but not once did I feel the heft. Yes there is a lot of bike to haul around but the engine with its oodles of torque across the rev range compensates for the weight rather well. The availability of power everywhere means that you can drive out of a corner hard, irrespective of the gear and that also makes it easy to ride. The lines won’t be as tight as they would be on a supersport or a naked bike. But do you really expect it to? If you go into a corner too hot, you can grab a handful of the brake lever and know that the rubber side will stay down. One big complaint I had with the previous generation was the lack of front end feel, courtesy the Telelever front suspension. With the 1300 and the addition of the ‘Evo’ moniker, so much feel has been engineered into the front end that you actually know what the front wheel is up to and it isn’t so much an act of faith anymore.

The only thing that could have been better are the tyres. The Michelin Anakee Adventure tyre works flawlessly as ADV tyres. But on the track, at the shoulder of the tyre, grip levels aren’t what you’d want and the traction control system begins to intervene. This could be my riding style as well, but a set of stickier road-focused tyres will make the experience that much more rewarding. Okay, let’s make one thing very clear. The R 1300 GS is not going to replace the S 1000 RRs and the Panigales at your local track day. These bikes are designed with the sole intention of going round a track as fast as possible and they manage exactly that with the riding position, the way the power is delivered, the chassis and suspension, the steering geometry, and the sheer compactness.

None of these are attributes that the GS has been designed with. But the GS, contrary to what I was told and believed myself, didn’t feel out of breath at the track and that left me mighty impressed. Is this something I’d do often? Probably not. Was it a lot of fun and did I have a smile on my face the entire time? Absolutely! I wouldn’t even say that this is the best big ADV on track. The Multistrada V4 would be significantly faster. It is lighter, makes more power and is honestly nearly as comfortable in all other ways.

The Multi V4 is my favourite ADV because it feels like a superbike on stilts. The GS is a different kind of impressive. It’s been designed as a big burly ADV and nothing else. Taking it to the track was my silly idea to put it out of its comfort zone and see how it fares, and it did a lot more than I asked of it. To all the naysayers who told me that this story was a pointless endeavour and that the GS is not meant for the race track, there’s a certain digit on my hand that wants to say ‘Hi’! Wrestling myself out of my leathers in the evening, I sighed in relief. Relief that I didn’t find out what the drag coefficient of the boxer engine is on tarmac. I had no problems whatsoever in doing the 500km ride to Chennai the next day to shoot the TVS Racing Diaries story that you see elsewhere in this magazine. Despite pushing myself, doing big distances for two days and shooting in the sun all day the next day, the GS bolsters you in great comfort. If you possess even a little fitness and endurance, you could easily cover over 1000km a day without breaking a sweat.

I approached the first 1200km with a bit of caution, thinking it would take a bit to get used to the power and the size, but the GS, it shrinks around you and the power delivery, while ferocious if you want it to be, can be dialled in with a lot of softness, making it very friendly. Heck, on the return journey, I met a fellow 1300 rider who previously owned a G 310 GS, did a pan-India trip on it, upgraded to the big boy and still felt perfectly at home. There’s no curveball I can throw its way from a touring or adventure perspective that it already isn’t prepared for. My touring review of the GS only reinforces what everyone has said in the past – it is the best of its kind in that regard. And to that end, yes, while I was curious to find out, first hand, what the hype around the GS is all about, the touring evaluation was just a way to get to the race track. Out on track is where the GS really left a lasting impression. How can it be that a fantastic tourer handles the way this does on track? It almost seems that GS had another physics book at school. The whole point of this exercise was to shine a light on the fact that these modern machines are no longer like they were in the past. You cannot pigeon hole them into the category that the manufacturer intends for them and restrict yourself and the bike to a very specific set of experiences. Ultimately, just get out there and ride. And if you have a GS, for god’s sake, take it to the race track. This is an experience unlike any other.