My unbiased review of the 2018 R1200GS Adventure as told by someone who has never ridden an adventure bike.

First of all, I lied. It’s not going to be unbiased, I love this bike. After riding street bikes for a better part of my life, and riding a dirt bike once, I wanted to go offroad. I own a Jeep, and have spent plenty of time crawling my way around Moab, so I’m used to dirt. I’ve just never touched it on a bike. (Please note: This means I am by no means qualified to write this. Oh well.)I have been told to ride a GS by every single person that I’ve talked about going off road with, and I wanted to understand the cult-like following that they brought. I got a 2018 BMW R1200GS Adventure- knobby tires and all the angled plastic you could ask for- and a pair of soft bags. I loaded up all my camping supplies and it started to look like an adventure bike. I quickly learned that it was similar to whitewater rafting- rig to flip. Without a top box, I strapped an oversize backpack and it worked great, much better than a top box in my opinion because this bag unzipped all the way down and made it easy to load and unload. A gallon jug of water went in the side bag, and I backed out of my driveway into 5:00 traffic on the Phoenix 101.I’ve always thought Dual-sport bikes were heavy and tall, and I was very right. Going from my lowered K to the R was entertaining, because you sit higher than most cars by a significant amount. (It was more entertaining watching me throwing a leg over- It’s a tall bike!) I’m 6’2”, and with the seat in the lowest position I could touch the ground at stoplights, but it was something you actively had to focus on keeping upright while you learn the bike. I had to stop and move some gear around before I felt truly comfortable riding. The entire bike takes a minute to get used to, actually, but that probably stems from the transition of basically clip-on bars to wide grip bars. Even the incredibly light electronic throttle is easily learned in a short time.By the time I got onto 87 North I was feeling pretty confident. The bike was rock steady at 75 mph, While the tires were loud, there was minimal buzz through the bars, and the tires didn’t make the bike unstable at speed, something I was very worried about. Overall I did almost 300 miles, split about 70/30 Pavement/Dirt. I turned off the main road at the access to the Four Peaks wilderness, and the first 5 miles on dirt were interesting- I had switched to Enduro Pro mode, which noticeably changed the throttle, Leaving ABS and traction control both on Auto. It was still a very different feel to pavement.In the first few minutes the bike would hit you on the nose with a rolled up newspaper reminding you that it was not a dirt bike. Sandy washes that I crossed were a scary experience for an inexperienced rider, with even the slightest attempt at a direction change would cause the front tire to do all kinds of unpleasant things, but if kept straight it was happy. On rocky, washed out parts, if you stuck to your line and didn’t overcorrect, it was happy. It shined on smoother forest service roads, making the ride comfortable and easy to navigate. Again, if you kept to your line, it didn’t feel that heavy.Let’s talk about the motor. Opposing twin, water cooled, 125 hp, exc. TORQUE. I am completely convinced that if you put the bike against a wall, dropped it in first, and let go, it would spin the tire before it stalled. I never had the urge to slip the clutch over technical parts, and whatever gear you put it in, it was happy to do whatever you wanted, even with a 200lb rider and another 100lbs of gear on the back. The low end pull was frankly amazing. Yes, it redlines at 9 grand, but why? Even on hard highway pulls, shifting at 7k was more than adequate.The new display is fantastic, the menu system within the display is... good. I have a feeling with some practice it would become a lot easier, but I still don’t know where the trip odo is, and I looked fairly hard. Honestly, you can see what you need to see even in direct sunlight and it is clear and bright. The gearbox is nice, I never felt I was wanting a gear that wasn’t there, but neutral is very hard to find. First was nice and low, 6th was easy on fuel. Clutch made shifting easy, and I swear there was some rev matching doing work because I know I butchered at least 2 shifts and it didn’t complain at all.After a day and a half of exploring everywhere I could, I dropped into the Roosevelt lake side of the mountains, and caught the half paved-half dirt Hwy. 88 back into Phoenix. It performed admirably on the dirt, and even on knobs, in the tight 15mph corners of the 88, was a blast. You won’t be dragging a knee, but had me smiling as much as the dirt. If I bought one, I’d probably switch out the knobs for something closer to a 50/50 for better highway use.Honestly, I had a blast. I have dreams of going to Alaska, and pulling a Long Way Round. I want to leave tomorrow for Colorado and avoid all interstates. It’s not a dirt bike. While it’s comfortable on a road, It’s not a road bike. You couldn’t pay me to daily one, because it’s the size of a smart car and not as fuel efficient. I think that’s always been the complaint on the big GS- is that it’s okay at everything, but not great at one thing. But for those of us that don’t want to trailer a dirt bike, and those of us who want to get off the beaten path without worrying about the finish on a chrome covered road-glide, and those who enjoy pulling up to Starbucks and seeing 4 bikes exactly like yours in a row, it’s perfect.Full album if you don’t like clicking links: https://imgur.com/a/iUOFTEO via /r/motorcycles https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/9xs3dx/my_unbiased_review_of_the_2018_r1200gs_adventure/?utm_source=ifttt