Well it is really isn’t it? Just have a look around this bike and half of it is the best selling motorcycle in South Africa, so why doesn’t this model fly off the showroom floors too? Well, this is why I chose to ride this fancy red-framed BM’ for a few weeks to find out why.
There’s no denying that the R 1200 GS is the most popular big-bore Adventure bike in South Africa but, after a long survey for the South African market, the results uncovered that over 90% of owners never take their GS off-road. So why not buy this hard-core road version instead which, for the road cycle, is a far better option. Well I believe it has to do with the ‘macho’ theory, because the big GS family is a much more manly variant of the boxer motor theme and therefore the owner of such machine emits more of the ‘Chuck Norris’ ruggedness when they’re in the saddle, which is a bit sad or super-cool, depending on your take.
Now the title says ‘Half a GS’, which the R 1200 R is. Why? Well it has the new 1,170cc, DOHC, liquid-cooled engine with the typical BMW EVO Paralever rear end, which means the shaft drive remains but at the front end BMW has chosen to fit the 45mm upside-down forks from their other road models, like the R nineT and S 1000 R for example. Nothing wrong with that because I much prefer ‘normal’ forks to the Telelever option, which I’ve never been a fan of and will probably get thousands of hate mails for saying so, but I’ll stick by my guns on this topic, so there, and send all complaints to my PO Box on Neptune please.
Still the R1200 R is no slouch with a claimed 125hp and 125Nm of torque. It will see the far side of 230km/h and with the electronic traction control and other over complicated stuff turned off, pull memorable wheelies as well. Not too bad a party trick at all for something that weighs just over 230kg fully-fuelled. 
The handling aspect of this big boxer is equally impressive and most certainly instills more confidence through fast corners on the road than the GS. The forks and rear shock are BMW’s electronic variants which can be set as required using the comprehensive, and very nice, instrument pod. This particular R 1200 R is the full-spec option with all the electronic wizardry you’d expect from BMW. Dynamic ESA is what it’s all called, I think, but whatever its description is you can fiddle for hours. I just left the power settings on Dynamic Pro (full-power), and set the suspension to Dynamic single rider with luggage, which seemed to firm up the rear end to my liking, but a million options are there if you enjoy pushing buttons and watching flashing icons. I believe the R 1200 R would be quite brisk around a race track with a set up like this, which is why it’s called an ‘R’ I suppose.
Without doubt the best electrical part of the bike are those superb heated grips. I did constantly question whilst enjoying the motherly warmth transmitted through my hands why every motorcycle of this price zone (R209,000), doesn’t come with heated grips as well, surely H2s, R1s, ZX-10s, etc are ridden on the roads, so why not?
Look I really enjoyed my time with the R 1200 R but it has a few unfortunate problems, like BMW’s own and much sportier S 1000 R for example, and the other naked sports bike in this class, like KTM’s 1290 SuperDuke, Yamaha’s MT-10, Ducati’s Monster, and Suzuki’s price killing GSX-S 1000 naked streetfighter, and more, see what I mean?
I can’t help wondering why BMW didn’t put more emphasis on the ‘R’ badge. Why didn’t they, with their enviable wealth of performance knowledge, make it super-light without the luggage racks and heavy bits and also make the engine the most powerful boxer motor ever and in the process make it the fastest accelerating BM’ boxer of all time, right? Then you just might see more of them in people’s garages and less of the ‘sheep-like’ GS.
Click here www.bmw.co.za to find you nearest dealer for a test ride.
