BMW R 1250 GS Adventure 2024 — Specifications

The 1300 GS will soon elevate the Gelande Strasse dynasty even further. The 1250 Adventure continues its path for 2024, with an additional Racingblue color scheme.

With its adventurous appetite, this GS is not really the archetype of an economical motorcycle. However, since 2021, it has featured the ‘Eco’ Riding Mode, intended to encourage a light and frugal riding style. Electronics are the main area of evolution, with a 12V socket, a USB charging port, Traction Control (DTC), and Integral ABS Pro as standard.

Several new options are noteworthy. We find new multi-role turn signals, adaptive cornering lights, handlebar risers, hill start control (HSC Pro), and a function to preset the Riding Mode in the Riding Mode Pro. But… What do you need when you want to go so far!?

Grand expeditions, warming up by the fire watching Kilimanjaro, eating ice cream after a day of riding in Sri Lanka, changing routes to follow intrepidity – it's a little bit of all that which permeates the R 1250 GS Adventure. The range’s sherpa becomes even more muscular with the adoption of the 1254 cc engine. Like its GS sibling and the entire R range, the time has come for more punch.

The Boxer engine has entered a new dimension. To the point that the manufacturer installs it with a variable load in all models dedicated to it. The GSA is a large, imposing, almost intimidating motorcycle. No problem offering it wings with the new vigor it will find in the pistons. With a little more displacement and, above all, ShiftCam technology, power climbs to 136 horsepower, torque to 14.5 mkg, and the availability of mechanical muscle becomes much more present. ShiftCam allows for a variable camshaft timing for the intake and two different profiles for the opening of the valves. The Adventure can afford to tap into an abundant reserve of watts, especially at low and mid-revs. In addition to variable distribution, the engine is optimized for air intake, oil lubrication, and the exhaust system. More powerful, this Adventure is also 8 kilos heavier.

We harden ourselves to go further. And it likes it. Except that BMW won’t let you go with a backpack, a knife, and a slingshot. There’s a whole bunch of companions among the electrical wires. As standard, the R 1200 GS Adventure benefits from three Riding Modes, "Eco", "Rain" and "Road", as well as traction control, active ABS in curves, and Hill Start Control. It is easy and financially possible to boost the equipment by tapping into the Riding Modes Pro option. This unlocks a number of functions: the Riding Modes "Dynamic", "Enduro", "Dynamic Pro" and "Enduro Pro", the latter two being configurable; the new DBC engine braking control; the Hill Start Control Pro, automatically active based on the inclination of the slope where you stopped (+/- 5%); and the Control Brake Light, a system that makes the rear light flash more or less quickly depending on the intensity of an emergency braking, with warning light activation during deceleration.

More technology? How about LED headlights and a beautiful 16.5 cm TFT color screen. This "Connectivity" screen appeared recently as an option on the manufacturer’s enduro models. Now, it is being installed as standard throughout. In addition to a rich and modern display, it offers increased connectivity allowing for a dose of interaction with smartphones. With the appropriate equipment, you can listen to music, make phone calls, and access a simplified navigation system. The "BMW Motorrad Connected App" facilitates your journey: you enter your destination, the phone and the GS screen discuss, then icons and succinct information guide you to your destination. It's standard; if you want a more conventional GPS, with maps and multiple functions, there's the Navigator... at a salty price.

Let's remain in the options catalog. In turn, the GSA can benefit from the Next Generation ESA semi-active suspension. Reading the road, constantly calculating the best possible damping based on the surface, riding style, selected mode, the BMW system also takes into account the load and automatically compensates and levels the motorcycle's stance. As always in Bavaria, the plethora of accessories and options will allow you to personalize the GSA, for more adventures, comfort, or efficiency, or all three. The seat height can be adjusted to 890 or 910 mm; other seats range from a lowered model at 820 mm to a Rally version also at 910 mm. Daytime running lights, aluminum panniers, cruise control, a quickshifter, heated grips, the emergency call system, and… No, there are too many.

Unlike the GS, which hasn't changed its plastics at all when it went from 1200 to 1250, the Adventure wanted to subtly show that it had more in its belly and boots. Its shoulders are still as wide, enclosing a 30-liter fuel tank allowing for long stages. But they have gained aluminum elbows, new air intake vents, and tubular reinforcements of a new design, noticeably reinforced. The brake calipers are new while retaining the same technical data: two 305 mm discs at the front for radial 4-piston calipers and a 276 mm disc braked by two pistons.

Are you cracking? The sandy mountains, fishing in Tombouctou, and the memories of the fog can't wait? You’re going to have to make a choice. The R 1250 GS Adventure doesn’t offer colors but themes. The base version makes the distinction with black brake calipers and wheels, plus a touch of provocation with a red seat top. The 'Triple Black' is conceived only in shades of black, with a touch of ash gray for the frame. The 'Rallye' and the "Trophy" have a shorter windscreen, a different luggage rack, a less thick and less long seat.

Maintained in its prerogatives with more punch in the engine, the R 1250 GS Adventure can boast a new breath, an enriched standard electronic equipment, and Ushuaian conquest possibilities just as close to the surface. Perfect illustration of the boundary-devouring adventurer, the BMW must maintain a striking force to resist KTM 1290 Adventure R, Triumph 1200 Rally, Multistrada V4 and other competitors of considerable caliber.

M.B - Photos constructeur