Too big, heavy and expensive? 2024 BMW R1300GS Adventure UK first look 

All the new tech and still no back lit switches. Guessing we'll get a heated ash tray and floor mats before that innovation!

Had a 1250 GS was waiting for the 1300, what a let down for me!! so left BMW and bought a Yamaha Tracer 9 GT +, love it! looking at the GSA I love my Tracer even more now!!

I absolutely hated the look at this when it was first announced, but to be fair, it looks better in your video. Still a step back from the 1250 though. 😔

Hated the looks in the beginning but I am now warming to it.

Great vid Tim and well done at getting an early peek at it....

A “Star Wars” look 🤔, I think that’s the kindest way I’ve heard yet to describe it. I’m sorry but it still looks like a jumbo sized Honda Grom to me 🤪.

Never thought it could be possible to design a bike uglier than the HD Pan American. Kudos to BMW for such a stunning achievement.

Why I liked GS's for 20 years it was a company that went for evolution from year to year now they have gone for revolution in design and price. The bubble has burst for BMW.

I love my R1250 GSA, and I’m glad it only has 11,000 miles on it, because when I switch to a new bike, this is so ugly, that it forces me to go elsewhere. It didn’t need to be beautiful, but it didn’t need to be horrendous.

I personally like boxy styling.

Nah! I'll stick with my amazing Multistrada V4s👌

In answer to the title question, yes.

I have a 2017 Africa Twin, I'm more than happy with it. In fact, I'll probably never sell it. I love that bike. Yet here I am, watching another one of Tim's videos. Half the time it's a bike I'm not particularly into, sometimes even a bike I wouldn't buy even if I did have the moolah…. 😁

In a world where ego seems to be taking over, I can only assume owners of these bikes will be best avoided......by going off road.

Although I maybe an old fcuker, I will not be trading my SDR for this tractor. It’s not for me.

I lovingly refer to my NT1100, a reasonably large bike, as a 'land barge' ...... looking at this BMW I'd say it's definitely more on the 'land super carrier' side of things ... lol

It is better in the flesh but I still can’t get over the new headlight. Also, no proper rear light is a small negative for me. Maybe some aftermarket suppliers will provide a solution.

One of the most successful motorcycles in history. The numbers don't lie. BMW started the "adventure" segment many years ago and continue to set the benchmark for other manufacturers to copy.

Sorry Tim, I don’t agree. It looks way worse in the flesh than in the photos. Who the f#ck designed that ? Homer Simpson ? WTF is it for ? Can you imagine the size of it with bags strapped to those hanger things. I will laugh my tits off at the first plonker I see pulling up on one of these behemoths.

Riding the regular 1300 GS (after owning the 1250) and absolutely loving it. 15000km since May, been to Iceland an Romania with it from Germany. I am 175, all I can say is if I were 185 up I would probably adopt that new GSA. Love the « Defender » look ( wait till you seen nice side pockets on it and you love that manly tank), great saddle (maybe the only thing that’s not as good on the regular 1300 as the 1250) and I can predict that the torquey 1300 will do the job on that one as well. I will keep my regular one for reasons explained before and because I will still be more punchy or sparing with it than with the 1300 GSA 😇, but honestly congrats to BMW! I think they nailed it and are simply 2-3 years ahead of everyone (for that category 😉).

Definitely looks better in the video as the still pics didn't do it justice. Nothing negative to say about the bike and look forward to getting a test ride on it. My R1250 GSA is one of the best bikes I've ever owned so the R1300 GSA will need to be very good indeed to make me part with it. Times are tight money wise and this will be a major call also. Hope the issue with BMW's insurance (wouldn't insure a BMW bike costing over £20K for me and I've never made a claims or had an accident ) gets resolved.... a most strange finding for one of their flagship bikes.

Yeah, these photos make this bike look much more attractive than initially thought. I Have absolutely no reason to have such an adventure bike, but would be cool to one !!

The average height of men around the world is 5'9" with only the Netherlands having men's average height at 6' tall. Even Germany has an average height of men just shy of 5'11". Why must they make motorcycles for men who are 6'2" with inseams greater than 34"? I am just shy of 6" tall with a 31.5" inseam and I had to get a low seat and even a low bracket for the front of the seat. Just to flat foot my 2023 R1250 GSA. That's crazy. With the GSA having that massive gas tank making it extremely top heavy, forget how light it feels when riding, it's the stopping that get's you. I dropped mine twice the first week because I was over a low spot in the driveway. It has been a lot better since getting the low seat and bracket but it's still very top heavy when you come to a stop. That's the only thing I don't like about it. If I had to do it again, I'd get the GS Low version. And I forgot to say that I still need my motorcycle boots which give me an extra inch of inseam. With regular shoes, I am still on the balls of my feet.

Thanks Tim, you saved us the bother of having to squint at this in real life ! Designed in the kindergarten crayon club at BMW's car team hq, a two wheeled humvee, fugly fugly fugly, BMW used to innovate, now they can barely follow 😢 You can buy 2 really nice bikes for the price of a specced up GSA, or just keep your old bike and treat yourself to something really special ! The V4S Multi is the top ADV for me 😂

Cannot wait to get my hands on one of these. Rode the 1300GS and loved it, but wanted to wait for the GSA. Love it!

Our fellow riders who work in the dental industry have something to rejoice about… and in 8 years time us mere mortals will be able to sample the 1300… by which time the GS will have progressed to a 2.5litre engine and be weighing in at 3 tonnes, one assumes. 😂

Perfect example of a company completely taking the piss because they know 'the followers' will buy them!the outgoing model is gonna hold its value i think!😂

Never too big, never too heavy, because it is GSA. It has to have that mighty feeling. It might be just too expensive…, but what is not too expensive nowadays? It looks great.

Gotta say, I like it!!

I like it looks purposeful. I rode the standard gs 1300 and that was an improvement on the 1250 I wonder if this is more of the same. 😊

I think I’ll stick with my R1100GS that I’ve owned for 29 years. It’ll be interesting to see if the likes of Touratech or other after market companies can improve this bike, especially it looks.

Hi Tim thanks for the update, the bike looks like something from Legoland and I think the price structure is madness, by the time you spec this up in the Uk your ripping the best part of £27-£28k.

So if you don't get either of the 2 "options" of quick shifter and or ASA, does that just mean it's just comes in a standard clutch lever and shifter system.?

Brilliant video Tim, i kinda like the look of this bike, really look forward to the test ride review. Kind regards.

Love it get yout order in now 😂😂1980 shoulder pads are back 😮so why not

I definitely like it now as time passes but I will be sticking with my 14 plate GSA until my lottery win !

I love manual shifting so any bike without a clutch isn’t for me! Why they don’t offer it with a clutch I don’t get… are they only catering for 60 year old men? And that AC unit on the front doesn’t tie in with the gas tank.

quite like it TBH …but i did notice your leg angle looks quite relaxed on it compared to the normal 1300 ? did you feel any difference between the 2 ?

No…no…no. They were all on drugs at Beemer…. The regular gs is a much nicer bike. To answer your question…yes and yes.

This bike is for people who has the same height and weight as you, man It fit perfectly

To be honest, it has grown on me a bit the last months. But I still think that it lost a bit of the typical GS-nes that caught me many years ago.

i like the boxy tank. its not as sporty looking as the outgoing model but very masculine. its just that the headlight ruins the whole thing for me. it just doesnt work with rest of the bike. the "beak" could have been more pronounced as well.

great vid Tim, and your are right in saying it does look better in the flesh, I have the TB 1300 (wheelie machine) and this is basically identical bar the increased tank and rad shrouds along with the rear pannier scaffolding which I think looks naff - is the rear subframe different? looks beefed up to take all the touring crud....I don't think this one will wheelie as good as the GS with all that extra front end weight 😞 but we shall have to wait on your road test to find out 😄😄😄

😅😅😅Oh My God...i thought the designer of the GS1300 got fired at BMW...but apparently he's still working...

I have 1250 gsa. I'll hold on to it for now. After that a ktm or a ducati. Surely not a toaster

Looks like something out of Terminator. Great vid. Look forward to seeing your post when you ride one 👍

Spec with cast wheels and its no heavier, height adjustment drops height significantly ,p!us has more kit options, they will sell a ton of them to those that like them

I need clarification. Didn't BMW issue a RECALL on over 100.000 units due to another R1300GS safety issue?

I guess you would have to be a Lego man to fit the design of this bike.

Great review Tim, thank you. When you say “…well over £20K…’ you mean WELL over don’t you? 😅. I really like it, more so than its little brother, and I’m a Honda fan boy.

I'd love to see you take it off road properly, without the broken leg obviously 😅

BMW could have done it like Porsche does with their 911s or MINI does with their Coopers to a certain extent, where with each generation you can tell its a 911 or Cooper, but at the same time it is completely new. BMW had an iconic design in their hands for an iconic bike, but this generation threw it all away. I am curious about their design meetings as to why they decided to go this route. What was unsuccesful until now with their iconic design that lead to this change decision.

Thanks Tim, this looks like a bike designed by a 10 year old with lots of bolt on bits and complications. Also why call one of the options Karakorum - this is a town in Mongolia where you will definitely not find this bike. I suspect they meant to to call it Karakoram (a not u) which is a mountain range stretching from Afghanistan, through Pakistan to India and China, the sort of place BMW owners would imagine themselves. Bit like Royal Enfield and Himalayan, only Royal Enfield got it right with a mountain range. Why did BMW name a bike after a Mongolian town ? I suspect this is a marketing mistake.

Great content as always Tim... can i ask what jeans are those you are wearing please? Cheers Lee

I just think that things are just a little bit OTT and expensive in the BMW camp these days. I had a 2004 gs and a 2013 GSA, and I was really interested to see the 1300's. Now they are both out, I would go for the gs, and not the gsa. Purley because of the weight... (would be nice to have the massive tank range though) But for now, I am going to wait for the new 990 smt that is coming in 2025. I have the 890 smt, but the 990 duke is definitely a decent step up from the 890. It just feels more together as a bike. tighter, better put together etc... This said, If I had money dripping out of my pants, I would get a couple of 1300's to fill some space in my workshop/shed....

Looks amazing to me. I want one. Coolest bike in the last 13.7 billion years.

I love the look of this ❤

Too big mid size adventure bikes are the way forward I’ll stick to my tiger rally pro 900 great all rounder and £7000 cheaper !!! Great vid though 👍

1290 KTM for me anyday.....that is seriously ugly, .......is missing parts standard on the KTM 4 years ago!!

Bmw were it seems forced into offering the adaptive ride height gadget due to harley doing it first

Not sure if it’s too big, heavy or expensive……but I can assure you the new GSA is definitely far far too ugly! 🤮

is that outside starbucks?

That thing is hideous! I ride a 1250 GSA, which I find gorgeous, and I'd rather get the 1300GS than this monstrosity. I am also waiting for the 1300RT, as I've never gone off-road on my GSA. My hopes are not high with the design though. Time to move to Ducati Multistrada?

think I'll wait till 2025 and get the 1100 kawasaki versys when it's released

My ‘19 Africa Twin Adventure Sports looks gorgeous compared to this

Actually like the bike but for that money it would have to come with a personal weight lifter to help me reverse it out of my garage

I think he was upset the RED ONE was gone...

I'm no BMW hater - I have an R1100S and have owned GSAs, but I can say without hesitation that this new 1300 is the ugliest motorcycle I've ever laid eyes on. Truly horrible. Such a shame.

I want one.

Too Big, Heavy, Expensive? What about the bike?

That does look good… hmmmm 2025 approaches.

I owned a R1200GSA and was realy proud. The Design of this new 1300 is so ugly, that I would fire the designer 😂. The old times with ugly design are back for this model.

Good video

Nope! Still looks like it was designed by Lego! Waaaaay to heavy and very expensive Definitely not for me! But that's just my opinion 🙂 Great video BTW 👍

Why anybody does not take this bike to test ride? There are some videos from poland with the bike but just talking near it. Same here. It is not to be allowed to test?

It's begining to grow on me the more I see it. My son who watched it with me says it's fuck ugly and like the 1250 better.

There are also lighter cars, and the center of gravity on the 2nd floor

is 'GPS prep' the biggest scam going in (BMW) motorcycle upselling, I wonder?

Oh sh*t we forgot to design pannier mounts, what do we do? Just get some bits of spare plastic from the factory floor and stick ‘em on. Oh sh*t we forgot to add central locking like we did for the regular GS, what do we do? Let’s just add a power connector instead, but only on one side to keep the rich but stupid buyers guessing. Never give a sucker an even break.

GSA 1250 for ever

Built by BMW Lego. These bikes have become too expensive...and I had a new 1250GS.

Yeah....no! Went to Triumph Tiger after selling my old 1200 LC😅

If a cylon was a motorbike

It is feels nimble compared to my R1250GS… I still like my R1250GSR better.

The cost is becoming bloody expensive for a device that can’t keep you dry, and will definitely dissolve away from our salt laden British winter roads. I’ll stick with my Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Pro (ex demo purchased for a bargain price) and a cheap car

When do you get to ride it?

Apart from the obvious (it's hideous and the ludicrously bloated tank area, is desogned by Mr Lego) the ridiculously complex options package, and associated costs, have put the lid on BMW being out of their minds. I run a BMW 420 GranCoupe and a BMW R1250GS - so i'm not anti-BMW - but this is totally mad in the world we live in in 2024. Glad to say they will not be bleeding me of any of my hard-earned....

Nope, I’ll keep my gorgeous 1250GSA thanks 😊

Bikes are just getting taller. Anyone with an inside leg of less than 30 inches, are being pushed out of biking.

Rather get the bus than the new GSA, No Thanks,

🥴 .. looks like a nightmare to clean though ! ... honest sum up 👍

❤

269kg, Blimey, someone's missing a point.

I sell my shares...thats a no go

bonkers

more importantly where did you buy the cat t-shirt from ?

It should be called the BMWR1300GSA(FH). (F***ing Hideous)

Total monster , the should just call it the Trump

😍

why naming this a trail… it is a road bike, not able to do any trail in normal biker hands.