'05 R1200GS compared to '13 R1200GS

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AntVan

Race Dog
Joined
Aug 13, 2010
Messages
1,746
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Location
Pretoria East
Bike
BMW R1200GS
After the announcement of the BOTY (which was generally enthusiastically received by this forum  ;D)I thought I'd compare the two bikes in a similar class on which I've spent the most time: the 05 R1200GS and the 2013 R1200GS-LC.

Since I was small my dad told me about the BMW bikes they bought for the traffic officers and the shaft and the boxer combination intrigued me. So I am sorry if I don't take your favourite bike brand into account, it's just that I only have so much money and thus I can only own so many bikes. I am also not trying to dish your decision to stick with the old GS, I still have mine as well, okay. :D I'm a big believer in letting everyone ride what they want.

I've put about 40,000km on the '05 since buying it on 25,000 km or so. To this date I've only put 1,300km on the '13. Obviously this skews things a bit, but stick with me. (UDATE: Now at 6,500 km)

Buying the '13, I had to wait a bit since I was looking for the LED with cruise control. Both are fitted with crash bars, headlight and radiator protectors and various bits such as wide footpegs.
Tires: I've got Anakee 2 on the '05 and Anakee 3 on the '13. The '13 has A-ESA while the '05 has the manual adjusting suspension, stock.

Okay so let's get to the comparison part. On the road the '13 has more power (as is expected) and less windnoise for me. Unconfirmed reports from pillion is that the wind at the back is worse on the '13 but since the pillion seat is higher I can believe it. We are both about 1.72 m tall so we are not the worlds tallest hobbits.

I find the knee position on the '13 makes me more tired, and I've had neck pains initially which disappeared on later rides. '13 seat is more comfortable (having said that with almost 65,000 km on the '05 is probably getting thin in any case). '13 pillion seat is definitely more comfortable and the ability to move the seat forwards or backwards creates an illusion of space the pillion enjoys. See note about height causing wind issues. On the '05 I solved that issue with a Touratech extension but have not found a trick on '13 yet.

Throttle is more lively (I'm glad I've got three-letter acronyms taking care of wheel spin). Since I don't exceed the legal speed limit much I don't know if more power would be useful (here the KTM aces the LC). UPDATE: SWAMBO on the '13 disappeared in the distance, I could not keep up on '05.

Torque on the '05 is more controllable due to the throttle response but one gets used to it eventually on the '13. For the first 1,000km I stalled the bike regularly. It's much better now - I hardly ever stall her and I can find the bite pretty reliably. UPDATE: Of course the MOST important change is the wet clutch on the '13. You can slip that baby without smelling the clutch in technical challenges, in comparison the '05 had to be nursed.

Still the Hella socket is connected to the CanBus so don't try to run your compressor from this. Luckily under the seat there is a nice area for fitting a Hella socket.

Exhaust note: personally I prefer the stock '05 to the stock '13 which is louder and sounds less boxer more twin.

I got used to the universal indicators soon enough. No issues. I've got the GPS preparation but find that the wheel is in the way and thus will never buy the BMW GPS - I will just nick that wheel every time I indicate or something. GPS holder is in the way when standing but one can move it easily enough.

The instrument panel is not too small for me but I hear what others are saying. If your eyes are a bit off you could struggle with the speedometer, I guess.

I use the cruise control a lot and enjoy having it on the short stretches of highway I do on my daily commute.

UPDATE: LEDs rock. They throw a controlled beam that lights exactly where I want it. Don't use the LED daylight without the headlight. You disappear. '05 will blow a bulb every now and then, but for a RTW you can buy bulbs everywhere. LEDs: not so much. Still LED brighter than old school.

With regards to the dreaded headshake; on some roads, if the planets align, I can see a slight oscillation at 80 km/h and decelerating EDIT: if I take both my hands off the bars. I've reported this just to be sure with my dealer. I've not had a headshake that would worry me. In fact, I can't feel it at all with my hands on the bars, I have to release my hands to induce the symptom. So while not blind to the issue, it's not been an issue for me yet (touch wood).

On tar the '13's suspension kicks the '05 - I have occasionally dragged the main stand in high speed turns with pillion and luggage on the '05, while the '13 does it's thing without squatting due to the A-ESA's lean sensor and suspension position sensors. I also think the longer swingarm on the '13 makes for a better ride. EDIT: Two-up results in the bike being a wee bit tall for my middle-earthy hobbit length.

Brakes: reported braking distance on the '13 is slightly worse than '05 and I do feel the ABS more on the '13 than on the '05. Less spongy on '13 and still awesome.

Offroad: (Note that I've not used the Enduro Pro mode much and I'm still hesitant to drop the bike). '13 suspension is much better than '05. Corrugated roads don't bother me as they did in '05. Cornering on '13 more confident, I can get a lot of feedback from the front, surprisingly with all the electronics in the way. Since I have not done a lot of sand, I will reserve this for later. The little bit I did was not conclusive, although I think the '13 was better.

Ground clearance more or less the same: but I am a careful guy most of the time. My riding style is slow in any case.

Brakes offroad are awesome. Enduro mode with a bit of front and full back brake stops me every time. '05 had to switch of ABS EVERY SINGLE TIME. Jig.

More power means it's easier to get the front up for clearing holes and rocks on '13.

Narrower seat on '13 gives me more control in slow stuff, especially for hobbitses like myself.

UPDATE: did not find neutral as tricksy as others reported. But after a while it's even less.

In summary the '13 is a nicer bike than the '05 I find with the following exceptions:
Exhaust.
Pillion windnoise.
RTW: probably would be stupid to take the '13 on a RTW since the electronics WILL die somewhere. But for that I'd probably get a more suitable bike. Possibly an orange one.

UPDATE: I don't know. I took the '13 with my lovely pillion and we both love the bike. I love it more than the '05 although it hurts me to say. Yes the first service was merske expensive due to the oil, but whattabike.

UPDATE: BMW is attending to either the rumours of a headshake or the headshake itself by fitting a steering damper on the '14 models. This is according to those in the know (citation needed) due to the same frame being used for the RT and the RT has a different load profile, and thus requires a damper. It's less effort to fit the damper to the GS as well since the frame runs on the same line. Yeah right.
 
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