2005 BMW R1200 GS

I gave the bike a new front tire and a 78,000 service the middle of April 2013 and sold the bike to a friend in May. I was without a GS until my 2013 R1200GSW arrived the middle of July.

GS Farkles

My bike didn’t stay stock very long. I was still buying things for the bike after its fifth birthday. It’s hard to keep track of the things I’ve added/changed on this bike, but it’s been more items than on any other three bikes I’ve owned, combined. The following list – in more-or-less alphabetical order – is what I’ve done to the bike that I can remember. Touratech and Wunderlich are well represented!

GS Maintenance

The bike was mostly maintained by the dealer the first three years of ownership. About the only thing I did was the servo brake bleed to save 3-4 hours of expensive dealer time. Once the warranty was up my last excuse for not doing the work myself disappeared. This is what I did to the bike with a few non-maintenace items thrown in just for fun.

My GS history… May 2005: Another bike diet

I test rode the R1200GS on May 31, 2005. It was about 120 pounds lighter than my then current ride, an R1150RT. The test bike was damn near K bike smooth when riding around town at 25-40 MPH. I just had to think about turning to have the bike follow my desire. After 50 miles of a combination of city streets, bay area twisties, and a few freeway miles I decided that I had to have one. An order was placed.

June 18, 2005: My new ride

I picked up the bike in the afternoon and put about 75 miles on the odometer getting it home. Very, very nice. It carries its specifications well. Now it’s time to accessorize and ride.

When new in June 2005

When new in June 2005

May 2006

May 2006

November 2008

November 2008

March 2010

March 2010

Why a GS?

Enough friends have asked “why a GS?” that I had to formulate an answer. It goes something like this:

Custom license plate

Custom license plate

Somewhere along the line I started believing the motorcycle industry marketing folks, always a dangerous thing to do. To those folks “touring” means riding a Wing, an LT, or a Harley dresser down the interstate. I don’t think so. My touring is done on back roads, sometimes going 100 miles out of my way to avoid 100 miles of freeway.

I ride when it is wet and foolishly tackle mountain passes in the spring when the weather is iffy. For me, a touring bike is one that will take me on those roads, without having to worry about the cost of replacing plastic should I drop the bike when looking for a place to turn around in the snow. I think the GS is a perfect touring bike. It’s a great bike for Sunday morning rides, too.

EZ Touring Traveller A cover pics

packed cover

packed cover

Cover on bike, no sidecases

Cover on bike, no sidecases

Cover on bike w/sidecases

Cover on bike w/sidecases