BMW R 1150 GS Adventure reviews

I have had my GS for about 4 months now and I love it. I love dual sport bikes because of the type of riding I do. I started with the KLR then bought a V-STROM because of my size I needed more power. After some modification on both the KLR and the Suzuki it just wasn't enough for me so I bought my GS. I cruise at 90 with out even knowing it. It's perfect for me.

This bike was purchased in April 2003 and is the 44th motorcycle I own. Obviously, serious trail riding isn't something that can be done with a machine this size, but then that wasn't the intention. It does very well on an occasional dirt road but this bike is one of the best all around touring motorcycles avaiable. It is nimble in the curves and handles an interstate with no sweat. The more you load it with luggage and gear, the better it handles and the smoother the ride. I am 5'7 and I have no trouble at all with the GS. It's great for an afternoon ride or a 4,000 mile vacation. Heated grips are wonderful and the mileage range is good too. The only alteration that is a must is the stock seat! Much too soft and it is literally a pain in the butt. Overall, the R1150GS is a fantastic machine.

The 04 Adventure has been a great bike. I like it's adaptibility. It is a decent off road bike and can take you on the those long distance rides in fairly good comfort. For those looking to off road more, you might want to consider that the bike feels extremely top heavy, is hard to handle in deep sand or gravel without maintaining a dangerous speed, and the lowest gear is not low enough to engine brake on trails where you need to lower your speed to 25 MPH or slower. So, going down steep dirt hills with no engine braking and nothing but your brakes on a 500+ lb bike equals difficulty. This may be different for some but I found the bars to be too low to stand for extended periods of time. I also found the footpegs too narrow and uncomfortable while standing. For touring the bike is great, it keeps a straight line on the highway and can handle high wind and gusts with its weight and power. You can load a lot of gear onto the bike with room to spare. The windshield is a little shorter than I needed (I'm 6'4). The seat is incredibly uncomfortable... way too soft and limitis long distance riding without an aftermarket seat or seat pad of some kind. Dispite a few short comings, I still love the bike over others and can easily fine tune the bike to fit me just right with a few aftermarket products.

I've really enjoyed this bike. It's a great tourer and yet allows off road travel to those "What's over there?" places. With the crash bars, you can come up with some very different seating styles to stretch out your legs and give your back a rest. The conti tires are great in the rain and dry pavement and give superglue grip on dirt and mud. They do tend to wear fast on pavement though. Only problems so far is the gasket for the fuel pump access on the tank leaked and needed to be reset. I was in the icefields of Canada when that started leaking but was able to fix it with tools I had on hand, and the crash bars broke at the bash plate and needed welding. The bike is heavy, once you lose it on a gravel road or loose dirt, you're going down. BMW panniers are wide but able to stuff enough materal to go camping for several weeks. Probably the best panniers I've ever owned. haven't ridden the 1200 yet, put don't think at this point I need to. Very satisfied so far.

The 1150 GS Adventure is the perfect machine for a quick European tour. Two weeks across England, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy & Germany; no issues at all and purring beautifully on its return.

Have ridden from Chicago to West Coast and back and from Chicago to Gulf Coast without any problems. Handles well, totally reliable. The tires that came with the bike wore out very quickly, so if you do a lot of riding, you might want to consider "street" tires when the originals wear out.

This is the only motorcycle I have ever owned and started riding at 47 years old. This is the bike that drew me to really getting a motorcycle. I wanted a bike capable of riding reliably in third world and fourth world countries and getting me back in one piece. (I visited 6 of the 7 continents in our military and want to go back via motorcycle). I love the 7.9 gallon fuel tank and the BMW luggage system. The engine guards are superb. This is a HEAVY bike with a high center of gravity and not really meant for serious off-road but I hope to get a class for off-roading on it around Christmas to increase my confidence and capability off road. This is not a road racer but it can do 80mph up hill with a 100 pound passenger on back and still can roll on the throttle! The weight makes it ride smooth and reliable on the roads and handles poorly maintained roads with ease. I wish the first gear was even lower than it is but that is a snivel, not a significant complaint. The seat is high so I have the low seat. It rides very smooth and the knobby tires "lean" surprisingly well. Sitting high on this bike is great for seeing in traffic and being seen by others. Selectable ABS is awesome. I love the display information (tachometer, speedometer, oil, temperature, gas, gear and 24 hour clock). The Spousal Spending Unit (SSU---wife) likes the quiet operation so I do not wake her when I leave the house at 0530 in the morning unlike our Harley neighbors. This bike gets a lot of looks from others on the road and easily took me from getting a Harley. I got this shipped in from from Daytona (Florida) via the Internet. I ride this bike 6 days a week, often with a passenger or loaded panniers and it has been a dream Adventure. I cannot wait to cross a few dozen borders with it. The 600 mile check up went smooth in San Diego. To date I replaced a single tail light bulb. I have had it since May 2005 and am 30 miles short of 5,000 miles. It is now October 2005. I was holding out for the R1200GS Adventure but since it never came out I grabbed one of the 43 of these that come into the country this year. It gets about 43 miles per gallon in day to day driving. Absolutely NO regrets. My daughters are already conspiring to get it from me.

After 1 year with a R1200GS I traded for a 2005 R1150GS ADV. This is the bike I should have bought last year. My 1200 was a shop queen so down the road she went. The 1150 has not disappointed me in any way so far. My 1200 had more top end power but the 1150 runs way better all around. The lower 1st gear is very useful and the closer 6th gear is nice for the real world. So far it's used very little oil (I have not added any). Hope to have a long relationship with this one.

This is my 2nd BMW GS, much improved over the 98 GS I had. Very comfortable even on long distances. Fast (hence the K-40) and steady. This bike is big and heavy but it is a delight to ride on. No problems so far and a great relationship with my dealer who did the install on most accessories on this machine. I highly recommend the machine.

I am quite new to the R1150GS "Adventure" and have only just started to explore its capabilities, but having ridden motorcycles for some years now I suppose my testimony may be of some value. My bike is a 2004 model with the original BMW aluminum cargo boxes. I find the bike nicely balanced even when loaded heavy, and handles the rough road very well.