The Best Reactions To BMW's New 2024 R1300GS!

Welcome back everybody to another Motobot video. Now, last week BMW announced their big update to their best-selling GS. And of course, with it being such a popular bike, it was bound to get a lot of reaction. So in this video, I'll go through some of the best comments on my video about the specs to give you a bit of a flavor of how well this bike has gone down with the general bike in public. And also, I'll let you know along the way which ones I agree with and disagree with. Now, the most divisive point seems to be the looks, with a lot of people really liking it. And then also, plenty of others, not so much. On the plus side, we've got Yoniboy1 saying, I love the new look and the fact that it's much more compact and lighter. And also, TurboBox says, I love the look of it, much sharper. And I think I'd have to agree on this one. It'll take a little while for it to bed in on the looks front. But overall, it looks a bit leaner, a bit more modern, and with a bit more angular drama to the bodywork. NorCal Saint said that the new looks better fit what it's mostly used for, which is sports touring. And I do sort of understand that perspective. With that more clean and lean aesthetic, it has lost a little bit of the ruggedness from before, with the tubular steel frame and the bulkier appearance. But if you do consider it as an adventure sports tourer, then perhaps this new streamlined style is more appropriate. Thing is though, I'm pretty sure there are a few GS owners out there who would disagree and say that they genuinely do take their bikes plenty off-road. Now Devon Nobles1083 also adds that he thinks it's the best looking bike in his class easily as far as he's concerned. To me, that's a rather big claim. I'm not sure I'd go that far. The best looking adventure bikes on the market would either be the Africa Twin easily, or perhaps the Desert X, maybe even the Husqvarna Norden. Granted, they are a little bit smaller in capacity. But still, I'd say even in the large capacity segment, even the Tiger 1200 Rally Pro probably edges it. Let me know what you guys think though down in the comments. Now on the flip side, there are plenty of people who didn't really like the look. So let's delve into a few of their views. Gabriel Carver 5082 said that it looks like a KTM. Where are the frame tubes? And yes, the frame has been swapped from the tubular steel to sheet steel on the mainframe. And then there's a new aluminium subframe which is said to be lighter and stiffer. So I do see what you're saying there. But the rear end, it definitely has a bit of KTM about it. Something like the 890 Duke has a similar look to the subframe. But at least there are some practical benefits to that change. Now, Darwish Lowell said, so they made it look like a Honda NC750. And he wasn't the only commenter to draw that comparison. Here they are side by side. Obviously not a flattering parallel to make for the new GS, given that the NC750 is a budget-friendly learner bike or commuter. But I can see the likeness a little bit there. Lambros A says, Yes, I can see a bit of a likeness where it pinches to the front a bit in a sort of beak. I don't mind the katana though. So I don't think it's quite such a big diss on the GS. Own Your World says, And to be fair, that could be the case. They have slimmed it down a bit and shed some weight. And so naturally you'd expect it to be slimmer visually. Also, that tail section is massively slimmed out, which probably reduces the visual size of the whole bike. But thing is, I haven't seen one in the flesh yet. So I'll be interested to see if it genuinely does look smaller or whether that's just the press footage. The lighting seems to be one of the more controversial parts of the design with Simon Staley 1866 saying, And GSR600G7 also says, So sad to see the asymmetric lights gone. That was a big signature feature for BMW. First the S1000RR and now the GS. For me, I'm not really sure on this one. I always thought the old headlights looked a bit weird and wonky. Same for the S1000RR, but I guess they were distinctively BMW and distinctively a GS. It was bound to change at some point though. And this new LED projector with the X running lights around it does look a lot more up-to-date. And again, it's super distinctive. So perhaps this one will just become the new norm once it's had some time to set in. It sort of reminds me of the huge grills on BMW's cars, which were also a big shock when they first came out. But I think now more people have warmed to them. And also the previous gen has started to look quite dated. So yeah, design misstep or a future design classic? Let me know what you think down in the comments. Now weirdly in the press imagery at first anyway, there were only pictures of the front of the bike, nothing from the rear. And so I didn't talk about this in the first video, but there's actually no specific taillight, just the integrated turn signals, which have previously been available as an upgrade. Thing is though, if you added them to the previous 1250, you'd still have the main brake and taillight in the middle. And so this is quite an unusual look to the back end of a bike. I think I quite like it because it's super clean, but it does have me wondering how visible they are if you're driving behind, for example. Either way, Spiros Glikas isn't a huge fan, saying no taillight. And that's the only thing I don't like. One part of the looks that did get a big thumbs up though, and again, this one might have slipped under the radar on the first video, but it's the Akrapovic accessory exhaust with just a nobody 2265. Saying one thing I absolutely appreciate would be that dual Akrapovic muffler. Such a thing of beauty it is. And I'd agree, this is the best looking GS exhaust for some time. And just a shame that it's 925 quid on top of an already hefty price tag. Although actually that's probably about the going rate for an accessory exhaust at the moment. Now another accessory that was mentioned a few times as a bit of a hit is the new forged Enduro wheelset, which is I think a bit of a first. Nothing to prove said that the new Enduro forged wheels are 1.8 kilograms lighter than the spoke wheels. So that's bringing the 237 kilogram total curb weight down to 235.2 if the spoke wheel is the same as the standard wheels. Sounds good. One can never underestimate the light feeling of unsprung mass. Totally agree on this one. This is where you're going to feel the weight savings the most, quicker turning, better suspension response, quicker acceleration and deceleration. And anyone who's done a decent amount of cycling will know just how much you can feel a few grams shaved off at the wheel. In fact, we've got quite a bit less weight overall on this bike, thanks to the engine, the frame and a few other tweaks like a lithium ion battery. And that got mentioned quite a lot. Adventure bikes seem to be getting bigger and more powerful all the time. So being there done that 120 wasn't the only one to say something along the lines of it being slimmer and lighter are what I always wanted from a GS. And also I like the new modern look. So good job BMW. Along with that, Jord did a wild 2937 said 800 millimeters on a 1300 GS, I'm sold. In reference to the new adaptive ride height feature that can drop the suspension at lower speeds or a standstill, and that means it will go with the standard seat from 850 mil down to 820 or with the low accessory seat, it will go from 830 mil down to 800. Now with luggage and a passenger, you really do want to plant both of your feet down to get steady. And so I can see this being a popular feature. I think it's an additional upgrade as well. But look, combined with a bit less weight, hopefully this bike will be a lot more manageable at low speeds. The fact that they've also added quite a bit more torque seems to have been a popular move with John Kelly 1920 saying like this new look, oh, and those torque figures plus the fuel economy look great. So we've gone from about 143 newton meters to 149, which makes it the best in the large adventure class. And it makes it at 6,500 RPM, which is lower than any other bike. Power is also up a bit. So we've got 145 horsepower now instead of 136. And Anton Oat or Anton Oat said that the best part of 150 brake horsepower is ample, especially with all that torque. Power and torque where it's needed. And the GS isn't the top of the leaderboard when it comes to peak power by any stretch, but I have to agree that it does feel pretty rapid out on the road, even the 1250. And I think it's because of that super usable mid range. So I'm massively looking forward to getting a go on this one. Porsche 996 driver added that the power and torque peaks at much lower revs than the others. And the boxer motor is a stump puller, which is exactly what you want in an ADV. So some big hits for BMW on this bike then, but there are a few other questions on some of the other features like points only pointing out that it doesn't look that comfortable for a passenger. Definitely that slimmed out back end looks a little less cushy. So that could be a bit of a concern if you're planning to ride a lot to up. Ithaca 3929 simply asks Apple CarPlay question mark and given the CarPlay and Android Auto are super common in the car world. It is a bit of a surprise to me that we don't see them more often on bikes. Some of the big tourers like Harley's and Indians and the Goldwing have it, but only the Africa twin that I can think of in the adventure bike market. Personally, I love it. The navigation with Google Maps or with Waze is always better than what's built into the bike. And so I'd have to agree on this one. I think it'd be nice to have it here. Greg T7929 touches on the lower fuel capacity saying that 19 liters. I was waiting to upgrade from my 850 GS Adventure with 23 liters. So that's disappointing. And yes, we're down from 20 liters on the 1250 GS to 19 here. Although I have to say the ShiftCam Boxer twin is pretty efficient. The most fuel efficient large adventure bike on the market, I think. And so the range is still pretty competitive and there's only the KTM 1290 Super Adventure S or the big 30 liter bikes like the Tiger 1200 Explorers, Multistrada V4 Rally and their own GSA that can actually beat it. But the two biggest and most common complaints, well, firstly, we've got the tech. Codemonkey101 says that he thinks it's one thing car manufacturers stuffing as much driver assist functionality as they can into a car and competing with each other. But when it comes to motorbikes, I don't want any of that. It's about me, the bike and the road and that's it. When you ride, you're much more engaged than in a car and I don't need anything to change decisions for me and the risks are so much higher. Loads of people seem like they couldn't give two hoots about all the new tech and yet companies keep on adding more and more to their bikes. And this is a prime example of that. I guess it makes the bike look newer and therefore perhaps more tempting to upgrade or are there plenty of bikers out there who just love the new tech but don't leave any comments on my YouTube channel. Personally, I do like this stuff for sort of boring motorway rides, the active cruise control, the blind spot warnings, but I will say on a good road, I'd agree. I'd always have it switched off. But the one big problem for most of the commenters as always is the price. With Slayer22 saying he configured the green one with almost everything it can get. 29K question mark exclamation mark, which is actually called an Interabang. Now I'm not sure which currency is used in there but he goes on to say they're effing nuts. In 2017, when I bought the GS Adventure, a fully spec GS was 18 to 19K. So this is insulting. And to me, it does look like the latest Adventure bikes are massively out of reach for a lot of bikers and the only way to own one would probably be to finance it in some way. But with interest rates being what they are at the moment, I wonder if this will damage sales because the monthlies are way more than they have been in previous years. You can see why it might be tempting to hold onto your current bike at the moment or look at something a little bit smaller and more affordable. Larryhouse3776 asks, how can this compare to their new 900 lineup? A little bit more power and a lot more weight but over $10,000 more. I'm not convinced. Too right, Larry. The F900 GS looks really good to me for the price. Big updates across the board and the new looks are great in my opinion. So perhaps one to look at but honestly, I'm expecting the GS faithful to find the money somewhere because the 1250 is such a keen seller, a bestseller in fact in the UK by a massive margin and it's only matched in the Adventure bike segment by the other BMW variant, the GS Adventure. I'm surprised they didn't announce an update for it either and so were some of the commenters with Mianozi6772 for example asking any idea when the GSA version is out. Now honestly, there's nothing as of yet from BMW on this one but of course, we'll be the first to post about it as soon as we hear anything. So do hit subscribe if you've not already and you want to see that video as soon as it goes live. Also, we'll be getting hold of a 1300 GS press bike as soon as we possibly can. So thanks for all the inspiration in these comments for when I get it to review and again hit subscribe if you want to see that verdict as soon as possible. Let me know what you think of some of these takes down in the comments below and which ones you agree with and which ones you don't. Many thanks for watching today and we'll catch you in the next one.