2013GSA Last of its kind!

[1LIFE2LIVE]

FWIW, the BMW rep at yesterdays bike show indicated that the 2013 GS is the 1st to go water cooled with the 2014 GSA then the 2015 RT.

0.02

[8ninety8]

Curious after reading about new water head GS as to what airheads think about the new bike, the tech and the layout.

The new GS is trick, a mechanical bender, wet clutch in front, alternator buried, potentiometer instead of a throttle cable, power taken through a hollow balance shaft back through the engine, and so forth.

OTOH, Honda's new 1100 appeals to a demographic that seems to have been growing for some time, that is, a simpler rendition of a very cool 70's UJM, a bike, BTW, that's becoming hard to find in streetable condition. Not that I want one, just asking airheads opinions on trends.

[bikerfish1100]

Airheads are still trying to come to grips with the newness of brakes that work, alternators that produce electricity, motors that produce power, and lights that let you see down the road. Please don't confuse them with that thar new-fangled water-cooling. Maybe in another 10 years or so.....

[GRAHAMM]

Hmm, high tech and GS and remote areas....

I like my R100gs due to it's simple design and ease of repair. No computers or sensors to go wrong in the middle of nowhere and no water pump or cooling system.

My kTM is much the same except water cooled and I go where you don't want to have to walk out of. It is a simple carburetor design that I can likely fix with little resources.

Two seasons ago I purchased a husaberg with fuel injection and all the high tech sensors that make it a mean lean trail killing machine... I don't take it places I take the simple carburetor KTM... Too complicated to fix on the trail.

For remote I want simple and less, for areas that support the technology I would love the performance it brings.

[20715]

Airheads are still trying to come to grips with the newness of brakes that work, alternators that produce electricity, motors that produce power, and lights that let you see down the road. Please don't confuse them with that thar new-fangled water-cooling. Maybe in another 10 years or so.....

Love it.

I'm sticking with my 2009. Not for reasons of less complexity. Just because 125 HP isn't enough greater to get me to move up.

Now if they would put the K1600 engine in a GS, that might be a different story.

[mcmxcivrs]

Ive been riding those complex electified, injectified and computerised bikes for sixteen years and have not once had to do any roadside repairs - trail damage excluded. Seems reliable enough to me.

If you have to work on it while your out riding, maybe it's time to move up to something more advanced.

[8ninety8]

To an airhead the costs of service are high on their radar of owning and riding. Actually working on yer own ride has been part of the, dare I say it, zen of motorcycling. As technology races forward, as visits to the dealer service department stagger the pocketbook, as gizmos, electro-thingamajigs proliferate design, some riders viscerally connect with their rides while scratching their heads considering mounting a wet clutch in front of the crankshaft, then taking the drive through a balance shaft decades after airheads dominated Paris Dakar. What's could possibly follow? A sealed lithium battery in the fuel tank? Hey it's winter and ya gotta think about something. Especially after sixty.

[GRAHAMM]

Ive been riding those complex electified, injectified and computerised bikes for sixteen years and have not once had to do any roadside repairs - trail damage excluded. Seems reliable enough to me.

If you have to work on it while your out riding, maybe it's time to move up to something more advanced.

That was suppose to be the husaberg for me... 70deg motor, fuel injection, computer, sensors.... Two fuel pumps later I will stick to carburetor for the 25km into the nowhere trail that can hard be walked on. Love the performance but as they make these components smaller and lighter the dependability is just not there... Glad to hear that people have faith in the newer BMWs.

Btw a air head has never left me walking.... On the on other hand a k100 once took about 1/2 hr at a border crossing before it became unconfused enough to start.

Another thing for me is at 120kph I feel I am klipping along pretty good on the R100gs, with 50+ over the limit deemed as racing with court and likely 5000 fines in ontario... I don't trust myself with bikes that feel like they should cruise at 160 like the k100rs I had.

[Polarbear]

The new "water buffalo" Beemer, bringing back a very old 750 Suzuki legend(first water'd bike way back), will be another FIRST year BMW thing! I did this in 1995 with a GS1100. I rode it 97000 miles before it sold easily, BUT it had dozens of engine issues throughout the 5 years I owned it!!! NOW, BMW does it again? I will never likely buy another 1st year BMW anything, letting all you test ride the bugs out for a few years. It WILL have bugs, you'd "better" believe it...The changes made to the new GS twin are huge and many indeed and surely NOT proven. Risky business, but VERY cutting edge by BMW. Randy

[ponch1]

The new "water buffalo" Beemer, bringing back a very old 750 Suzuki legend(first water'd bike way back), will be another FIRST year BMW thing! I did this in 1995 with a GS1100. I rode it 97000 miles before it sold easily, BUT it had dozens of engine issues throughout the 5 years I owned it!!! NOW, BMW does it again? I will never likely buy another 1st year BMW anything, letting all you test ride the bugs out for a few years. It WILL have bugs, you'd "better" believe it...The changes made to the new GS twin are huge and many indeed and surely NOT proven. Risky business, but VERY cutting edge by BMW. Randy

I might hope to find a good deal on a leftover or slightly used final year GSA. That would be the ticket.