bmw gs 1200 tft display free sample

While some may love the tech and others undoubtedly hate it, the digital revolution is here to stay, and theBMW R 1250 GS is a perfect example of a myriad of electronics coming together to enhance what was already a great package.

You already know the mechanical side of the R 1250 GS. Here we’ll take a dive into the electronic wizardry housed inside BMW’s flagship adventure bike. We’ll explain what all the acronyms mean and how they work.

TFT display: Short for Thin Film Transistor, this is a variant of the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) popular in the early 2000s as traditional analog gauges were being phased out. If you’ve looked at a new GS, then you’ve seen the giant TFT display in all its glory. TFT offers clear, colorful, and dynamic views of all of the bike’s vital information with a crispness an LCD screen could never match. This is a good thing, since there’s a lot of information the GS is throwing back at the rider to decipher.

When you move up to the advanced level of Dynamic Traction Control the R 1250 GS is equipped with, you step up to a system centered around a six-axis IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit).

This tracks the motorcycle’s yaw, pitch, and roll to truly understand how it’s being ridden in real time. More sensors monitor wheel speed, engine speed, and throttle position. Depending on a number of factors, including the ride mode and/or DTC setting, when you open the throttle, the GS will meter the amount you’re asking versus the speed of the engine and wheels, plus the position of the motorcycle. It’s doing this hundreds of times per second.

If everything is within the bounds of the GS’s settings, you’ll get the power you asked for. Once the amount of power asked for exceeds these settings, the GS will dial it back.

Integral ABS Pro: Using the six-axis IMU, Integral ABS Pro takes into account the lean angle of the motorcycle when applying brake pressure. So if you’re squeezing the lever as hard as you can while leaned over, the system will only apply the maximum the tire can withstand depending on your lean angle. The Integral part of the name links the front and rear brakes together when you apply the front brake lever. The rear brake still acts alone. BMW has also integrated separate street and dirt ABS, depending on which mode you select.

Dynamic ESA: Short for Electronic Suspension Adjustment, when you choose from the preset modes, Dynamic ESA will automatically level the load of the motorcycle to account for things like extra weight due to luggage and/or a passenger, and will automatically adjust the suspension damping in real-time depending on rider preference – say sporty road riding or aggressive off-road riding.

Ride Modes Pro: This is a big one. In addition to the standard Ride Modes above, Ride Modes Pro introduces more modes – Dynamic, Dynamic Pro, Enduro, and Enduro Pro. Dynamic and Dynamic Pro gives you even greater customization and performance for road riding, while Enduro and Enduro Pro transform the GS and give you greater control and performance off-road. You also get automated Hill Start Control, dynamic brake assistant, and engine brake control.

See? The R 1250 GS is complex, isn’t it? Don’t worry, while all the electronics may seem daunting at first, eventually, you figure out what functions matter more to you and those become the ones you end up using the most.

In this week’s first segment, Associate Editor Kelly Callan tells about her take on BMW’s upper middleweight ADV-style bike, the BMW F 900 XR with Premium package. The smaller, much less expensive sibling to the awesome 1000 XR could easily be overlooked on the showroom floor, so Kelly gives us her take on whether it would be worth your time, if you’re in the market for this type of moto.

Let me know what you think back to back on the transmission. My GS is SO much better shifting then my 15 RT was. I cant stress that to people enough.

If I was on a older LC say 14 or 15 I would be scarfing up one of these 18"s that are flying around. They are the best example of the 1200 LC Boxer there is. So if you are not really interested in a 1250, to me a 18 is the bike to snag.

Of course when I bought my 17.5 the 1250 was not out. I also got a good deal on my bike and accessory"s from Hermey"s, and BMW as a end of year model, free Nav VI, and cheap BMW financing.

If it was today, and I had a 15 RT (GS/GSA), and I was taking a bit of a financial bath, I would move to a 1250 with no doubt or any though what so ever. So you probably would loose as much going to a 18, as you would going to a 19 in your case. I for sure could be wrong on that.

There was a point on my ride of the 2018 BMW R1200GS Adventure when the thought struck me that retro motorcycles will soon be those that don’t come with an inbuilt subscription to Netflix. Maybe the future definition of ‘retro’ will be a motorcycle that doesn’t allow you to call up season three of House of Cards from an onboard speech recognition system whilst (in the case of adventure bikes) sipping Latte with your hologram pillion in a Starbucks car park.

On a similar note, I’ve resisted helmet based comms for philosophical arguments that were never really convincing, and have now totally fallen apart having tested a system at the launch of the 2018 BMW R1200GS Adventure.

Essentially, the 2018 BMW R1200GS Adventure is the same as the old GSA with a few colour and styling enhancements. The big story concerns the ever-growing rack of optional upgrades which are now available to threaten the thickness of your wallet. The undoubted highlight of which is a new TFT full-colour multimedia dash which includes phone and helmet Bluetooth connections (Netflix will be a 2019 option), all operated by the bar-mounted buttons and the control wheel.

More about the upgrades later, let’s just stay with the BMW R1200GS Adventure for a second. Whatever your views are on BMW and the GS range, there can be no argument about their continued popularity.

In a year where every sector, with the notable exception of adventure bikes, has seen a drop in sales, the two best-selling bikes in the UK, the R1200GS at number one and the R1200GS Adventure at number two, have experienced increased sales. A phenomenal achievement by any measure.

There are faster bikes, there are better off-road bikes, there are more comfortable pillion carriers and there are more precise handling bikes, but when it comes to a motorcycle that can do it all with a high level of competency, there are few, if any, that can match the GS or GSA.

With an all-new GSA surely under development in a hidden chamber deep in the Bavarian Alps, the current GSA is in what I suppose we could call the mid-model upgrade phase. For 2018 the prospective buyer will have the choice of an immense range of optional extras, which include dynamic suspension, an ‘Emergency Call’ feature, hill start control, quick shift gear change, keyless ignition and the new integrated TFT colour screen.

Our test ride was aboard the top-spec TE model which came with just about anything and everything you can integrate and bolt on to a BMW R1200GS Adventure. It included all the above and then some.

One of the main things I’m forever raving about when it comes to the BMW R1200GS Adventure is the quality of the electronically adjustable suspension (ESA) which provides an almost magic carpet-like smoothness.

The fact that I could also adjust the settings by pressing a button, rather than pissing about (and I’m choosing my words both carefully and emotionally here) with tools, is reason enough to lobby Parliament for the declaration of a national holiday to celebrate ESA.

The new ‘Emergency Call’ feature is essentially an intelligent, integrated communication tool connected to sensors programmed to detect a crash and then alert the emergency services with your location. It’s not quite that simple, as there is a system and a protocol to follow to eliminate non-emergencies, but I’m sure you get the drift. Perhaps the most useful advancement has been in the previously mentioned connectivity and the new multi-media TFT screen.

Thankfully, it now appears that the days of motorcycle manufacturers scouring bins for discarded Nintendo Game Boy LCD’s to fashion into motorcycle dashboards are over. The new screens, such as that found on the 2018 GSA, are light years ahead of what has been the norm up until this year. The look, clarity and colours are now more reminiscent of a modern tablet rather than a pixilated, monochrome relic of the past. Press the key-less ignition and the screen goes through a short boot-up sequence of graphics, before displaying the stuff you need to know to ride a motorcycle. From there it’s a full-on mission control unit which contains a whole raft of useful features, including a nifty adaptive red-line indicator based on engine temperature during the warm up phase.

Possessing a luddite gene when it comes to connecting wireless devices, it was, by my reckoning, a very simple process to connect via Bluetooth to my phone and helmet. Within a couple of minutes, I’d downloaded the BMW app, was tapping along to Tom Petty and thinking of calling someone just to ask where do you think I am?

The app also provides for a fairly basic navigation system, which is sure to improve as time goes by and undoubtedly replace the need for a separate GPS. Right now, it is not as user-friendly or functional as the GPS system already fitted on the BMW R1200GS Adventure.

The information available on the TFT is legion, and scrolling through the various screens and settings is simple and intuitive. I’ve little doubt that even the most resolute of anchor throwers will be converts by the time they’ve left the showroom. The new TFT costs £595 but in my opinion, is one of those features you’ll regret not buying, especially so when it comes to re-sale value of the GSA.

It’s been at least a couple of years since I’ve spent any meaningful time aboard a BMW R1200GS Adventure, and in some ways, I’d forgotten what a superb all round package the bike is. Given the addition of the new features, it’s an even more tempting proposition and I can’t think of a reason why it’ll not be pushing at the top of the sales charts once again in 2018.