The Rise of the 1200GS
The rise of the 1200GS.
Fancy a nice trip round Scotland and the Outer Hebrides? Well I did and so my fiancée and I went there for a week recently and I have never seen as many motorbikes on the road as on that trip. Scotland is definitely the place to go if you are a biker, it’s very bike friendly, great for tourists with arrows painted on the roads reminding you which lane goes in which direction
There were hundreds of them, two up, fully loaded and in big groups up and down the roads heading to and from highlands. One bike however was very prominent amongst the many different types that blurred past us. The BMW 1200GS. I would go as far as to say at least 40% of all the bikes I saw over the week where 1200GS’ mostly two up with all the luggage kit.
There are quite a few very good touring bikes on the market and the BMW is not the only touring bike out there. Is it purely the after effect of the Long Way Round that is making these bikes so popular?
I know it’s a quality bike, it’s comfy, has a great range, not too windy with a great screen and a great riding position, but again these are not stand out features when compared to other big touring bikes. But there must be something else to it. The lasting effects of the Long Way Round TV series and follow up books and series have very obviously worked wonders for BMW (KTM must be kicking themselves). All those riders who were previously content with their Pan Europeans and FJ1200’s are now feeling the need to don their Motorad hero-wear and set off on huge globe spanning journeys from the Home Counties to Scotland. Is their go-anywhere image the draw? Similar to that of Landrover where 90% of them never see anything muddier than a wet road with a few leaves on them in autumn? I have to say, it’s one of the reasons I like them. That feeling that the adventure can continue long after the tarmac has ended.
The one other explanation is the BMW badge, for a long time it’s been seen as the car you buy when you have "made it" and like to be seen as successful. They are good cars and the quality speaks for itself in terms of sales, but there is always going to be the designer label aspect to them as well. People will buy them because they are BMW not just because they are good cars. Are motorcyclists now becoming socially aspirational with their bike choices now? I hope not. Bikes have always been the great common denominator, getting rid of class boundaries with two wheels and a common love of the method of transport. I have had conversations with people who would not look twice at me before simply because I have been on my bike. If the day comes when we start getting snobby about our bikes as well as our cars, judging each other on the make of bike we ride, not just the fact we ride, then I think that will be a bad day for bikers.
Lets just hope it’s because they are a good bike that do the job and that good old Ewan and Charley have helped breath some life into an industry where we were all perceived to be either greasy bikers or insane racers. What ever the reason, it was good to see so many well loved bikes zipping up and down the roads in Scotland, there is no better way to see the world than from on the back of a bike.
Long live the motorbike.
