{"id":5863,"date":"2016-05-19T17:32:12","date_gmt":"2016-05-19T17:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/\/?p=5863"},"modified":"2016-05-25T17:18:39","modified_gmt":"2016-05-25T17:18:39","slug":"motorrad-bmw-r1200-gs-adventure-1500-miles-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2016\/05\/19\/motorrad-bmw-r1200-gs-adventure-1500-miles-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Motorrad: BMW R1200 GS Adventure – 1,500 Miles Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BMW<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been a motorcycle rider for the last 4 weeks. It was 6 weeks ago that I passed my MSF Basic Riders Course and 4 days since I passed the MSF Advanced Riders Course. In the last 4 weeks of riding, I\u2019ve passed 1500 miles on my bike. That\u2019s an average of 18K miles a year if I could ride year-round. The reality is, in New Hampshire, riding a motorcycle is a May-September activity.<\/p>\n

One thing I\u2019ve noticed since taking up biking as a hobby is the overall difference in being on roads. Drivers don\u2019t really care you\u2019re there if they even notice you at all. It helps that on the bike, I\u2019m taller than most cars on the road. It doesn\u2019t mean I am considered any more when people want to pass or get over or pull out in front of me. I\u2019ve been nearly-hit about 5 times in 4 weeks which is about how often I\u2019m nearly-hit in a year in my Golf R. It\u2019s a very tough thing to deal with. At the end of the day, cars are bigger than my bike, I don\u2019t provoke anyone and I drive way less aggressive in the bike than I do my car and hope others see me but if not, I have to remain alert. There\u2019s no area for distraction while operating this bike.<\/p>\n

Bikers are mostly nice. A lot of them wave. Most guys on Harley Davidson bikes do not. I honestly don\u2019t know why but they don\u2019t both to look over or wave. I guess that brand is doing fine but I\u2019ve tried to wrap my head around the Harley thing. I don\u2019t want a big bike that\u2019s flashy so they weren\u2019t for me as a bike itself. I certainly looked at them where I didn\u2019t spend any time looking at super sport bikes because I have to haul things. I can\u2019t load up a case of beer on an R6. Either way, Harley riders don\u2019t wear proper riding gear, don\u2019t even wear a full helmet or any helmet and never wave or acknowledge you. They just pretend that they\u2019re super awesome and I really don\u2019t understand it. Then again, most of them own trucks and I don\u2019t see any need for that either. My Golf can haul beer and tools. I don\u2019t need an 8\u2019 pickup truck.<\/p>\n

The bike, while used and built 6+ years ago has been really amazing to ride. Taking the training courses has obviously helped. When I bought it, the stock tires were nearly gone (2\/32 tread) so I replaced them with Conti Trail Attack 2 tires. These were far too road-centric and not really suitable for the trail at all. This was my mistake. I\u2019ll do better with next year\u2019s tires but I\u2019m stuck with these since they were $350 for the set. While these are great on road and in wet, on gravel, dirt and mud, they\u2019re pretty much useless. The brakes were good, maintenance was current (as it could be for a bike with only 7K miles). I\u2019ve been really impressed with the overall handling.<\/p>\n

\"BMW<\/a><\/p>\n

First, the features that set this bike apart from others:<\/p>\n