RUST magazine: RUST #44

ADVENTURE
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SPANISH FLY
I’ve ridden many GSs. The 650s
(Funduro through to Sertão), the
800s, the 1150, the first 1200, then the
TU 110hp twin cam upgraded 1200,
then each of the water boxers. They
are like ‘home’. And at first glance
these 1200/1250s are a stately home
at that, given their sheer size and the
high number of fancy add-ons. To
the uninitiated they look improbable
motorcycles, for touring let alone offroad.
The 1250 GS is then much like its
predecessor. The frame and chassis
are pretty much unchanged for the
new model, so it should feel the same.
And while there’s more power, the
hike hasn’t dramatically changed the
characteristics of that power. Like
GSs before, you get a good wallop of
everything from bottom end to top.
Actually, early 1200GSs – from 2004-
09 – didn’t have the top end, the 2010
twin cam motor changed that. The
subsequent 2013-onwards Water Boxers
(water-cooled GSs) added to that top
end hit. This latest, 1250 GS, just adds
yet more.
It’s actually very impressive just
how strong this motor is – give it full
throttle and it is fully fast, like a road
racer, you cannot imagine needing
any more. It feels the equal to the KTM
1290 – honestly, only by back-to-back
testing (drag racing?) would you be able
to measure the difference. Like others,
I found it impossible to detect the
operation of the Shift Cam, the motor is
as smooth as it is powerful and there’s
no sudden change or lurch as the GS
swaps in a micro-instant from one cam
lobe to the next. Damn clever.
Somebody somewhere once said
power is nothing without control
(sounds very RUST), and that’s never
been more true than with super-advs.
And it’s here that there’s this unique
ace-card only the GS can play – it’s that
Boxer motor. Even in this super-sized
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