2023 must have been a very anticipatory year for BMW Motorrad. Because when you replace the most popular steed in your stable, you obviously don’t want to make a poor impression. Moreover, BMW didn’t settle for a cautious facelift and a few small technical tweaks, but pushed itself to a major makeover. I had the opportunity to test the new 2024 BMW R 1300 GS for a week during a trip to Spain with two friends. The report of that trip will follow. For now: my findings of the GS after 4300 km in the seat.

To illustrate the importance of the GS for BMW’s business figures: in 2023, BMW sold a little more than 209,000 motorcycles worldwide. More than 60,000 of those were accounted for by the ‘big GS club,’ namely the 1250 GS, the 1250 GS Adventure, and the new 1300 GS (which has been on the market since the fall of 2023). You can safely say it’s BMW Motorrad’s cash cow.

I also want to mention upfront that I’m not a member of the GS Haters Club. Okay, it seems like everyone has a GS, making it feel somewhat ubiquitous. But after testing the 1200 GS Rallye and “needing” a new motorcycle myself, I almost bought a second-hand blue 1200 Rallye. Yes, I chose Continue reading →