BMW 1200 GS (Using all Caps is Rude)?

Question

I would like to know if you can feel any tourq from the drive shaft while getting on the throttle in a turn. I'm really interested in the bike. I'm looking to test ride one myself as soon as I get a day off. I would also like to know if anyone that rides one uses 87 octane fuel in theres and wheather or not it effects how it runs. Is there much vibration and what kind of fuel economy realistickly do they get. And how do they handle at high speeds. About how fast does it go when it starts to quite pulling in 5th. Is something You can run down the interstate at 90 on and put a 1000 miles on in one day. thanks any information would greatly be appreceated.

Answer 1

Modern BM's have Paralever swingarm. Torque effect minimal if at all. There's movement from side to side when blipping the throttle at a standstill but unnoticeable on the move as stated previously.
GREAT bike....take one for a ride and you'll buy it!!!

Will run rings around most sports bikes on bumpy bitumen roads.

Answer 2

I have a 1100 GS. No drive shaft torque, but the engine torque will lean the bike to the right if you rev standing still. Not really noticeable at speed. I use premium fuel, have never tried lower octane. Plenty of vibration compared to my Honda interceptor, not much compared to a Harley. Fuel economy in the high 30s. It isn't happy at high speed compared to my Interceptor, too high off the ground and not faired enough. Sorry I don't want to ride in a car for 1000 miles in one day. Stock seat on this bike is no lazy boy.

A very sweet bike, but if you are not going to do dirt roads on a regular basis it's a waste to go for a duel sport and give up some road handleing.

Answer 3

IT HAS A SHAFT DRIVE... & its a bike.. so the answer is YES it suffers from torque effect.. at slow speeds this isnt a problem.. if your riding the bike hard & scraping on the corners it is.. you may also notice the bike has a tendency to rock from side to side at very high speeds( 100 MPH +)..This is also torque effect.. it dosnt bother you once you get use to it.. & dosnt seem to cause tank slappers as you slow back down.. but it is unsetteling when it first happens..

the problems it causes when riding hard are that you drop in to the corner a bit fast & the bike touches down ... so you think "I will back off a little so that I can make it round the corner.. looks like the corner is tightening up a bit too! & when you do the bike sinks in the rear & scrapes a whole lot more" OR " the bike lifts in the rear when you back off & you have more clearance" Depends which side of the bike the shaft is fitted.. Most bike makers have the shaft on the side that lifts the bike as you accelerate.. this makes the bike handle better under hard acceleration ( the back end dosnt sag as you take off from the lights).. but it does cause the problem of having to accelerate around the corners if your riding hard & are touching the bike on the road..

Answer 4

Now, now easygoing. Don't lump all bikes in together. Shaft drive does not necessarily cause torque reaction although it does manifest itself on longitudinaly mounted engines like BMW and MotoGuzzi. It does not on the Gold Wing because they use a counter-rotating alternator, in other words it spins the opposite direction as the crankshaft and cancels out a lot of the twist. And it doesn't make a big of difference which side of the bike the driveshaft is mounted on as to whether the rear end wants to raise under acceleration. It wants to raise because the resistance of the tire on the pavement results in the pinion gear trying to climb up the ring gear. That's also torque reaction. And shaft drive doesn't make bikes weave at high speeds, but worn tires, high mounted fairings and trunks and the amount of rake and trail do. My faired KZ1000 didn't weave at 100 mph until I put the trunk on. On it weaves, off it doesn't.

Answer 5

I've ridden one briefly, but not owned one.

I didn't notice any torque reaction at all from the shaft drive.

Very comfy, many Iron Butt types use them for 1000-mile/day (and longer) rides. I'd guess that top speed would be around 130 or so.

For more and better information, you should probably check out advrider.com, in the GSpot subforum.

Answer 6

Has the newer style swingarm, the shaft effect really really minor. Even my old monolever it's not really noticeable, maybe a slight downward effect when quickly slowing (is that double-talk?), nothing really on acceleration. This newer bike has paralever, nice setup.