Of course I get asked a lot, why I decided to ride the BMW. One important part in it played the fact that I couldn't have test ridden the new Africa Twin. I never really felt comfortable on the old Africa Twin which is why this was very important for me. But the most important fact was that I felt instantly at home one the BMW R1200GS. The switch from my old R1200R was perfect. I have never felt this comfortable riding a different bike in such a short time. The ergonomics, the technical gadgets and the incredible power over the whole revrange had me quickly convinced.
A lot of travelers have taken the GS to the ends of the world and shown how reliable it can be. The new GS has been updated over the last three years to help with some of the issues the first models had. No other motorcycle combines comfort and agility like the GS.
It was very important to me that i feel 100% comfortable on my new bike, since it will be my home for the next two years. I was already able to enjoy the incredible handling and power on our past rides and I cant wait to take it on our big adventure. Even offroad the bike surprised me positively. Standing up the bike feels great and the electronics help you to put the power on the ground.
Even after riding the Honda now there is no question for me where I feel more comfortable. For me the BMW is the best bike and I am looking forward to take it on our biggest adventure yet.

We frequently get asked to compare our bikes against one another. To be honest we are all convinced that the bike we ride is the best for the journey. Still we will try to compare the most important things but we can tell you in advance that there will be no looser, but possibly two winners :).

First things first, the GS is a lot more expensive... This is a major point and one that has to be put up front. It also has more technical gimmicks, it's up to you if you like them or not. One of the most important things is, that the bikes still run even if some of the technical things are broken. You will get some flashing lights in your cockpit but you may as well ignore them. Something that is quite easy on the Africa Twin because if the electronic speedometer gets a little dusty, you will have a hard time reading it if the sun is behind you. That's one advantage of the BMW even though Fabi has to admit that the Speedometer is tough to read under any situation. The numbers are just to small.

The electronic suspension of the GS is also much better equipped to carry the weight of a world tourer. Basti is constantly complaining that his front tire of the Africa Twin is to light and Fabi did not have any problems even with a rear passenger. We have put the Africa Twins suspension as tight as possible and Bastis front is still too light. Without the Topcase it is better, but we are seriously considering a new suspension for the Hondas in Thailand. Riding positions is up to the rider, Denis and Basti prefer the Honda and Fabi prefers the BMW, you will have to try it yourself to make up your mind.

Lets compare power. Even on the spec sheet you can easily guess which bike is more powerful. The GS simply has more grunt. You can easily ride one gear higher and have the same acceleration than the Africa Twin. But if you push the Africa Twin on the street it is still able to keep up easily. Overtaking therefore is easier with the GS in steep mountain passes, but since the other cars are Ladas by now, overtaking is not a big problem anymore. The stock tires on the Honda didn't allow for much lean angle but with the new Heidenau K60 Scout this problem was solved. It appears though as if the Honda looses some of it power in higher altitude, we will investigate further to give you more details...

Now to another big point! How do the bikes perform offroad? Both bikes handle great. The Africa Twin feels incredible nimble and wants you to ride of the tarmac as often as possible. The tire dimensions help to absorb big rocks and potholes and make riding in the dirt a blast. You can definitely feel that the GS does not absorb the bumps as well because of the smaller front tire and the all around harder suspension. That does not mean that you can't keep up with the Africa Twins though. So far all has been up to the rider, picking the right speed and line is everything. The GS is the heavier bike of the two but with luggage and everything the difference is not as big as it seems.

Both the Boxer and the parallel Twin manage to hide their weight well. Picking up the BMW is considerably easier since you will usually land on the engine which keeps the bike in a more upright position. This will also usually keep your handlebars from hitting the ground.

The BMW has some more technical gimmicks like Keyless ride, quite useful if you keep to forget to get the key out before you put your gloves on. The cruise control is a blessing. You can relax behind the windscreen on those long stretches of tarmac between the mountains. The adjustable Windscreen of the GS also gives better protection against riding noise than the stock screen of the CRF1000L. So far the board computer of the BMW also seems to be more accurate, when it comes to temperature and gas mileage. Both bikes have almost the same mileage but because the BMW's tank is a little bit bigger you will get around 30 km's further.

There are some more differences like chain drive or Kardan shaft, how easy the bikes are to maintain and what mileage they get. The advantages and disadvantages of the Kardan shaft are obvious, if it doesn't break it's great... so far it's great ;). We did not have to do to much maintenance so far, service intervalls of the Honda are every 12.000 km, instead of every 10.000 km on the BMW. Having done an Oil change by ourselves, we can note that one Oil drain plug instead of two and a glass window instead of a dipstick to check the oil level is an advantage of the BMW. At least if you plan on doing the oil change by yourself.

Update after 12.600 Kilometers

The BMW has problems if the petrol is of bad quality. We had to put in 80 Octan gasoline in Iran and Turkmenistan and you could quickly hear a ringing sound when accelerating after wards. The watercooled GS does not have a knocking sensor in the engine and that is why it does not handle bad gas as well as the two Africa Twins. There is a program setting that should make it handle bad gasoline better, which can be chanced by the BMW dealer in Kasachstan - Astana. The two Africa Twin had no problem with the bad gasoline, there was neither a ringing nor a knocking sound to hear. We well keep you updatet!