2010 BMW R1200GS and GS Adventure Review

The R1200GS makes BMW Motorrad’s world go around as GS owners go around the world or around the block.
According to Pieter de Waal, vice president of BMW Motorrad USA, the GS/GS Adventure account for almost 30% of BMW Motorrad’s volume of bikes sold worldwide.
With nearly one-third of bike sales coming from the big GS line, BMW needs to feed the beast regularly. That beast is the collective horde of GS and GS Adventure fanatics found in just about every corner of the planet.
With such a foundational role in BMW’s global success, the GS is always at the front of BMW’s mind. The company is endeavoring to keep the GS fresh, never willing to relinquish the lead position in what’s now known as the Adventure Touring category, a segment BMW unwittingly created in 1980 with its first Gelände/Straße motorcycle, the R80G/S.

Although this year’s updates to the GS aren’t specifically tied to its 30th year in production, BMW bestowed a racy update, so-to-speak, upon the GS’s Boxer-Twin.
New cylinder heads that borrow heavily from the HP2 Sport are the key upgrade for the 2010 GS.
The new heads sport dual overhead cams (the previous GS used a single cam-in-head design) along with a radial valve arrangement that includes larger intake and exhaust valves. Furthermore, the exhaust valves are sodium-filled to better control all the heat exhaust valves experience.

Other updates are new intake manifolds, larger throttle manifolds and new pistons to complement the updated and improved combustion chamber created by the new cylinder heads.
Additional improvements related to the Boxer-Twin include a new muffler with revised internals, and a new electronically controlled exhaust flapper valve that, according to BMW, helps the new GS currently meet upcoming Euro emissions standards for 2012.
The switch to the HP2 Sport’s cylinder heads and other updates listed above are good for 110 peak hp at 7750 rpm, an increase of 5 ponies, and a gain of 3 ft-lbs for 88 ft-lbs at 6000 rpm. Redline has also increased from 8000 to 8500 rpm.
But the slight power gain, says BMW, is only part of the story. More significant than the boost in peak power is a large improvement in low- and mid-range power the new flat-Twin provides.
From roughly 2500 to 5500 rpm the 2010 engine is said to open a sizeable gap in torque compared to the previous mill. According to a BMW-provided dyno chart, the gap appears largest in the 5000-rpm range, but prior to that point the new GS still makes considerably more torque.
The new bike’s power then trades places with the previous bike, dipping in the 5500 to 6000-rpm range where the other bike increased torque. However, the new model picks up again shortly thereafter, cleanly outpacing the old engine all the way to redline.