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THERE'S NO GETTING away from it: the BMW R1200GS Adventure is a man's bike. If you're a wimp you can forget it, it's not for you. With a dry weight of 220kg (250kg with fuel), a lofty seat height and mental Mad Max looks it was never going to be a runabout for Kylie, even if she could get it off the side-stand.
The off-road GS range has been a massive success for BMW both in competition and customer sales, so for 2006 the best-selling R1200GS is now available in Adventure guise.
The new GS wasn't built specifically to circumnavigate the globe, but its increased 33-litre, 465-mile fuel range alone means you'd struggle to find anything better should you be considering following in the wheel tracks of Ewan and Charley in the not-too-distant future.
My experience was a much more modest two days in the mountains north west of Valencia - the forests of Aras de los Olmos to be precise, and an excellent location to put the latest GS to the test.
The Adventure's rugged appearance suggests it means business, so if racking up miles at high speed on roads and loose trails is your bag then this beast is certainly built to deliver the goods.
There are many changes to the new Adventure over the standard GS, the most notable being more power from the 1200cc twin motor. It puts out a claimed 100bhp, with a 17 per cent increase in torque helping to keep gear changes to a minimum whether you're on- or off-road. The engine is pleasantly free revving, which means the rev limiter is never far away when traction is at a minimum and the rear tyre is free to spin. Throttle response and fuelling are difficult to fault, although a fair bit of popping occurs while shifting down through the lower gears.
Talking of shifting, the new six-speed gearbox is a big improvement on the old model as gear changes are now quicker and more positive. As is now the norm on many bikes, a gear position indicator is incorporated in the flat screen dash - very useful with such a flexible engine as it's easy to lose track of what gear you're in.
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