r1200gs tft display review manufacturer

Ok, the TFT problem again. This has happened to me once about a month ago. Early in the morning when I picked up the bike the TFT screen didn’t turn on. At the end of the day it was working.

Yesterday, same thing, yet this happened at the end of the day after a full day riding the bike flawlessly. TFT screen didn’t turned on, but everything else worked (lights, turn signals, etc…). This morning was OK again.

The new BMW Motorrad Connected display will offer a built-in navigation system via the Connectivity App installed on the smartphone, according to an official sneak peek of the new product. This will replace the turn-by-turn navigation currently used on the BMW TFT Dash.

Looking at the size and the shape of the new BMW TFT Display, we think that it will debut on the touring segment, and not on the GS. The R1250RT and K1600GT series are featuring some old-school analog dashes, and BMW will probably introduce this new one pretty soon. More than that, it looks too wide to fit other models such as the R1250GS, R1250R/RS or S1000XR, F900 series, and so on.

How does it work? You have to download the free smartphone app, tho connect via Bluetooth, and to set up the destination on the smartphone. The TFT Dash is taking over the information and shows you the guidance (it also features audio guidance). Of course, you can also listen to music and make calls.

BMW Motorrad->ke1398 is at the forefront of imagination, innovation and technology and proof of that is their latest instrument dashboard on their new generation motorcycles. Made up of a newfound technology known as the thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD), the unit provides in for a far more intuitive rider interface that improves image qualities such as addressability and contrast compared to the standard LCD displays.

Although this piece of tech is not brand-new and is made use by almost all motorcycle manufacturers these days on their high-end bikes, BMW here thinks that they have got the best package available via the unique operating concept of the new Connectivity option. It features a high-quality 6.5-inch full-colour TFT display that can also connect to your smartphone device via Bluetooth to enhance many possibilities for your ride. And we are here to decipher why it fares better than the LCD counterparts.

It all started in 1902 with an analogue speedometer that would have a needle, a gauge and some magnetic phenomena called Eddy currents that would move the needle around to measure the vehicle’s instant velocity. Fast forward to more than a century later, manufacturers started making use of LCD units to digitally display the speed along with the odo, fuel gauge, trip meters, temperature and other tell-tale signs we know of these days.

Today, as technology gains and riders demanding more information to be made available to them at any given time, we have the TFT displays that have begun to adorn all high-end motorcycles and one of them are the ones at BMW Motorrad. The engineers there have created a new Connectivity operating concept that provides “fast and clear information for the rider with the least possible distraction from what is happening on the road”.

When you access the dash you are taken to a sub menu that has five options – telephone, media, settings, navigation and my vehicle. The state-of-the-art display unit lets you adjust the ride settings of your BMW, and displays the necessary valuable information in an intuitive graphic display that is both easy to apprehend and fun to work around with your customisation skills. You can change your entire screen section to suit your taste rather than just a small section of it and make it dedicated for one singular function.

For example, you can select to view your tyre pressure and the entire screen gets is taken up with this information. If you select a media file, the entire screen turns into a music player. Even with all of this, BMW has made sure that the motorcycle’s speed and gear selected is always shown on the top of the screen even while the display is focussed solely on the requested task.

BMW have ergonomically designed the display in such a way that the rider should be able to access the information he needs with minimum usage of the controller wheel and toggle switches. All this is made enabled for the rider to be able to quickly and easily navigate to his preferences even on the go and without taking his focus off the road, all only by muscle memory.

This light sensitive TFT screen gives out clear and highly legible readings and can be wirelessly connected to your smartphone device and increase the functionality of the motorcycle’s instrumentation to a whole new level. The Bluetooth-enabled device can connect to your smartphone and let you adjust the ride settings of your BMW as well as tethering your phone’s operation to be operable from the onboard computer.

The main function of linking your smartphone is the ability to access your phone’s contacts, call logs and dialler. One can easily navigate to a contact on your phone and make a call to that person on the go. Also, you can receive calls and return calls via BMW’s helmet-mounted Motorrad Communication system that comes with an earpiece and a microphone attached to your helmet. The caller’s details and the picture will be displayed on the screen.

As for entertainment is concerned, the same device will allow you to browse through your music player in the smartphone and enable you to play your favourite track while you wind down on the mountain course. Media controls on the screen can let you toggle between songs. The display also gives you the name of the song, album and the album cover onto the screen. Neat.

Although BMW has its own traditional standalone GPS navigation system, the company has developed a new Motorrad Connected App that connects the smartphone and the dash. It shows a rudimentary navigation system that shows you turn-by-turn arrow directions with precise turn indications including lane guiding. You can also record your ridden routes and display ride statistics and information onto your smartphone via this app.

The system also saves your destinations and points of interests that can be called up on to the TFT dash. Although there is no full-blown map on the screen, a simple arrow indication charms those short route riders handling everyday rides. For those who still require the full version, can tether the BMW Motorrad Navigator above the TFT screen and can be configured to be controlled via the wheel and switch on the handlebar.

Apart from all of this, the screen also displays the bike"s critical information like current and optimum tyre pressure, ambient temperature, service schedules, amongst other things. But the most important of all is its engine and vehicle diagnostic display which gives us warning displays and information such as low fuel reserve level reached or engine faults like low oil pressure and stalling.

The TFT display connects your smartphone and bike together and, together with the BMW Connected App, enables you to find your route, listen to music and make phone calls while on the move. Thanks to the new USB socket, your smartphone never runs out of power when you’re on the road.

The TFT display connects your smartphone and bike together and, together with the BMW Connected App, enables you to find your route, listen to music and make phone calls while on the move. Thanks to the new USB socket, your smartphone never runs out of power when you’re on the road.

Today’s newest motorcycles are more likely to have flat-panel instrument displays than conventional mechanical gauges. And like your cell phone it’s worth the effort to protect the often fragile and scratch-prone screen face with the new R&G Second Skin Dashboard Protection kit. Made from high quality anti-scratch material the R&G screen protector kit has been designed to preserve the clarity of your motorcycle’s dashboard screen.

BMW, on the other hand, has taken an early-adopter approach to technology. Fuel injection and ABS were offered on the GS in the early ’90s. Traction control (known as ASC) and Enduro ESA (Electronic Suspension Adjustment) were offered in 2008. Five years later, the GS got throttle-by-wire, riding modes, a Multi-Controller wheel for navigating settings and menus, multiple ABS modes, and Dynamic ESA that adapted the suspension to riding conditions. In 2019, the GS got the ShiftCam variable-valve timing system, a 5.7-inch TFT color display, and infotainment via Bluetooth connectivity to a smartphone. And the latest GS has a 6-axis IMU, which provides input for cornering ABS, lean-angle-sensitive traction control, and semi-active suspension, all of which have different settings for each riding mode. A new option on the 2024 model will supposedly do your taxes, but don’t quote me on that.

BMW is adding a new colour TFT display as an option in place of the usual instrument cluster on R 1200 GS and Adventure models from the autumn. The 6.5-inch unit has a high-definition display and can show a number of different menu functions according to the rider’s preference.

The BMW Motorrad Connected App can be used to plot a route, and this can then be relayed to the rider via arrow navigation on the TFT display. However, this doesn’t provide as much detailed route information that you would find on a stand-alone sat-nav unit, so if you want to plan a longer journey with waypoints, or look for points of interest along a route, you’ll need to stick with a sat nav. But if you’re just trying to make it to a business meeting this new system should get you there without a fuss. The app can also record your routes and show information and statistics from these.

There was a point on my ride of the 2018 BMW R1200GS Adventure when the thought struck me that retro motorcycles will soon be those that don’t come with an inbuilt subscription to Netflix. Maybe the future definition of ‘retro’ will be a motorcycle that doesn’t allow you to call up season three of House of Cards from an onboard speech recognition system whilst (in the case of adventure bikes) sipping Latte with your hologram pillion in a Starbucks car park.

On a similar note, I’ve resisted helmet based comms for philosophical arguments that were never really convincing, and have now totally fallen apart having tested a system at the launch of the 2018 BMW R1200GS Adventure.

Essentially, the 2018 BMW R1200GS Adventure is the same as the old GSA with a few colour and styling enhancements. The big story concerns the ever-growing rack of optional upgrades which are now available to threaten the thickness of your wallet. The undoubted highlight of which is a new TFT full-colour multimedia dash which includes phone and helmet Bluetooth connections (Netflix will be a 2019 option), all operated by the bar-mounted buttons and the control wheel.

More about the upgrades later, let’s just stay with the BMW R1200GS Adventure for a second. Whatever your views are on BMW and the GS range, there can be no argument about their continued popularity.

In a year where every sector, with the notable exception of adventure bikes, has seen a drop in sales, the two best-selling bikes in the UK, the R1200GS at number one and the R1200GS Adventure at number two, have experienced increased sales. A phenomenal achievement by any measure.

With an all-new GSA surely under development in a hidden chamber deep in the Bavarian Alps, the current GSA is in what I suppose we could call the mid-model upgrade phase. For 2018 the prospective buyer will have the choice of an immense range of optional extras, which include dynamic suspension, an ‘Emergency Call’ feature, hill start control, quick shift gear change, keyless ignition and the new integrated TFT colour screen.

Our test ride was aboard the top-spec TE model which came with just about anything and everything you can integrate and bolt on to a BMW R1200GS Adventure. It included all the above and then some.

One of the main things I’m forever raving about when it comes to the BMW R1200GS Adventure is the quality of the electronically adjustable suspension (ESA) which provides an almost magic carpet-like smoothness.

The new ‘Emergency Call’ feature is essentially an intelligent, integrated communication tool connected to sensors programmed to detect a crash and then alert the emergency services with your location. It’s not quite that simple, as there is a system and a protocol to follow to eliminate non-emergencies, but I’m sure you get the drift. Perhaps the most useful advancement has been in the previously mentioned connectivity and the new multi-media TFT screen.

Thankfully, it now appears that the days of motorcycle manufacturers scouring bins for discarded Nintendo Game Boy LCD’s to fashion into motorcycle dashboards are over. The new screens, such as that found on the 2018 GSA, are light years ahead of what has been the norm up until this year. The look, clarity and colours are now more reminiscent of a modern tablet rather than a pixilated, monochrome relic of the past. Press the key-less ignition and the screen goes through a short boot-up sequence of graphics, before displaying the stuff you need to know to ride a motorcycle. From there it’s a full-on mission control unit which contains a whole raft of useful features, including a nifty adaptive red-line indicator based on engine temperature during the warm up phase.

The app also provides for a fairly basic navigation system, which is sure to improve as time goes by and undoubtedly replace the need for a separate GPS. Right now, it is not as user-friendly or functional as the GPS system already fitted on the BMW R1200GS Adventure.

The information available on the TFT is legion, and scrolling through the various screens and settings is simple and intuitive. I’ve little doubt that even the most resolute of anchor throwers will be converts by the time they’ve left the showroom. The new TFT costs £595 but in my opinion, is one of those features you’ll regret not buying, especially so when it comes to re-sale value of the GSA.

It’s been at least a couple of years since I’ve spent any meaningful time aboard a BMW R1200GS Adventure, and in some ways, I’d forgotten what a superb all round package the bike is. Given the addition of the new features, it’s an even more tempting proposition and I can’t think of a reason why it’ll not be pushing at the top of the sales charts once again in 2018.