tft display bmw 1200 gs free sample

Let me know what you think back to back on the transmission. My GS is SO much better shifting then my 15 RT was. I cant stress that to people enough.

If I was on a older LC say 14 or 15 I would be scarfing up one of these 18"s that are flying around. They are the best example of the 1200 LC Boxer there is. So if you are not really interested in a 1250, to me a 18 is the bike to snag.

Of course when I bought my 17.5 the 1250 was not out. I also got a good deal on my bike and accessory"s from Hermey"s, and BMW as a end of year model, free Nav VI, and cheap BMW financing.

If it was today, and I had a 15 RT (GS/GSA), and I was taking a bit of a financial bath, I would move to a 1250 with no doubt or any though what so ever. So you probably would loose as much going to a 18, as you would going to a 19 in your case. I for sure could be wrong on that.

In this week’s first segment, Associate Editor Kelly Callan tells about her take on BMW’s upper middleweight ADV-style bike, the BMW F 900 XR with Premium package. The smaller, much less expensive sibling to the awesome 1000 XR could easily be overlooked on the showroom floor, so Kelly gives us her take on whether it would be worth your time, if you’re in the market for this type of moto.

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.

There are faster bikes, there are better off-road bikes, there are more comfortable pillion carriers and there are more precise handling bikes, but when it comes to a motorcycle that can do it all with a high level of competency, there are few, if any, that can match the GS or GSA.

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 fact that I could also adjust the settings by pressing a button, rather than pissing about (and I’m choosing my words both carefully and emotionally here) with tools, is reason enough to lobby Parliament for the declaration of a national holiday to celebrate ESA.

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.

Possessing a luddite gene when it comes to connecting wireless devices, it was, by my reckoning, a very simple process to connect via Bluetooth to my phone and helmet. Within a couple of minutes, I’d downloaded the BMW app, was tapping along to Tom Petty and thinking of calling someone just to ask where do you think I am?

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.

While some may love the tech and others undoubtedly hate it, the digital revolution is here to stay, and theBMW R 1250 GS is a perfect example of a myriad of electronics coming together to enhance what was already a great package.

You already know the mechanical side of the R 1250 GS. Here we’ll take a dive into the electronic wizardry housed inside BMW’s flagship adventure bike. We’ll explain what all the acronyms mean and how they work.

TFT display: Short for Thin Film Transistor, this is a variant of the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) popular in the early 2000s as traditional analog gauges were being phased out. If you’ve looked at a new GS, then you’ve seen the giant TFT display in all its glory. TFT offers clear, colorful, and dynamic views of all of the bike’s vital information with a crispness an LCD screen could never match. This is a good thing, since there’s a lot of information the GS is throwing back at the rider to decipher.

When you move up to the advanced level of Dynamic Traction Control the R 1250 GS is equipped with, you step up to a system centered around a six-axis IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit).

This tracks the motorcycle’s yaw, pitch, and roll to truly understand how it’s being ridden in real time. More sensors monitor wheel speed, engine speed, and throttle position. Depending on a number of factors, including the ride mode and/or DTC setting, when you open the throttle, the GS will meter the amount you’re asking versus the speed of the engine and wheels, plus the position of the motorcycle. It’s doing this hundreds of times per second.

If everything is within the bounds of the GS’s settings, you’ll get the power you asked for. Once the amount of power asked for exceeds these settings, the GS will dial it back.

Integral ABS Pro: Using the six-axis IMU, Integral ABS Pro takes into account the lean angle of the motorcycle when applying brake pressure. So if you’re squeezing the lever as hard as you can while leaned over, the system will only apply the maximum the tire can withstand depending on your lean angle. The Integral part of the name links the front and rear brakes together when you apply the front brake lever. The rear brake still acts alone. BMW has also integrated separate street and dirt ABS, depending on which mode you select.

Dynamic ESA: Short for Electronic Suspension Adjustment, when you choose from the preset modes, Dynamic ESA will automatically level the load of the motorcycle to account for things like extra weight due to luggage and/or a passenger, and will automatically adjust the suspension damping in real-time depending on rider preference – say sporty road riding or aggressive off-road riding.

Ride Modes Pro: This is a big one. In addition to the standard Ride Modes above, Ride Modes Pro introduces more modes – Dynamic, Dynamic Pro, Enduro, and Enduro Pro. Dynamic and Dynamic Pro gives you even greater customization and performance for road riding, while Enduro and Enduro Pro transform the GS and give you greater control and performance off-road. You also get automated Hill Start Control, dynamic brake assistant, and engine brake control.

See? The R 1250 GS is complex, isn’t it? Don’t worry, while all the electronics may seem daunting at first, eventually, you figure out what functions matter more to you and those become the ones you end up using the most.

They say competition is healthy. It brings the best out of each and everyone in the race and luckily for us, automotive manufacturers are looking for more than just brute power and performance to give the rider an experience he would never get elsewhere. The race to the top is getting more fearsome every passing day and the manufacturers are pulling out every little trick they have up their sleeves to make their product stand out from the rest.

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”.

Starting with the brand’s 2017 R1200 GS models, BMW has been giving this piece of tech as an optional package whose default screen shows all the usual information like the speed, fuel et al., but is much more than just that. It gets an auto contrast adjust function that varies on the ambient light and has a low-reflection surface to make it more legible even when the sun hits it.

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.

BMW has not bothered with accessing your messages or e-mails as they believe that is simply too much distraction for the rider, especially if he has to read long messages while riding as it is dangerous too.

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.

Simply use Bluetooth to connect with your motorcycle—which is equipped with Connectivity and TFT—and establish a connection to your communication system, if present. No matter whether you select winding or direct routes, verbal announcements and arrow indications that are easily visible in the TFT ensure that our app and your motorcycle will safely get you to your destination. Thanks to operation on the handlebars, you not only have navigation, telephony and music right at hand, but you also get an overview of the most important riding or vehicle data at the same time.

•The app is part of BMW Motorrad Connectivity and can only be used actively in combination with vehicles with a TFT display. The connection between smartphone, vehicle and communication system, if present, is established wirelessly via Bluetooth. Operation is possible using the multicontroller on the handlebars. To output music, telephony and navigation information, the use of the BMW Motorrad communication system is recommended.

•Be aware that the functionality of your smartphone and the connection to the vehicle also depends on national requirements and conditions, and therefore cannot be guaranteed by BMW Motorrad at any time.

The new MultistradaV4 has a new four-cylinder engine, too, replacing the V2 used in previous models. The new powerplant uses springs and rockers to open and close the valves instead of the Desmodromic system for which Ducatis are famous. With 2 mm more bore than the V4 engine found on other Ducs, the power and torque curves are flatter and more accessible. Peak power is 170 hp at 10,500 rpm (a 25% increase), while torque tops out at 92.2 lb-ft at 8,750 revs. The new valvetrain stretches service intervals to 36,000 miles—it was 6,000 miles on the first-gen Multistradawhen that model came out in 2003.

There are four riding modes (sport, touring, urban, and enduro), all displayed on the bike’s new 5.5-inch—or optional 6.5-inch—TFT screen. The first three modes are for on-road and the third is for off-road.

Over the course of a long day of riding in and around Borrego Springs, California, I got to try the new Multistrada on a lot of street and a lot of dirt. The most remarkable thing was how well it handles both surfaces. In fact, on the way to and from our afternoon session in the dirt, we rode the same winding mountain road as we did for the on-road ride, except that we were riding on the dirt tire. The Pirelli Scorpion Rally STRs felt surprisingly grippy on the winding mountain road, while they chopped through the dirt and sand of our off-road ride with aplomb. Depending on how much dirt riding you have planned, you could probably get this dirt tire as the only rubber for your Duc and be happy riding on it. I was pushing it about as hard as I could going up and down the twisting mountain road and I never felt any slip or squirm. I’m not as good a rider as you, of course, but I’d think most riders will probably be satisfied with this combination. If you rarely go off road, then you can get the Pirelli Trail IIs for a little more contact patch.

This is the grandaddy OG of adventure bikes. The GS line launched 40 years ago with the 1980 R 80 G/S (Gelande und Strassen, dirt and street). More than 1.2 million GS models have been built over six generations. Since Hubert Auriol’s victory in 1981, BMW motorcycles have won Paris Dakar four times. In the hands of regular adventure riders, they have circled the globe countless times.

The modern R 1250 GS Adventure version of this line is much more refined, of course, with a smooth and quiet 1,254cc flat-twin making 136 hp at 7,750 rpm and 105 lb-ft of torque at 7,550. It’s not as crazy powerful as the Ducati, but you might find that it is more than enough. Three years ago, the R 1250 GS Adventure got an enhanced version of the traditional flat-twin boxer with more power and torque while achieving a smoother operation and greater refinement. The 1,254ccs of displacement is up from 1,170 previously. Mileage is listed as 49.5 mpg, up 5 percent, and the engine gets BMW ShiftCam Variable Engine Timing for more balanced power delivery.

Like the Duc, the GS Adventure is loaded with electronic controls to help you through your ride. There are two ride modes standard on the bike, along with Automatic Stability Control for added safety.

As I type these very words, I still have bugs on my grille from an afternoon of adventure that included both winding mountain roads and off-road, mountainous, dangerous dirt. The GS was at ease in both worlds. Ripping up the paved two-lane not far from my house, the Beemer held up safely and stably as far as I was pushing it. While the weight is higher up in an adventure bike, and the bike overall is heavier than BMW’s more sporty street bikes, it was never a challenge to lean this comfortable adventure motorcycle through corners made more for superbikes. As long as I didn’t overcook it going into corners, the ABS, traction control, and all the other electronics did their jobs and I’m here a-typin’. My press bike stickered for $20,345.

If that’s too much and you still want a BMW, consider the F 900 R and XR mid-range adventure sport entries starting at $8,995. They’re powered by an 895cc upright parallel-twin that makes 99 hp and 67 lb-ft. Ride height is adjustable between 30 to 34 inches. These also offer Dynamic and Dynamic Pro ride modes as options, along with ABS. Of the two, the R is setup more for street while the XR is a little more adventure-oriented.

It’s 37 inches wide and 545 pounds, so it’s just a little smaller and lighter than some other bikes in this class. It felt smaller than the BMW, for instance, and it was even a little lighter. It doesn’t run quite as smoothly as the more expensive bikes in the class but I was very happy to have this motorcycle in my garage for as long as I did. I kept finding excuses to put on all the gear and go riding. You will, too.

You don’t necessarily have to go five-figures to get an adventure bike. There is a whole class just down one notch from the top that will also satisfy your riding lust. At the upper end of the class is the Moto Guzzi V85TT. Guzzis inspire tremendous loyalty among their owners. They love these hulking Italian things.

Triumph has produced a Tiger model since 1937 when it started with the Tiger 70, 80, and 90, with those numbers representing each model’s top speed. Today there are five 900 models (and no, that’s not top speed, it’s displacement); they range from $14,700 to $17,100; and five Tiger 1200s that go from $19,100 to $24,200. The 900 Rally Pro is a popular choice, with 93.9 hp and 64 lb-ft of torque from an 888cc inline-triple. Weighing in at 476 pounds wet, it should be light enough to get the most out of the power and torque on tap.

And if those options are too heavy for you, Triumph has updated its Tiger line-up to reflect the realm of adventure, with 660cc and 850cc offerings now available. Both of these models are available in a single trim, with the Tiger Sport 660 starting at $9495 while the Tiger 850 Sport starts at $11,995. Launched shortly after the Trident 660, the Tiger Sport 660 is built on a similar frame as the standard bike and rolls on 17-inch wheels, all powered by an inline triple-cylinder engine producing 80 hp and 47 lb-ft of torque. Minimal suspension travel and the 17-inch wheels make the smaller displacement Tiger suitable for minimal off-roading but help the model excel at all-around road riding manners.

In revamping its Tiger lineup, Triumph has created slots for all versions of the adventure lifestyle. The Tiger 1200 lineup is largely focused on competing with BMW and Ducati in grand-touring adventures, and the same can be said for the Tiger 900 series and the competing sizes of BMW GS and Ducati Multistrada. In order to round out the lineup with a true off-road machine, the British engineers took the parts bins and created the Tiger 850 Sport. Following the lineage of Tigers before it, the 850 Sport has an 888cc inline triple-cylinder engine that produces 84 hp and 60 lb-ft of torque. Notably, the 850 Sport rolls on a staggered set of wheels, with a 19-inch up front and a 17-inch out back, meaning the 423-pound model is more equipped for loose surfaces and trails than its smaller sibling.

The CRF250L gets more displacement, more power, and a new name for 2021 as the CRF300L. With a 286cc dohc fuel-injected single cylinder, the bike should have just the right output for those getting the hang of riding and enough for those with more seat time to have fun. Like many dirt bikes, it has a fairly high seat position at 34.7 inches above the ground, but that just encourages you to keep your feet on the pegs. At only 309 pounds of curb weight, it’s a lot easier to maneuver than some of the bigger bikes above, in fact, it’s easier to ride than all of the bikes above. The best thing about it is its sticker price, which starts at just $5,349. And remember, it has all the requirements for street-legal riding, so you can use this for just about everything.

If you’re not familiar with off-road riding, there are plenty of places to learn. I spent a day at the Honda Powersports’ Colton Rider Education Center in SoCal, and then there’s the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s Basic Rider Course. And there are schools like RawHyde Adventures that specializes in BMW adventure bikes and offers classes in California and Colorado. There are adventure out there waiting for you—go chase it!