2025 BMW R12 G/S Review

The retro-styled G/S this time around drops the Urban tag and reverts to its off-road heritage.

BMW Motorrad’s R 12 family expands with the Dakar special that reminds of the first R 80 G/S. That boxer engined beauty arrived in 1980. Now, 45 years on, it is reborn again, this time as the BMW R 12 G/S. Again? Well, yes, because it last featured here as the R nineT Urban G/S. That was more a street scrambler with a 19-inch front wheel. This newcomer features long suspension travel (200mm+) and a 21-inch item up front. Naturally, it is based on the R 12 running gear. And of course it too looks an absolute peach, especially in the dual tone white with contrasting red seat. However, as a base bike it costs $6k more than before. 

That said, it does come with a swag of quality gear to go with that sexy look. The suspension is more adjustable than before,  and there’s full LED lighting, Brembo radial brakes up front, adjustable levers, keyless ride and several riding modes. 

There are also three packages that come as standard with the local R 12 G/S. One includes a quickshifter, heated grips and cruise control while the Enduro package Pro comprises high grip foot rests, handlebar risers, an 18-inch rear wheel, hand protectors and an Enduro Pro ride mode. The third package includes a Bluetooth interface, multicontroller and smartphone cradle. That takes the price of the standard bike to $35,990. Go for the Option 719 and you get five blingy billet bits for an extra grand. But as mentioned, you can order it without that stuff if you want. We imagine few will. 

This is such a crowd puller. Everyone stopped to admire it while we were parked up, though all and sundry were a bit shocked at the price. 

Looks adventurous 

The R 12 G/S comes with a flat solo seat as standard (860mm height), optimised for sitting (road) or standing (offroad work). It’s red too, just like the original. That 860mm standover height makes it tricky to swing a leg over. It’s a price you pay for added off-road ability. That and the 21-inch front wheel, 18-inch rear. And the knobby rubber – not extreme here though – and while they hum some on tarmac that’s largely drowned out by the distinctive sound of the air/oil-cooled 1170cc boxer twin. It delivers a handy 80kW (7000rpm) and 115Nm (6500rpm), while gases exit via a two-into-one left-sided exhaust system with a high-mount silencer. 

Another special feature is shaft drive, reducing the chances of damage while off-road riding. There are also three ride modes –  “Rain”, “Road” and “Enduro”. Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) and engine drag torque (MSR) control are standard. TC is switchable for off-road riding. 

The quickshifter is a beaut, though we managed to hit the occasional neutral between first and second, so opted to use the clutch for the first upshift. We also stalled it a few times at the lights. Tall gearing means you need a few more revs to get underway.

Twin discs up front and cornering ABS are standard. There’s a minimalistic round display, and similarly round LED headlight. Don’t expect a fuel gauge as such. Evidently when you’re almost out it starts counting but the 16L tank should last at least 300km.

Keyless go

Once you’re all kitted up and the key is pocketed, that’s enough to get going. Push the master ignition button, whereupon the instruments light up and then hit the starter. It’s not too bad to manoeuvre either, providing you’re tall and strong enough to wrangle 229kg of upright ADV. Balancing things at the lights you really need to be about 180cm plus, so it’s a lanky offering. 

Once it’s warmed up the transmission works a treat. Upshifts seem a touch smoother with a few revs on board, and clutchless downshifts smoother without any throttle. 

The ancillaries are a bit special. Cruise for example takes about 2sec to activate. One to turn on the master switch, another to set cruise speed. Why aren’t they all like this? We’ve never been big on heated grips but on the bottom of three settings it’s just right and we left it on the whole time. It makes winter riding just a bit more tolerable.

Not that there’s anything particularly annoying about the G/S. Quite the opposite really; it seems sorted. The extended travel suspension will take a bit of time to tweak to your liking. You need a screwdriver to get the ride just so. Preload at the rear is adjusted by a knurled knob. And the handling, even with these tyres fitted, is superb. So too the brakes. This is what you’re paying for. Truly quality components. The dual Brembo Stylema radials up front just throw this on its nose, without even much lever effort. 

If it were ours, we’d stick to the standard dual-purpose rubber, for even more on-road confidence and better braking distances. But even with this rubber it still changes direction effortlessly. The low C of G with the flat twin, the big wide bars and a noticeable effect of weighting the pegs make this almost turn by stealth. You get almost no sense of countersteering. BMW flat twins are renowned for their natural turn-ability.

Killer boxer 

The engine is a delight too, so laid back. It pulls from 2000rpm handily enough but is happiest above about 2500. The 100 kay mark comes up at 3300rpm so you can expect fuel use figures in the mid-fours on the open road. That’s also because you really don’t need anything more than 3000-4000rpm in rural running, even less in town. Above about 4500rpm it does hit another gear, winding up until sign off around 8500rpm. It’s quick too, plenty fast enough for NZ roads. At all speeds we rode, the vibes were minimal, the mirrors clear. 

We found the single seat thin in the padding. That’s possibly to make it easier to swing a leg over. And the little screen does diddly squat to keep the weather off. That said, a bigger screen might ruin the looks. This is kind of retro to the eye but also functionally, in some small ways. For instance, there’s no digital readout of speed, analogue only. And no fuel gauge either. It does register revs though; they’re part of the trip info.

Who is it for?

I think you’d really want this if you were serious about long distance adventure touring, or maybe you’re an adventure ride enthusiast. Just be aware that with the standard option packs, you’re at base R 1300 G/S pricing. And if you were serious about adventure touring the bigger GS is probably better set up for the job.  

BMW R 12 G/S
$35,990
0-100 km/h 4.18s
80-120 km/h 1.97s (57.57m)
100-0 km/h 50.20m
Speedo error  93 at an indicated 100km/h
Engine Capacity  1170cc
Format  Air /oil cooled / fuel-injected / flat twin
Max power  80kW@7000rpm
Max torque  115Nm@6500rpm
Cylinder head  DOHC / 8v
Gearbox  6-speed
Drivetrain  Shaft drive drive
Suspension front  45mm USD forks, fully adjustable 
Suspension rear  Monoshock, fully adjustable
Brakes front  Twin-piston calipers, 310mm, twin discs
Brakes rear  Twin-piston calipers, 265mm disc
Safety systems  ABS, TC
Tyre size  f-90/90R21, r-150/70R18
Tyre type  Michelin Anakee
Wheelbase  1580mm
Seat height  875mm
Rake/trail  26.9° / 120.9mm
Fuel capacity  26.9L
Measured weight  229kg
Weight distribution  f-113kg / r-116kg