All weather rider; Riding Your GS Year Around?

Hello Everyone,

So far, my BMW R1200GS has been great to ride (but of course!). I bought the bike because of it's ability to handle both on and off road situations, and because it's a quality motorcycle. However, I also bought the bike because I'm thinking about riding it almost year around (I can't ride in the snow, but every other month).

I was wondering if you are riding your GS year around (what months) and what you would recommend for someone that has not (yet).



Thank You,

Eric
BMWR1200GS.com

Hi Eric
I dare to say that in South Africa we don't even have one week in the year that is not suitable for GS riding.
Yes it rains in summer in the area where I live, but muddy & slippery dirt roads are a challenge too!
Air flow gear, wind fromthe front and a rain suit in the top box make warm summer day riding a pleasure!
Our winter days are rarely below freezing, so with heated grips and a bit of bundling up, even winter riding can be done with a smile. Our Club has a 'Winter Chill-out' Weekend-away Ride in the middle of winter and it is a popular ride among members.

Let's see if the other members agree with me?

There is no bad weather, only bad riding gear.

Well, that may not be true for Canada, but there are few places in South Africa where you would not have excellent to good riding weather 350+ days of the year. The other 15 days would be bad riding for a few hours only with the rest of the day fair to good.

The first Annual BMW Bikers Gathering (ABBG) was arranged by BMW Motorrad SA in Clarens, in the Free State province, in midwinter. We asked the organisers where the camping site was and they felt that BMW riders didn't camp so they hadn't organised any. To prove the point, Brian "Buccaneer" Cannoo (R.I.P) and I camped in an almost empty site in Golden Gate National Park.
In the morning, any liquid left outside would be frozen (except the rum!) and there would be ice on the bike. But by 8 o'clock coffee and rusks, the bright sunshine had melted any ice and rest of the day was great riding weather - even perspiring inside the Goretex jackets we wore.
In winter when the sun goes down, the chill comes back and it's time to make the fire, heat up a nice granite rock and wrap it in newspaper to put in the bottom of the sleeping bag to keep your feet warm during the night. I camped in a cheap "festival-type" two season tent on an air mattress with a Coleman 0deg C rated sleeping bag. I slept warmly enough in long thermal underwear with my riding jacket pulled over my torso and a beanie cap on my head. These days, I would carry a fleecy rug and wrap it around my shoulders before snuggling into my sleeping bag.

Seriously, the only time I have had "bad riding weather" was mist and rain in the Natal Midlands returning from a BMW Rally in Port Edward. Wearing spectacles and looking out, cold air fogged perspiration off my face on the inside surface of my glasses. My breath fogged the outside surface of my glasses with a different pattern and the inside of the partly open visor was dotted with fine spray from other road users. The outside of the visor had rain on it. I couldn't see much at all and almost ended up underneath a stationary truck stopped on the road shoulder. I pulled in to the next town, had a sherry in the pub and didn't budge until the rain disappeared an hour later. I continued in overcast sky without rain and hit similar cold+wet weather some 50miles (80kms) from home. I stopped again and called my home to say I'd be late. All in all I was two hours late, but safe.

Riders in the Western Cape may have winter rain that spoils their riding for a week or two at a time, and the Garden Route near George seems to have bouts of rain all year, but over the mountains on the Oudtshoorn side it is always sunny, so a change of route gets you by the localised weather patterns and on your way.

Canada is another story, I know. You must only get to ride 5-6 months of the year at best...?

Why just GS - i commute daily with the LT and would roughly say that i use the bike 350 days of the year - regardless of the wheather. The only days i dont ride is when we are on leave with the car.

I agree with LeRoy,

In South Africa, EVERYDAY is a good day for riding. We are blessed with some of the best bike-riding weather in the world.

I consider every day a good riding day, weather does not matter. I am in this now since 1975 and I guess that by now I am seasoned. Two years ago I did a trip of about 3900 Km and I guess that more then 3000 Km must have been in the rain and I still enjoyed the trip.