The New 2026 BMW R1300GS

June 12, 2026

Looking back at all of the motorcycles I have owned, my favorite was a 2014 BMW R1200GS. The legendary “Gelände/Straße” platform had been reinvented, and I loved both the looks and the capability of that bike. I rode it all over the world. When I got its successor - the 1250 - I went with the larger Adventure. It was a “bigger is better” mentality. It’s an amazing motorcycle. In 2024, the platform was reinvented again with the R1300GS. I held off for a couple of reasons: first, it was a dramatic styling departure that took some getting used to; second, I like to wait a model year or two for the kinks to be worked out.

This year, I underwent a significant change to my life: I am working full-time again, and commuting by motorcycle every nice day. I’m also living on the mainland for a while, with access to a lot more great rides nearby. This change got me thinking about a more agile, sportier bike. So I looked at and rode a few. Some favorites were the Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello S and the BMW R1300RS. Both are sporty, agile, and beautiful machines. Besides those serious contenders, I did my usual walkabout of Triumph, Ducati, and Harley-Davidson. All of them have some great motorcycles in their line-ups.

It took only a few miles into a test-ride to know that the 2026 BMW R1300GS was for me.

It was like coming home again. It has all of the capability of my old favorite from 2014, but more of everything that made it great. More power, more agility, more comfort options. But a big selling point for me was the new safety platform that BMW is building into their motorcycles:

• Adaptive Cruise Control, with forward radar.
• Blind Spot Monitoring, with lights in the rearview mirrors.
• Turn signals up high in the handlebar guards.
• Forward and rear radar for collision warning.
• Lean-angle aware ABS.

These start to really add up. On top of that, the bike has Adaptive Ride Height. This is a feature that BMW stole from Harley-Davidson. When the bike slows approaching a stop, it lowers the overall height by 1.2 inches, making it easier to flat-foot at a light. It also makes it easier to mount and dismount, which is a nice perk given how tall adventure bikes have gotten. The same feature also reverses for putting the bike on its center stand. When you drop the stand, the suspension raises the bike up to make it easier to roll back onto the stand.

There are a host of other perks with the new 1300GS, like an electric windshield, black forged wheels, a smaller GPS mount which is far less obtrusive than past models. In fact, I was able to pull my CarPlay display off of the old GSA and drop it straight onto the new GS with zero hassle! But in the end, the beautiful metallic blue was a clincher.

That Imperial Blue Metallic is part of an option package called Option 719, which is a throwback to BMW’s early factory days where the code 719 denotated any motorcycle that was of a non-standard, premium build. It also features lots of nice machined billet aluminum bits, like the cylinder head valve covers.

This bike is equipped with one feature that has been a bit controversial. I was unsure about it myself for the longest time. It has Automated Shift Assist. You can think of it as an automatic transmission for motorcycles, but it’s actually designed a lot more like the clutchless transmissions in an F1 car. I watched countless videos from professional reviewers, and each one was stand-offish about it at first, but by the end of their ride, they were consistently amazed and felt it added to the ride, rather than detracting from it.

What it amounts to is having a foot-actuated lever for shifting gears. Yes, you still pick your shift points. But there is no clutch lever at all on the motorcycle.

The foot lever is no longer mechanical; it has a throw precisely weighted like a mechanical shifter, but it is actually triggering electronics which shift in milliseconds. It takes some getting used to. The pull-away in first is unexpectedly smooth, and once you convince your brain to stop overthinking shift points, 2nd through 6th are super smooth shifts compared to previous generations. It’s still one down, five up, but neutral is no longer between 1st and 2nd, but rather is a long-press down. You drive in manual (M) mode for at least 3,000 miles as the bike learns your shift points in the various ride modes. After that, you can use drive (D) for fully automatic shifting. I don’t think I’ll use D much, but we’ll see.

Now that I have 600 miles with the new gearbox, I have landed where most of the reviewers did: it’s a superb enhancement to the ride. I’d buy it again in a heartbeat. It’s light years ahead of the old “Shift Assist Pro” which still had a clutch, but didn’t require it on upshifts. Those were clunky. ASA is precise and smooth.

There are some tradeoffs versus the GSA. The fuel tank in this bike is smaller, so trips are just over 200 miles, instead of close to 350 miles. That’ll require more thinking during long rides, but should be manageable. There is less wind protection with less fairing, but that’s what I wanted in a more agile bike. I had to buy all-new luggage, which is never cheap, but the new luggage platform has some nice upsides like interior lights and USB-C power.

Besides the new luggage, I have added the first few accessories. First was a MagSafe wireless charger in the little phone box atop the fuel tank. It has a powered USB-C socket in it, but lots of riders put thin charging pads inside. It has been very convenient and works perfectly.

And my traditional day-one accessory is always an Altrider kickstand foot extender. These help on soft surfaces like sand, gravel, or gooey hot asphalt.

The first 600 miles have been amazing on this machine. It just got its break-in service completed, which also added a 1” bar riser and a set of Wunderlich low footpegs for a bit of extra comfort.

I bought this bike at SoSo Cycles in Tacoma because they were so great to work with that it was well worth the drive down. Here is the review I wrote of them. I found myself down there because - despite having purchased 5 new motorcycles from Seattle BMW - they were pretty awful to work with. I learned that they were recently purchased by a Vegas-based chain. If you are shopping for a new BMW, it’s well worth the drive down to SoSo.

Another strong recommendation is for JumiParts. They are a German parts distributor who has incredible prices, including on BMW OEM equipment. I look to JumiParts for my BMW luggage, lock cylinders, bag liners, helmets, and more. It’s run by a motorcycling enthusiast who is a pleasure to work with every time. They have outfitted several of my bikes. They love doing business direct with customers.

The R1300GS not only brings back the agility and size that I loved in the R1200GS, it brings that with more power, more safety features, and a sporty new platform that makes both my long-distance tours, and my daily commute, far more fun than ever.