dcJohnMatt, I agree, the R 1200 GS is huge. I’d assumed that when I was eventually ready to “move up” from the Versys, that it would be in my future. But after sitting on the R1200GS at the local BMW dealership, I’m a lot less sure of that.
At 5’8″ with a 30″ inseam, the Versys already has me on the balls of my feet. It’s not a big deal on the Versys, and I can even flat foot it at stops if I lean it slightly. The R1200GS has a similar seat height, but its extra weight and width made a big difference when I was sitting on it in the showroom. The F800GS and F650GS are probably more likely follow-ups.
In general, since I’m relatively light (160lbs) and don’t have a passenger (wife is adamant amount not wanting to ride), I don’t know if I’ll ever really need to go in the 1,000+ cc range unless I switch over to cruisers.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to find a <1000 cc bike with the stuff I want, because it seems that manufactures often treat smaller cc bikes in the US market as budget machines. Finding smaller standard and dual-sport bikes with ABS and the higher-end electronics and components is tough.
