Hyperstrada 821 vs BMW R 1200 GS

Hi everyone!
Doing a longer road trip next month from Denver to Pikes Peak to 4 Corners, and then on to the Grand Canyon and back though Utah/ I-70 with some family and friends on rented R 1200 GS bikes.

Aside from the shorter range of Fuel.... should have no problems keeping up on that route with them should I?

They're all experienced riders from Europe and I've never left the state before on a bike.
Pray for me

The Count

Dont know the road but I've ridden the 1200GS a few times.

The BMW is an awesome machine, truly amazing piece of engineering !
It's very linear and surprisingly nimble for its size. If your mates are good riders they'll be able to ride at high speeds with less effort and probably go for longer stints in between breaks.
Range and high speed (85+) for extended durations will be your main disadvantages I think. They'll also see the road much better in the dark if you'll be riding at night.

Not all bad news though, I think you'll have no issues following or even leading on more twisty roads. You're lots lighter, nimbler and can change direction much faster. Put the Hyper into sports mode and it wouldn't surprise me if they have trouble following you on the better curvy roads. Your lack of mass (which is also lower down) means you'll accelerate harder and stop faster.

You'll probably be working a bit harder and will be more tired when you stop for fuel (again) but I'd choose the Hyper over de the GS on anything except long boring highway miles.

Have a safe ride and post some pics of your jealous friends

JC


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Avoid I-70 it's b o r i n g. I did 3400 miles on my Hypermotard from SF to Grand Lake CO and back, we worked our way through Nevada and Utah backroads but had to take I-70 from Grand Junction to Silverthorne. If I'd not worn my friend out with the previous long days and there hadn't been fires along the planned route I'd have preferred to avoid it.

Aside from highway miles being unpleasant (I suppose a 1200 would be better at eating those up) you'll have no problem on the 'strada

Thanks for the replies!

Yeah the long straightaways were my biggest concern for sure.
While I've done triple digit speeds it does seem like anything past 85 MPH sustained seems exhausting.

I know some of you have done cross country on our bikes so that's reassuring but I just kept Second Guessing myself and wondering if I shouldve rented the same bike also.

But it's going to be spread over 5 days so I think I'll have enough time to recharge myself.

And agreed some of those rodes seem like they were made for the Hyper.

The routes definitely not planned fully yet so avoiding I-70 is good advice. Done it a million times in cars but not on a bike.

Maybe you'll be a little more tired, but you'll have had more fun. Represent.

I did SF to Colorado in 4 days (roughly 400 - 500 miles a day). Definitely was tired each night but a good nights sleep had me ready for more in the morning. The more fun the roads are, the less you'll think about being tired

I did the Colorado Back country discovery route two years ago on the Hyper and it did just fine being ridden by me. I think you'll be fine riding with them big stupid GS's...


We should ride one day.

l just turned 60, I came back from a 1000 miles 2 days trip with my HS. The heavy GS 1200 was much slower in those very twisties roads in the mountains, and in the straight I was doing 120 with no problem.

I feel great.

jerdog53 said:

I did the Colorado Back country discovery route two years ago on the Hyper and it did just fine being ridden by me. I think you'll be fine riding with them big stupid GS's...


We should ride one day.

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Damn...you did that on the Hyper?! That's very impressive....also I don't think you'd ever want to ride with me then HAHA.
Would be like you riding a bicycle with a 3 year old on a plastic Big Wheel.

N4teTheGreat said:

Avoid I-70 it's b o r i n g. I did 3400 miles on my Hypermotard from SF to Grand Lake CO and back, we worked our way through Nevada and Utah backroads but had to take I-70 from Grand Junction to Silverthorne. If I'd not worn my friend out with the previous long days and there hadn't been fires along the planned route I'd have preferred to avoid it.

Aside from highway miles being unpleasant (I suppose a 1200 would be better at eating those up) you'll have no problem on the 'strada

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N4te What was the planned route?

Thanks!

I've done some great back roads in CO and UT with GSs and I'm with JamesC. If you think you're a slower rider, you should work less in the twisties and more on super slab as suggested. If you sit at 80-90 MPH, the blast will work you. You can do it but you won't love it. Went from ABQ NM to Logan UT in a day once. Enjoyed parts of it, not most of it.

Those GSs have some range, consider bringing some gas. I've used my backup gallon a couple of times since coming west. Enjoy...

CountChocula said:

Damn...you did that on the Hyper?! That's very impressive....also I don't think you'd ever want to ride with me then HAHA.
Would be like you riding a bicycle with a 3 year old on a plastic Big Wheel.

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That route is not as troublesome as you might think. Mostly gravel roads with some rocks in spots.

CountChocula said:

N4te What was the planned route?

Thanks!

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Sorry missed this. I did roughly this route to Grand Lake:
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/8+B...m2!1d-105.8230671!2d40.2522073!3e0?authuser=0

We were going to do more in Colorado but I think I wore the guys I was with out and there were several fires messing with our route. We took a northern route back through Rocky Mountain National Park up north to 14 to 40 to get out of Colorado. Ended up in Vernal and accidentally did the flaming gorge into Wyoming the next day (not a bad mistake). Then we basically took 50 all the way across Nevada and used 4 to cross the Sierras before slabbing it back home.

The fires were terrible this year!

If your short enough you should be able to duck in behind the screen to get rid of the windblast.

Good for fuel economy too!

Safe travels.