Mud in Your Eye

I just got done riding the redone 2010 BMW R1200GS and BMW R1200GS Adventure through the mountains around Yosemite National Park. And what an adventure it was. The morning started out with beautiful weather – another picture-perfect press introduction on the way. Then things started to go wrong. First, a slow-moving car got between me and the main group, subsequently causing me to miss a turn. Of course, that morning I had emerged from my hotel room just as the bikes were leaving, so I hadn’t grabbed a route map. Fortunately, another rider (with map) followed me astray and we eventually got back on track and caught up to the group. It was actually a great detour and we considered it a blessing in disguise. Then Mother Nature took a big dump on us.

Our timing seemed nearly perfect. Pulling into lunch with a few ominous drops, it then rained hard for the entire hour that we sat munching happily under the provided tents. Meanwhile, the temperature started dropping from its previous comfortable 54-degrees. We got roughly another hour of decent luck after the feast before we tracked down the rain.

Ultimately, our destination was the National Park, but by the time we hit the gates we were already soaked. From there the temperature gauge started flashing lower - 36-35-34-33… The slush was tolerable, but the fogged face shields, frozen body parts and occasional flooded roadway were making things difficult. With only 1000 vertical feet to go before reaching the summit and beginning our approximately 30-mile trip home, a combination of auto accidents and stressed-out rangers conspired to turn the entire group of 30-plus riders back into the storm – 60 miles of backtracking.

We only made it about 50.

Nearing single-digit mileage, our ride guide was nearly killed by some a-hole in a truck. By his own post-ride description, slowed reaction time from the numbing cold (physical and mental) actually saved his life, avoiding a panic brake-grab that would have sent him sliding under the wheels. Faced with nearly 3000 vertical feet in the final few miles, he wisely decided to pull over at a restaurant with the rest of us in tow. A phone call proved that his concern was well-founded as the California Highway Patrol had closed the road only three miles before our home base at the Tenaya Lodge. We waited with hot coffee and some stiff drinks until the road was cleared enough for a 4WD shuttle to come get us, though our GS motorcycles braved the weather from the exposed parking lot, stranded until morning.

The heated hand grips were undetectable after awhile, but what would the ride have been like without them at all? Same goes for the windscreen. We all got soaked to the bone and wind chill made it even more terrible – though I could hardly imagine that was possible. Even still, considering the circumstances and what our group was faces with, there might not be a better bike for the job. Nobody wants to ride in those conditions, but very few bikes are even capable. Hardcore sportbikes or dirtbikes – no way. The ride was an adventure, and the 1200 GS has reigned king of the class for years. Honestly, the ride sucked, but I think that it would have been even worse without the R1200GS.

Read the 2010 BMW R1200GS Adventure First Ride motorcycle review.