12-23-2021, 06:32 PM
I got my R1250RS a year ago now, when I first got it, the difference in the engine compared to my older R1200RS was very noticeable right away. The 1250 engine was better in every way. The improvement in the suspension did not jump out at me, I think I was paying less attention to that, and the improvement was more "evolution" than "revolution". Many of you have probably seen my thread on the new Kawasaki ZH2 I bought a month ago, I said the suspension on that bike was very harsh. That woke up my senses to that topic and leads me to proclaim the BMW ESA is greatly improved.
I found some roads near my house that have washboard ripples and I rode them many times to check out the adjustments I was making to the ZH2 suspension. Then I thought "I have ridden these roads many, many times before and I didn't think of these roads as being rough until I got the ZH2". A light bulb lit up! The BMW suspensions are pretty good!
The ZH2 suspension is now "acceptable", it was horribly harsh at its factory setting.
Over the last three days, I've ridden the R1250 RS, the S1000XR, and the ZH2 over the same roads to compare suspension compliance.
What a difference!
The 1250 ESA is on automatic, I don't set anything, and it is very compliant. Before my ZH2 experience, I never gave a second thought traveling over these roads. It was simply a non issue. I never thought the roads were not in good shape.
The S1000XR has a similar ESA to the 2016 R1200RS - I set the suspension to helmets and saddlebags icons on the screen to change the spring pre load. I have my XR set at 1 helmet. The ESA setting is "Road". The compliance is not as good at the 1250RS but it is pretty good. I am not left thinking "these roads need repairs"
The ZH2 has manual suspension, Kawasaki makes the ZH2 SE with electronic suspension, but I don't have that model. The factory suspension setting was very harsh and I felt every imperfection on the road surface. My first round of adjustments greatly improved things, to maybe almost as good as the XR. I hope to get this a little better still.
But this experience made me see how fantastic the suspension is on the new R1250RS. My bad for not noticing this before, but I sure do appreciate it now.
I found some roads near my house that have washboard ripples and I rode them many times to check out the adjustments I was making to the ZH2 suspension. Then I thought "I have ridden these roads many, many times before and I didn't think of these roads as being rough until I got the ZH2". A light bulb lit up! The BMW suspensions are pretty good!
The ZH2 suspension is now "acceptable", it was horribly harsh at its factory setting.
Over the last three days, I've ridden the R1250 RS, the S1000XR, and the ZH2 over the same roads to compare suspension compliance.
What a difference!
The 1250 ESA is on automatic, I don't set anything, and it is very compliant. Before my ZH2 experience, I never gave a second thought traveling over these roads. It was simply a non issue. I never thought the roads were not in good shape.
The S1000XR has a similar ESA to the 2016 R1200RS - I set the suspension to helmets and saddlebags icons on the screen to change the spring pre load. I have my XR set at 1 helmet. The ESA setting is "Road". The compliance is not as good at the 1250RS but it is pretty good. I am not left thinking "these roads need repairs"
The ZH2 has manual suspension, Kawasaki makes the ZH2 SE with electronic suspension, but I don't have that model. The factory suspension setting was very harsh and I felt every imperfection on the road surface. My first round of adjustments greatly improved things, to maybe almost as good as the XR. I hope to get this a little better still.
But this experience made me see how fantastic the suspension is on the new R1250RS. My bad for not noticing this before, but I sure do appreciate it now.
2020 R1250 RS
2022 K1600 GT
2024 S1000 XR
Niwot CO USA
2022 K1600 GT
2024 S1000 XR
Niwot CO USA