BMW R 1200 GS ADVENTURE Installation and maintenance manual

BMW Motorrad
The Ultimate Riding
Machine
Rider's Manual
R 1200 GS Adventure

Motorcycle data/dealership details
Motorcycle data
Model
Vehicle identification number
Colour code
Date of first registration
Registration number
Dealership details
Person to contact in Service depart-
ment
Ms/Mr
Phone number
Dealership address/phone number
(company stamp)

Welcome to BMW
We congratulate you on your
choice of a motorcycle from
BMW and welcome you to the
community of BMW riders.
Familiarise yourself with your
new motorcycle so that you
can ride it safely and confid-
ently in all traffic situations.
Please read this Rider's
Manual carefully before
starting to use your new
BMW motorcycle. It contains
important information on
how to operate the controls
and how to make the best
possible use of all your
BMW's technical features.
In addition, it contains inform-
ation on maintenance and
care to help you maintain your
motorcycle's reliability and
safety, as well as its value.
If you have questions con-
cerning your motorcycle, your
authorised BMW Motorrad
dealer will gladly provide ad-
vice and assistance.
We hope that you will enjoy
riding your BMW and that all
your journeys will be pleasant
and safe.
BMW Motorrad.

Table of Contents
You can also consult the in-
dex at the end of this Rider's
Manual if you want to find a
particular topic or item of in-
formation.
1 General instructions . . . 5
Overview . . ............... 6
Abbreviations and
symbols . . . ............... 6
Equipment ............... 7
Technical data ........... 7
Currency . . ............... 7
2 General views . . . . . .... 9
General view, left side . . . 11
General view, right
side..................... 13
Underneath the seat . . . . . 14
Handlebar fitting, left . . . . . 15
Handlebar fitting, right . . . 16
Instrument cluster . . . . . . . 17
Headlight . .............. 18
3 Status indicators . . . . . 19
Multifunction display . . . . . 20
Warning and telltale
lights . . . . . .............. 20
ABS warning lightOE ..... 20
Function indicators . . . . . . 20
Warnings, general . . . . . . . 21
Warnings issued by the
tyre pressure monitoring
system (RDC)OE ......... 28
ABS warningsOE ......... 33
ASC warningsOE ......... 35
4 Operation. . . .......... 39
Ignition switch and
steering lock . . .......... 40
Electronic immobiliser
(EWS) . . . . . .............. 41
Hazard warning
flashers . . . .............. 42
Odometer and
tripmeters . .............. 43
Tyre pressure monitoring
RDCOE .................. 44
Clock . . . . . .............. 45
On-board computerOE ... 46
BMW Motorrad Integral
ABSOE .................. 50
Automatic Stability Control
ASCOE .................. 51
Emergency off switch (kill
switch) . . . . .............. 53
Grip heatingOE ........... 54
Clutch . . . . .............. 54
Brakes . . . . .............. 55
Shift lever . .............. 56
Lights . . . . . .............. 57
Headlight . .............. 59
Turn indicators .......... 60
Front and rear seats . . . . . 61
Helmet holder . .......... 63
Mirrors . . . . .............. 63
Adjusting windscreen . . . . 64
Spring preload .......... 64
Shock absorbers . . . . . . . . 66
Tyres . . . . . .............. 67

5 Riding . . . . . . .......... 69
Safety instructions . . . . . . . 70
Checklist . . . . . . .......... 72
Starting ................. 72
Running in . . . . .......... 75
Riding off-road .......... 76
Park your motorcycle . . . . 77
Refuelling . . . . . .......... 78
Tyre pressure monitoring
RDCOE .................. 80
Brake system, general . . . 81
Brake system with BMW
Motorrad Integral
ABSOE .................. 82
Electronic engine
management with BMW
Motorrad ASCOE ......... 85
6 Accessories .......... 89
General instructions . . . . . 90
Power socket . .......... 90
Luggage . . . . . . .......... 91
CaseOA ................. 92
TopcaseOA .............. 95
7 Maintenance . . . ...... 99
General instructions . . . . 100
Toolkit . ................ 100
Engine oil . . . . . ......... 102
Brake system,
general ................ 103
Brake pads. . . . ......... 104
Brake fluid . . . . ......... 106
Clutch . ................ 108
Tyres . . ................ 109
Rims . . . ................ 109
Wheels. ................ 110
Front-wheel stand . ..... 116
Bulbs . . ................ 117
Air filter ................ 126
Removing right side
panel . . ................ 129
Installing right side
panel . . ................ 129
Jump start . . . . ......... 129
Battery . ................ 131
8 Care . ................ 135
Care products . ......... 136
Washing the
motorcycle . . . . ......... 136
Cleaning easily damaged
components. . . ......... 137
Paint care . . . . . ......... 138
Protective wax
coating ................ 138
Laying up the
motorcycle . . . . ......... 138
Restoring motorcycle to
use .................... 139
9 Technical data . . ..... 141
Troubleshooting
chart . . . ................ 142
Threaded fasteners ..... 143
Engine . ................ 144
Riding specifications . . . . 147
Clutch . ................ 147
Transmission . . ......... 147
Final drive . . . . . ......... 148
Running gear . . ......... 148
Brakes . ................ 149
Wheels and tyres . . ..... 149

Electrics . . ............. 150
Frame. . . . . ............. 152
Dimensions . . . ......... 153
Weights . . . ............. 153
10 Service ............. 155
BMW Motorrad
service . . . . ............. 156
BMW Motorrad service
quality . . . . ............. 156
BMW Motorrad Service
Card: on-the-spot
breakdown
assistance ............. 157
BMW Motorrad service
network . . . ............. 157
Maintenance work . . . . . . 157
Maintenance
schedules . ............. 158
Confirmation of
maintenance work . . . . . . 159
Confirmation of
service . . . . ............. 164

General instructions
Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Abbreviations and symbols . . . . . . 6
Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Technical data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Currency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1
5
z General instructions

Overview
Chapter 2 of this Rider's
Manual will provide you with
an initial overview of your
motorcycle. All maintenance
and servicing work on the
motorcycle is documented in
Chapter 10. This record of
the maintenance work you
have had performed on your
motorcycle is a precondition
for generous treatment of
goodwill claims.
When the time comes to sell
your BMW, please remem-
ber to hand over this Rider's
Manual; it is an important part
of the motorcycle.
Abbreviations and
symbols
Indicates warnings that
you must comply with for
reasons of your safety and the
safety of others, and to pro-
tect your motorcycle against
damage.
Specific instructions on
how to operate, control,
adjust or look after items of
equipment on the motorcycle.
Indicates the end of an
item of information.
Instruction.
Result of an activity.
Reference to a page
with more detailed in-
formation.
Indicates the end of
a passage relating to
specific accessories or
items of equipment.
Tightening torque.
Item of technical data.
OE Optional extra
Your motorcycle was
assembled complete
with all the BMW
optional extras you
ordered.
OA Optional accessory
You can obtain option-
al accessories through
your authorised BMW
Motorrad dealer; op-
tional accessories
have to be retrofitted
to the motorcycle.
EWS Electronic immobiliser
(Elektronische Weg-
fahrsicherung).
DWA Anti-theft alarm (Diebs-
tahlwarnanlage)
1
6
z General instructions

ABS Anti-lock brake system
ASC Automatic Stability
Control.
RDC Tyre pressure control
(ReifenDruck-Control)
Equipment
When you ordered your BMW
motorcycle, you chose vari-
ous items of custom equip-
ment. This Rider's Manual
describes optional extras (OE)
offered by BMW and selec-
ted optional accessories (OA).
This explains why the manual
may also contain descriptions
of equipment which you have
not ordered. Please note, too,
that your motorcycle might
not be exactly as illustrated
in this manual on account of
country-specific differences.
If your BMW was supplied
with equipment not described
in this Rider's Manual, you will
find these features described
in separate manuals.
Technical data
All dimensions, weights and
power ratings stated in the
Rider's Manual are quoted
to the standards and comply
with the tolerance require-
ments of the Deutsche Institut
für Normung e.V. Versions for
individual countries may differ.
Currency
The high safety and quality
standards of BMW motor-
cycles are maintained by con-
stant development work on
designs, equipment and ac-
cessories. Because of this,
your motorcycle may differ
from the information supplied
in the Rider's Manual. Nor
can BMW Motorrad entirely
rule out errors and omissions.
We hope you will appreciate
that no claims can be en-
tertained on the basis of the
data, illustrations or descrip-
tions in this manual.
1
7
z General instructions

1
8
z General instructions

General views
General view, left side . . . . . . . . . 11
General view, right side . . . . . . . . 13
Underneath the seat . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Handlebar fitting, left . . . . . . . . . . 15
Handlebar fitting, right . . . . . . . . . 16
Instrument cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Headlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2
9
z General views

2
10
z General views

General view, left side
1Clutch-fluid reservoir
( 108)
2Adjuster for headlight
beam throw underneath
the instrument cluster
( 59)
3Adjuster, damping, rear
( 66)
4Seat lock ( 61)
5Power socket ( 90)
6Filler neck, engine oil
( 103)
7Oil sight glass ( 102)
8Adjuster, spring preload,
front ( 65)
9Socket (OA) ( 90)
10 Adjustable windscreen
( 64)
2
11
z General views

2
12
z General views

General view, right
side
1Filler neck, fuel ( 78)
2Vehicle Identification
Number (VIN) on
steering-head bearing
3Brake-fluid reservoir,
front ( 106)
4Air filter (underneath tank
cover) ( 126)
5Adjustable footbrake
lever ( 55)
6Adjuster, spring preload,
rear ( 64)
7Brake-fluid reservoir, rear
( 107)
2
13
z General views

Underneath the seat
1Battery ( 133)
2Rider's Manual
3Toolkit ( 100)
4Puncture repair lit (OA)
underneath toolkit
5Helmet holder ( 63)
2
14
z General views

Handlebar fitting, left
1Control, odometer
( 43), Control,
on-board computerOE
( 46)
2Pushbutton, ASCOE
( 51)
3Pushbutton, ABSOE
( 50)
4Pushbutton, horn
5Pushbutton, left flashing
turn indicators ( 60),
Pushbutton, hazard
warning flashers ( 42)
6Switch, high-beam head-
light ( 57), Switch for
headlight flasher
2
15
z General views

Handlebar fitting, right
1Emergency off switch (kill
switch) ( 53)
2Pushbutton, starter
( 72)
3Pushbutton, right flashing
turn indicators ( 60),
Pushbutton, hazard
warning flashers ( 42)
4Cancel button, flashing
turn indicators ( 61),
Pushbutton, cancel
hazard warning flashers
( 43)
5Grip heating switchOE
( 54)
2
16
z General views

Instrument cluster
1Speedometer
2Rev. counter
3Warning and telltale
lights ( 21)
4Multifunction display
( 21)
5Telltale light for anti-theft
alarm (OE) and sensor for
instrument cluster light-
ing
6Adjuster, clock ( 45),
Control, odometer
( 43)
2
17
z General views

Headlight
1Low-beam headlight
2High-beam headlight
3Side lights
2
18
z General views