I have been lucky enough to have multiple BMW R1250 GSA's and each one was a great motorcycle.

I  crashed and totaled the first BMW R1250 GSA, a 2019 model on my way home from the 2019 Iron Butt Rally. Two other GSA's I have owned have been stolen, a 2021 and a 2019. Both were stolen out of the high rise building I lived in over a 20 month period. Be careful how you park your GSA!

Because I had two GSA's stolen I replaced the last one with a BMW RT and after 40,000 miles in the year I owned it I realized that it just did not make me smile like my GSA's did. So I traded it in on a new 2024 BMW R1250 GSA! Now I am smiling again.

I have some good plans for my new GSA including another ride to Panama and in a year or two shipping it to South America to ride to Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego. maybe even another ride back to Alaska. Long term I am thinking about shipping my motorcycle to London and riding it to China.

Now I have this beautiful GSA that I have setup to ride long distance. I only add farkles that make the motorcycle safer and more comfortable for me. Some may ask why so many farkles but each one has a purpose. I also have had the benefit of riding over 120,000 miles on them so I  know what works for me.

I have added the following farkles to my GSA. I had many of these same farkles I used on my previous GSA's so I know they work as I expect.

Ergonomics

• Wunderlich Marathon II Windscreen

• Windscreen Air Deflector

• Windscreen Left & Right Reinforcement

• Left & Right Fairing Wind Deflectors

• Saeng Quickscan Mirrors

• Brake Pedal Extension

• Gear Shifter Extension

• Rox Pivoting Handlebar Risers

• Sargent Seat

• Foot Peg Lower Kit

• Wunderlich Adjustable Brake Pedal

• Hand Guard Extensions
  

Lighting

• Denali Light Bar

• Clearwater AUX Erica Lights

• Ruby Moto AUX R7 Lights

• LED Tail / Brake Light

Electronics

• Hex EzCan

• 5 Channel Audio Mixer

• Valentine Gen2 Radar Detector

• Garmin Zumo XT GPS

• Garmin RV890 GPS

• ALP Laser Jammers

• Blindspot Radar Monitor

Other Farkles

• Touratech XL Bar

• Left Side Toolbox

• Hella Horn

• Exhaust Extension

• Tank Protective Covers

• Headlight Protector

• Front and Rear Fender Extensions

• TFT Screen Protector

• TFT Screen Visor

• Double Take Mirrors

• Rear Pack For Passenger Seat Replacement

• Engine Guard Supports

• Side Case and Top Case Protective Covers

• Cylinder Head Protective Covers

• AUX Fuel Tank
  

I have tried a few seats on my GSA over the years trying to find the one that gives me the most comfortable ride for long distance riding. I have ridden over 3,000 miles on the BMW GSA OEM seat and I rode 1,200 miles on the stock seat the first day riding home my new 2024 GSA from the dealer in Pennsylvania and it is not designed as a long distance seat. After more than a couple hundred miles of riding it just hurts my but and does not provide any support under the legs. I also tried a Touratech DriRider seat and it is better than stock but still not a good option for long distance rides as the seat pan is just not wide enough. I also tried a Sargent seats that I have used it on previous GSA's and have ridden over 80,000 miles on Sargent seats but it is not as good as the Sargent seat I had on my BMW RT, the seat pan is not as wide and does not provide as much room to move my butt around.

I ended up with a Russell seat that I found used on the BMW MOA marketplace website. The Russell seat has a wide seat pan and plenty of room to move my butt around. It also provides support under my legs to even out the load.

A Russell seat is not a good option if you are having issues touching the ground on a GSA as it is much thicker that the stock seat or a Sargent seat. For me I bought a low version of the GSA and the Russell is just fine and I can reach the groud flat footed.

There are other options to help reduce the height of the seat that you can buy and lower the seat up to one and a half inches. The part below replaces the BMW OEM part and lowers the seat by half an inch and the part below that one has the holes drilled off center to lower the seat another half an inch.

Another option is to remove any rubber bumpers under the seat. Sargent seats have screw in rubber bumbers that you can lower the seat up to half an inch.

I bought the Wunderlich ERGO Screen Marathon II to replace the stock OEM windscreen and in the photo you can see the difference in size, taller and wider at the bottom of the windscreen.

I have also been experimenting with different non BMW GSA windscreens including a Puig FJR touring windscreen as I am also looking for a windscreen that is wider than the OEM and the Wunderlich windscreens. I will provide some photos of that windscreen later.

This is a 180/55R17 rear tire on my GSA. It felt better than the OEM 170/60R17 and I got great mileage out of it.

I did a vavle check at 40,000 miles on my 2019 GSA and all valves were in spec.

During the 40,000 mile service I also checked the drive shaft and greased the spline.

Below is some information on my previous GSA's and how I set them up.

So I did it, I bought a new 2019 BMW R1250 GSA to use in the western North Carolina mountains and beyond! When I first bought this GSA I had a house in the Smoky Mountains in western North Carolina. We have since sold the house.

I rode my new BMW 1250 GSA in the 2019 Iron Butt Rally and I think it did help me due to the lighter weight and easier handling.