Muddy single trails, dilapidated bridges, hair-raising river crossings – the Touratech Test Team embarks on a spectacular journey through the jungles of northern Thailand towards the border with Myanmar. Also on board: Touratech brand ambassador Charley Boorman, who together with the team takes on the challenge of testing the fully equipped BMW R1300GS on the extreme routes of the adventurous terrain.

Decades of experience and the most modern manufacturing processes guarantee products that withstand even the toughest tests. With its dense rainforest and challenging terrain, the north of Thailand offers the perfect conditions to put the latest Touratech products through their paces. Amidst heat, mud and difficult track conditions, you can see what Touratech equipment can really do. Supported by Peera, the Thai Touratech importer, and the legendary off-road tour guide Pruchayar Chaiyasotthi, better known as “Mr. Art”, the test team embarks on an unforgettable expedition. Watch how the BMW R1300GS and Touratech accessories shine on the adventurous route through the jungles of Thailand and get exciting insights into the testing process that is essential for real adventure riders. this film is a lot of fun!

The New Generation of the Helmet Made For Adventure

The Aventuro Carbon PRO helmet sets a new standard for protection, comfort, and cooling airflow for adventure riders looking for a lightweight and airy travel companion.

This is the 3rd generation of the legendary Aventuro Carbon helmet which has become a top choice thanks to the lightweight carbon fiber construction, and aerodynamic design that improves rider comfort by reducing neck strain.

The Carbon PRO is a completely new design that features more ventilation, better peripheral vision, upgraded liners with new pad-locking system and enhanced quick-release peak anchor system. The best ADV helmet just got better with the Aventuro Carbon PRO!

• More airflow with 8 intake vents and 4 exhaust vents for maximum cooling when the riding gets serious or the temperatures soar. The air efficiently cools around your head with distribution channels in the EPS foam.

• Glove-friendly controls with improved grip and function for operating vents and opening the shield on the helmet with riding gloves.

• Dual-function chin vent has been re-designed to provide rider with fine controls of the airflow to the visor and the rider.

• Updated brow vents increase the cooling airflow right where you need it for improved rider comfort when the going gets tough.

• New peak design that improves aerodynamics by cutting through the wind cleanly with less drag which reduces neck strain and increases rider comfort. The lower peak mounting points have been repositioned above the visor. This design also makes it easier to remove the shield for cleaning, installing a pin-lock or upgrading to a tinted visor.

• Improved quick-release mechanism for the peak utilizing metal threads for a reliable and secure connection. This allows the peak to be removed without using tools for riders wanting to put the helmet into ‘street mode’ for the best aerodynamics and reduced neck strain which is ideal for riding at higher speeds or street touring.

• Improved visibility with expanded peripheral range of view and shape that better accommodates glasses.

• Meets high standards for safety with both DOT and ECE 22.06 certifications.

• Communication system friendly with embossed cavities and recesses for speakers, microphone, and wires.

Updated interior with completely redesigned moisture-wicking Coolmax liner that can be washed or replaced to keep the helmet feeling fresh. It’s also equipped with 3-dimensional pre-shaped cheek pads and an F.R.S emergency removal system. The underside of the cheek pads feature reflective panels to help riders be seen in low light conditions.

Find your Aventuro Carbon Pro Here

Touratech entered the helmet segment more than a decade ago with the Aventuro Carbon which was focused on providing adventure motorcyclists with a lighter alternative to the helmets available at that time. The company is now releasing the 3^rd generation of this revolutionary product with the Aventuro Carbon PRO. This helmet sets new standards for cooling airflow, glove-friendly vent controls, and an improved liner system, while continuing to be a rider favorite thanks to its lightweight feel and low-drag aerodynamics which reduce neck strain and improve rider comfort.

The Carbon PRO has been completely re-designed from the ground up. The Peak mounting has been changed to sturdy threaded fasteners for improved reliability, and the shape has been streamlined to reduce drag for enhanced rider comfort. The new peak also mounts higher on the helmet which makes it easier to remove the shield for installing a pin-lock system or upgrading to a tinted shield.

The airflow has been maximized with 8 intake vents, 4 exhaust vents and upgraded distribution channels in the EPS liner for best-in-class cooling airflow. The helmet liner has also been upgraded to a better material and an innovative new system for locking in the cheek pads to prevent them from coming loose inadvertently.

Further changes have been made to improve the field of vision and to better accommodate glasses.

“We’re happy to see some big improvements on this helmet while retaining the lightweight and airy feeling that made it a top choice for adventure riding since the beginning. I really like the cheek pad locking system that ensures they don’t come loose and the wider range of peripheral vision and easier fit with glasses”

                                                                        -Kimmo Lasilla, VP, Sales & Customer Service

Aventuro Carbon PRO Helmet:

• More airflow with 8 intake vents, 4 exhaust vents and distribution channels
• Glove-friendly controls with improved grip and for operating vents
• Dual-function chin vent to provide fine control of air to both the rider and the shield
• New peak design improves aerodynamics and reduces drag for reduced neck strain
• Improved quick-release mechanism for the peak using metal threads for a reliable and secure connection
• Expanded peripheral range of view and shape that better accommodates glasses
• Crafted from X-Pro Carbon fiber which provides uniform strength with precise fiber distribution
• Meets high standards for safety with both DOT and ECE 22.06 certifications

Get Yours Here!

Glove-friendly controls with improved grip and function for operating vents and opening the shield on the helmet with riding gloves.

Dual-function chin vent has been re-designed to provide rider with fine controls of the airflow to the visor and the rider.

Updated brow vents increase the cooling airflow right where you need it for improved rider comfort when the going gets tough.

New peak design that improves aerodynamics by cutting through the wind cleanly with less drag which reduces neck strain and increases rider comfort.  The lower peak mounting points have been repositioned above the visor.  This design also makes it easier to remove the shield for cleaning, installing a pin-lock or upgrading to a tinted visor.

Improved quick-release mechanism for the peak utilizing metal threads for a reliable and secure connection. This allows the peak to be removed without using tools for riders wanting to put the helmet into ‘street mode’ for the best aerodynamics and reduced neck strain which is ideal for riding at higher speeds or street touring.

Improved visibility with expanded peripheral range of view and shape that better accommodates glasses.

Meets high standards for safety with both DOT and ECE 22.06 certifications.

Communication system friendly with embossed cavities and recesses for speakers, microphone, and wires.

 

Updated interior with completely redesigned moisture-wicking Coolmax liner that can be washed or replaced to keep the helmet feeling fresh. It’s also equipped with 3-dimensional pre-shaped cheek pads and an F.R.S emergency removal system. The underside of the cheek pads feature reflective panels to help riders be seen in low light conditions.

Cheek pads locked-in with a new lever system to prevent pads from coming loose inadvertently.

Fine tune your fit with the included Ergo Padding System which allows you to customize the fit to the unique shape of your head.

Carbon fiber superiority. Each helmet is crafted to exacting standards using X-PRO Carbon Fiber which provides uniform strength with its precise fiber distribution, all while keeping the weight low.

New styles. The helmet is available in new graphic versions with sexy carbon-fiber reveals in the design and in a painted black or painted white style.

Pin-lock visor insert included to reduce fogging of the shield for maximum visibility when riding in wet environments.

Double-D ring closure for secure fit and maximum safety.

Action camera friendly with mounting locations on both the top and sides of the helmet.

 

 

If you are looking for a high-performance helmet for adventure riding, the Aventuro Carbon PRO sets a new standard in comfort, ventilation, and style. Whether you are riding a Backcountry Discovery Route, exploring the mountains at the Touratech Rally, or quitting your job to go full-time adventure, the Carbon PRO is the top choice for comfort and protection.

Find your Aventuro Carbon Pro Here!

 

The BMW R1300GS has a more powerful motor and upgraded electronics, all in a package that weighs 26 pounds less than its predecessor, making this legendary adventure bike even better. By using a shorter stroke, bigger bore and increased liquid cooling, the engineers at BMW added power right where you want it.

Touratech USA is the firs company in the USA with a full product line available for the R1300GS. What else would you expect from the world leader in adventure motorcycle parts and accessories. Here is a look at Touratech equipped motorcycle. Our product line will begin shipping to customers the day the motorcycles hit store but you should pre-order now to insure that you get your Touratech upgrades when you get your motorcycle!

See the product line here

Screen Size

As mentioned above the Zumo XT2 features a larger 6” screen, in contrast to the Zumo XT’s 5-1/2” screen. Both are glove friendly, high definition, glass style screens, the modern standard that was introduced on the Zumo XT. After spending almost a decade relying on a Garmin Montana 600 with an almost industrial resolution 4” screen, both of these screens seem huge and modern to me. Honestly if they aren’t side by side I can’t tell the difference at a casual glance.

 

 

Power Cradle Wiring

While both cradles use the same plastic mount, and both the Zumo XT and Zumo XT2 will fit either, the power delivered has changed. This is worth noting if you are upgrading, you will want to swap your Zumo XT cradle for the Zumo XT2 cradle. Since the Zumo XT2 uses a 12 volt battery there is no longer a small box on the wiring loom to drop the power down to the lower voltage of the Zumo XT. This will allow easier and cleaner wiring into the motorcycle, especially if you are just adding a power plug to move the cradle between motorcycles. 

 

 

Smartphone Integration 

This is where the biggest change has been made. On the phone side of things Garmin’s “Tread” app replaces the “Drive” app used on the Zumo XT. The “Drive” app was basically just installed on your phone to provide the connection to your phone’s wireless network and other smartphone integration (music and calls most notably), there wasn’t much you could do on the app itself. The “Tread” app is also used by Garmin’s other off-road motor vehicle GPS units (the Overland and Tread), and provides many features found in Garmin’s “Explore” app that is used by many of Garmin’s current handheld GPS units and fitness watches. Saved tracks, waypoints, and routes can be shown or hidden, modified, and created, then these changes will be pushed to the GPS unit. Basically this is mirroring the functions you can do on the Zumo XT2 unit itself. While Garmin has made huge improvements over the last decade making their GPS units more user friendly, almost everyone is going to be more comfortable and quicker making changes on their phone.

 

 

Software

Overall the basic operating system seems to be the same between the two units, with some menu changes. Garmin has added more notes within menus and more shortcuts to different menus, nothing is more than a few clicks away on the Zumo XT2. One of the big changes I noticed was the lack of “Ride Modes” or “Profiles” on the Zumo XT2. I suspect this was a feature not used by many in the past, and even less with most cars having their own integrated navigations systems and folks no longer moving one GPS between their motorcycle and car. Personally I did use this function quite a lot, probably from my time on older units that required maps to be switched depending on what I was doing. That being said the Zumo XT2 has a lot of shortcuts to make map layer changes and routing changes, I can’t say the lack of “Ride Modes” is a major detraction.

 

 

Track, Route & Waypoint Management

The Zumo XT uses the familiar system of management for tracks, routes, and waypoints, with separate managers for each. This has been Garmin’s system since the earliest handheld GPS units that I used (the GPSMap60) almost twenty years ago, and still is used for Garmin’s handheld GPS units such as the Montana 700 series. 

By using the Tread app on the phone side of things (as mentioned above), on the Zumo XT2 the management of tracks, routes, and waypoints are all done using the “Explore” tool on the GPS unit. There are still separate shortcuts with the traditional names that also bring you to same “Explore” tool. A neat function of the “Explore” tool is all of the tracks, routes, and waypoints can be placed into “Collections” similar to how you can in Garmin Basecamp on the computer. These collections can then be show or hidden as a group, making it very convenient to declutter your map of planned trip data when you don’t need it shown.

The only downside of the “Explore” tool is that individual tracks and waypoints can’t be shown or hidden, only collections have that option. While this is great for big trips, such as one of the many epic Backcountry Discovery Routes, it did take some getting used to for smaller one-off things. I worked around this by making a collection just for showing select tracks and waypoints, and moving them into and out of that collection as needed, much the same way I used to select to show or hide tracks and waypoints individually. Depending how you currently use your track and waypoint managers this may not be an issue for you. Honestly for me, it was just a slight rethinking of my methods for the small things, and I was able to really leverage the “collection” based show and hide for bigger trips and projects.

The new version is available in the same Bare Aluminum, Silver Anodized, and Black Anodized finishes as before.

 

 

 

Group Ride

During my testing I didn’t have the opportunity to ride with someone else using a Zumo XT2, so was unable to use this feature. For years a feature like this has been a campfire wish at Touratech Rallies for use on group rides. I know Garmin has offered a similar feature in the past, and has been using the Tread app on other platforms for a few years now, I suspect they came through with a well designed tool.

 

Closing

Both the Zumo XT and Zumo XT2 are great GPS units, and the difference is more than skin deep. Garmin definitely increased the smartphone integration on the Zumo XT2 with the one-two punch of the Tread app on the phone and the Explore tool on the GPS. I suspect we’ll see this pairing further mature and have increased capabilities as time goes on. The Zumo XT is the ultimate iteration of the classic Zumo platform in terms of off-road navigation due to its large, modern screen. Users of previous generation Zumo GPS units will be at home with the familiar track and waypoint mangers and functions. 

When selecting between the two the question I’d ask would be if the new features the Zumo XT2 offers are something you are interested in, would use, and are willing to spend the time to learn. If you don’t like change the Zumo XT is there, and has a very comparable screen, but with the menus and mangers you already know. 

You can learn how to use your Zumo XT and/or Zumo XT2 in one of our GPS Immersion Classes Here.

 

Eric Archambault is one of the original members of the Touratech-USA race team, with an impressive second place finish in the Adventure Bike class at the 2014 Stumpjumper abroad a KTM 950 Adventure. His love for two-wheeled racing spans many disciplines, from west coast desert racing to east coast hare scrambles, navigation rallies to minimoto racing. He now lives in New Hampshire where his riding is focused on running laps on the woods course in his backyard and racing vintage Vespas and obscure European minibike at local kart tracks.

 

Check out Navigation products (including the Garmin Zumo XT/XT2) Here

1300cc boxer completely liquid-cooled

Let’s start by looking into the heart of the R1300GS: the famous boxer engine. Here you can expect some details that have been proven in previous iterations, but also some new technology being included in this new generation. The ShiftCam variable valve timing introduced in 2018 can be considered a given. To ensure the thermal stability of the 1300 boxer, BMW seems to have heavily modified both the oil and cooling circuits. MOTORRAD magazine speculates, for example, that the “precision cooling” introduced with the R1200GS (K50) in 2013 will be replaced by complete liquid cooling on the boxer, which is presumably exactly 1300 cubic centimeters in size. This would also mean that the cylinders of the R1300GS would be surrounded by a liquid jacket. A solution that also seems plausible in light of stricter noise regulations.

The BMW developers seem to have made massive changes to the boxer’s oil circuit. From an oil viewpoint glass visible on the side next to the “hero’s chest”, the Stuttgart journalists conclude that a switch has been made to semi-dry sump lubrication in order to combat oil foaming that can be caused by the pressure pulsations of the Boxer.

The performance data of the R1300GS is expected to be accurate to the speculation because it come from a publication of the Swiss Federal Office for Roads (ASTRA), which is responsible for the regulatory approvals. According to this, the 1300GS will have a peak output of 145.5 hp at 7,750 rpm and a powerful torque of 109.9 ft-lb at 6,500 rpm.

 

Frame with light metal elements

Regarding the 1300cc boxer, and as much as the prototype photos of the R1300GS already reveal, it can be said that it will be integrated as a supporting element in a completely redesigned frame. The previous tube frame construction made of steel is giving way to a composite one that consists at least in part of cast light alloy components, as can be seen in the photos published by MOTORRAD.

Whether and how much the aluminum frame will reduce the weight of the R1300GS is the subject of much debate. The specialists from the online medium 1000PS estimate 243 kg (535 pounds) total weight, which would correspond to the value of the Ducati Multistrada V4.

At first glance, the paralever of the R1300GS is even more striking than the new frame. The swingarm appears more complex than on previous GS generations and shorter at the same time. The latter feature fits coherently into the overall concept of the new GS, which appears more compact overall and less massive. It’s likely that better off-road capability was a high priority for the development team on the R1300GS as well. This is underscored by the fact that a significant proportion of the spy shots published so far were taken during off-road tests. This bodes well for US riders who are more likely to venture off pavement than our European friends. With BMW’s recent support of Backcountry Discovery Routes, this all seems to make sense. They know we like to ride off-road and are trying to keep their flagship bike well-suited to what we like to do with our ADV bikes. It is certain that the telelever will continue to serve as the front wheel guide on the R1300GS, making it the king of the ADV class for street touring. The absence of brake dive on the asphalt is something riders grow to love and struggle to give up once we’ve had a taste of it.

As far as the suspension is concerned, a new generation of the Dynamic ESA electronic chassis can be expected. The always well-informed editors of MOTORRAD magazine speculate that in the future not only the damping but also the spring preload can be adjusted while riding. This would also make it possible to lower the seat height before stopping, as is already offered by the Harley-Davidson Pan America in the “Special” version with the Adaptive Ride Height (ARH) system.

 

Episode 18 – After digging himself out of a sandy situation , Sterling rides some enjoyable pavement across northern Vancouver Island to Port Hardy and spends the night at a beautiful campground before his ferry ride to Bella Coola.

Touratech USA is once again proud to support rider and filmmaker, Sterling Noren as he embarks on another epic solo journey on his BMW R1250GS. This season he travels over 8000 miles from his home in Arizona and to beautiful British Columbia and  back. It’s a terrific adventure and one that every rider, no matter the experience level or bike genre should watch.

Touratech parts on the trip include:

Zega Panniers

Crash Bars

Rallyeform Skid Plate

Aventuro Carbon 2 Helmet

www.touratech-usa.com