When it’s hovering around three degrees, blowing a gale and pissing down rain, I’ve come to the conclusion the BMW GS 1250 Triple Black is the bike for me. It’s as comfortable as a lounge chair, with a windshield that keeps the elements at bay and handles mud really well. And those five-stage heated grips and seat, well, they take comfort to another level — these Beemers are the ultimate super-tourers!
I’m embedded in the 2022 BMW GS Safari Tasmania for a couple of days to sample the delights of this very popular event and unlike Victoria, where you can experience four seasons in one day, we’re experiencing four seasons in one hour!
ON SAFARI
This event continues to grow in popularity in no small part due to the highly professional efforts of the BMW Safari team led by Chris Urquhart, his partner Anthea Verdoorn and Shane Booth. Urky and Boothy are former pro MX racers who have made a seamless transfer to the ADV scene and now stage a range of BMW-backed adventure rides, tours and training activities. The annual GS Safari is one of their banner events and they focus on this sizeable group ride being fun and inclusive of a range of skill levels. There is a particular emphasis on building a ride culture that values looking after each other and being courteous. From my observations of riding with the group, it’s working well.
Start times each day are between 7:30am and 8:30am and many of the faster riders either start early or quickly move through the pack. Despite the large number of riders — 250 starters, of whom about 50 per cent are on their first Safari — they spread out pretty quickly and
