Accessories for your R1250GS

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I’m that guy that that all my friends come to when buying a bike. We send each other links until they find the right one. That’s a lot of fun, but the real fun is the accessories. That’s the part I really love helping with. My buddy just put a deposit down on a beautiful 1250 HP, and its time to shop. I started putting a list together for him to help him with his research. I figured if I have this list, I might as well share it. I just put it together this weekend. Let me know if you think I’m missing anything key, I’ll add it in! All accessories are based on an off road life style. This bike WILL go down and often.

CRASH BARS - This is easy. Protect the engine, be strong, and look good. In this case, we’re looking for white to match the HP. The Alt Rider are always the first choice IF you can afford them and if they are in stock. Currently, only the silver ones are available. My goto choice for myself are the GIVI bars on my 1200. They are a little different for the 1250, but they are still super thick and look great.

  • Alt Rider combo (crash bars and skid plate) silver available now, colors back ordered $1000 alt rider or revzilla

  • Wunderlich white lower crash bars $460 wunderlich

  • Wunderlich white uppers $360 wunderlich

  • GIVI black crash bars $200 from italy probably 10 days away motostorm

  • SW-Motech crash bars $340 in stock revzilla

  • Outback Motertek combo $900 - Outback Motortek (crash bars, uppers,lowers, and skid plate), they come in white and vary in price based on the bundle you choose.

HEAD PROTECTION - just as important as crash bars. If you are riding off road, your head is vulnerable. While the crash bars will protect your heads on a flat surface, there is always a chance a rogue rock slips through and cracks your head. Having something like the Machine Art Motos as your second line of defense is key. The MAMs have two layers of protection that will really help absorb hard impacts.

SKID PLATES - Another super important point of protection. Besides just saving you from rocks, a solid skid plate will also help you hop over logs without fear.

  • Alt Rider - The benefit of this skid plate is unique, it does not bolt in to the engine casing, while others do. Instead it connects to the Alt Rider crash bars (posted above). People claim that this in itself is the reason to go Alt Rider for the entire package. Combo crash bars and skid plate $1000 alt rider or revzilla

  • BMW Adv skid plate $435, your dealership might discount it for you - revzilla

  • SW-Motech skid plate $300 revzilla

  • Black Dog Cycle Works $445 black dog - often considered one of the toughest out there

  • Outback Motertek combo $900 - Outback Motortek (crash bars, uppers,lowers, and skid plate), they come in white and vary in price based on the bundle you choose.

CASE MOUNTS - For hard cases I prefer GIVI. They are durable, easy to use, well thought out, and can be had at great prices direct from Italy.

  • GIVI top plate $100 motostorm

  • Alt Rider top plate comes in black $235 + $30 for the givi adapter kit to use with givi top case alt rider

  • GIVI side pannier mounts $188 - if you plan on only using mosko, or if using givi dolomiti cases  motostorm

  • GIVI pannier mounts that work with the trekker outback cases and other soft bags like mokso $188 motostorm

FOOT CONTROLS - Super important to replace your pegs if they are the stock skinny ones. It’s also helpful to get a brake pedal that is dual height. The higher platform on a dual platform brake is for use while standing, while the lower platform is for braking while sitting

HEADLIGHT PROTECTION - Your LED headlight is super expensive to replace if it cracks. Beyond that, usually with most parts of BMW bikes you can buy individual replacement parts down to each bolt, but the LED light is just one part. You can’t just replace the glass. Would love to be wrong here, let me know.

Hand Protection - good to protect your hands from getting hit, for blocking the wind coming at you in the winter, and most importantly, for protecting your shift and brake levers. Metal is always preferred.

LIGHTS - Lighting is key for several reasons. The most important is visibility when riding. You want to stand out to cars. Front and Rear lighting is flat out a safety feature. Beyond that, you want good lighting for brightening up the road ahead when outside of the city at night, and more important to light up the dirt road that leads to your camp site.

  • Denali can smart $260 twisted throttle - you want some sort of controller that interacts with your canbus. This will allow the lighting to work based on some logic, like speed, ambient outdoor light, horn status, etc. It will also turn your lights on an off when you turn your bike on or off, saving you from a dead battery

  • Denali S4 $265 twisted throttle

  • Denali D4 (what i have) $399 twisted throttle

  • Denali D7 $599 twisted throttle

  • Denali B6 Brake lights $142 twisted throttle

  • AdMore brake light with integrated progressive turn signals $200 twisted throttle

  • Denali front lights mount $70 revzilla

  • Clearwater Erica Lights $950 - Clearwater - this price included the canbus controller they make. Clearwater are the goto lights for many GS riders. If you can afford them, they are awesome. They have bigger and smaller versions.

PHONE MOUNTS

  • Quad lock ball mount quad lock

  • Ram ball to fit gps bar amazon (you can find other ram balls that better fit your needs if you want to mount it somewhere else, i prefer mounting on the gps bar)

  • Ram short arm amazon

  • Quad lock phone case - scroll to find your phone quad lock

MISC - Kickstand enlargers, tool boxes etc. I’d like to mention that my personal kickstand is the Sidekicker. Its an on the fly height adjustable kick stand, that is no longer made. What a shame.

  • Giant loop diablo’s $255 - comes in colors giant loop - Whats amazing about this bag is 1. how it gets out of the way when standing, and 2. How it unzips revealing your gas filler. It’s the easiest on off out of any of the bags while still remaining very tight.

  • Mosko Moto hood tank bag $200 mosko moto

  • Wolfman blackhawk $185 wolfman luggage

Tail Bags - Small tail bags for day trips in to the dirt, enough to put a layer in, some tools, and a snack. You also want something with a durable zipper. With most zipper products, you want to make sure to lube the zipper occasionally as needed.

Cases - Hard cases and soft cases. Hard cases are great for commuting, and for multi day trips. They are lockable and easy to use. The downside is they are terrible for off road riding. If you have a home base camp site, and your dirt riding would be with out cases, then hard cases are fine. If you are doing a multi day off road trip, with different camp sites every night, you want soft cases.