When BMW launched its new R 1300 GS, a host of folks across the interwebs thought that the bikes offered an electronic center stand, something that’d make pulling a bike up onto it a thing of the past. But despite what you may have seen or read on the internet, that’s not actually the case.
No, you’ve been lied to! Well, not really, but the people who’ve been claiming that there is such a device are wrong in how the system works. That’s not to say BMW didn’t come up with something to make popping a motorcycle up onto a center stand easier. The company did and the way its engineers designed it will have you just as intrigued as you were before.
So let’s break down how BMW’s Adaptive Ride Height Control and Prop-Up Assistant work.
Adaptive Ride Height Control is exactly what it sounds like, in that a rider of a new R 1300 GS can select between Low and High ride heights. The idea behind the system is that when you’re stationary or coming to a stop, the motorcycle will automatically lower itself so that a rider’s feet better touch the pavement, but when moving, doesn’t sacrifice ground clearance.
High setting raises the seat height to 33.46 inches, while Low drops it 1.18 inches to 32.28 inches. According to BMW, “Adaptive Vehicle Height Control uses a hydraulic cylinder on each of the front and rear spring/shock assemblies to raise and lower the chassis. An MPU Motor Pump Unit operates through a switch valve to send hydraulic pressure to the two cylinders. Seat height can be lowered by 1.18” in 1.5 seconds at speeds below 15 mph. Raising seat height back to normal level takes 3.0 seconds and is done above 30 mph.”
As for how the system works to help you pop the motorcycle up onto its center stand, “The Prop-Up Assistant is used with the ignition turned on but the engine off, by simply folding down the center stand while the bike is in the lowered position (AUTO). The bike will sense the intent to put the center stand down and will automatically align and raise itself from the low to standard height setting, giving greater leverage to the rider to get the bike up by pushing down on the foot plate part of the center stand.”
But BMW didn’t stop there with the company stating, “After the R 1300 GS is up on the center stand, the motorcycle will lower itself to the low setting to increase stability” while up on the stand itself.
So there you have it. It’s a slick system, one I hope to try out for myself sometime in the near future. But, no, it isn’t an automatic center stand like you’ve been led to believe. That said, it’s pretty darn close and seems to make the whole affair as simple as counting 1,2,4. Wait.
What do you all think about BMW’s system? Is it something you’d like to see on the rest of the company’s off-road lineup?
