SW-Motech BMW R1200GS
The ancient proverb that necessity is the mother of invention has never been truer than when it is applied to adventure motorcyclists.
Taking on the planet’s most unpredictable and brutal terrain on unrelentingly masculine machines built to go the distance, nothing stops the most determined of the ’round the world trekkers from global exploration.
SW-Motech began in 1999 with a simple idea among three German friends in Bracht — start up a company to make enough money to pay for their motorcycling trips to northwest Africa. By the next year, they designed the Quick-Lock side case carrier and by 2001 the company had expanded enough that it opened a second high-tech production facility in Brünn in the Czech Republic.
Move forward to 2013, SW-Motech is an international company exporting to 40 countries and requiring 80,000 square feet of industrial space.
With the release of the newest iteration of the BMW R 1200 GS (watch for a full test in the next issue of Ultimate MotorCycling), SW-Motech accepts the responsibility of helping riders make it to their personal finish lines.
Up first is protection, with a 27mm tube crashbar to protect the new liquid-/air-cooled cylinders from catastrophe. For ease of maintenance, the valve cover can be removed with the bar installed. A 4mm thick, CNCed aluminum skidplate protects the soft underbelly of the GS from the most insistent rocks.
SW-Motech’s revolutionary Quick-Lock system makes itself at home on the new GS, with a vibration- damped and black-powdercoated GPS mount that pivots into a position preferred by the pilot.
SW- Motech makes a wide variety of cases that can be mounted on the ’13 GS with the new Quick-Lock Evo Side Carrier System. Also powdercoated black, the steel tube system allows for quick installation and removal of any compatible cases.
As unarguably functional as these pieces are, the result of their installation is a motorcycle with a purposeful appearance that is second to none.
For additional information, log onto SW-Motech.
