2026 BMW R 12 G/S Pairs Real Off-Road Capability With Vintage ADV Looks

The BMW R nineT Urban G/S was a neat-looking bike, but beneath those R 80-inspired looks lay a very traditional street bike: Cast wheels, five and a half inches of suspension travel, all ingredients for a reasonable street ride. That GS badge carries certain expectations of capability, though, and now it seems BMW’s seen fit to match form with function: The new R 12 G/S, which brings the vintage ADV concept to the new R 12 platform, gets some nice offroad accoutrement to match its Paris-Dakar looks. 

The R 12 G/S loses the “Urban” qualifier from its name, and gains capability to match. Suspension travel is up to 8.3 inches in front and 7.9 in the rear, and the bike gets a 21-inch cross-spoke front wheel and 17-inch rear wheel standard. The Enduro Pro trim ups that to 18 inches out back, though there’s no mention of tubeless wheels — time to leave the patch kit at home and start carrying a spare front tube. 

The R 12 G/S adds dirtworthy high fenders, like many ADV-styled bikes wear, but the BMW goes one step further and completely removes any mud protection mounted to the bottom of the forks. There’s no dual-layer setup here like so many adventure bikes, just a single high fender beneath the headlight. BMW even went so far as to route the brake crossover line all the way up to the triple tree to stop the lines from being caught in aggressive tires, so you can run your TKC80s in peace. 

The updated bike keeps the oilcooled boxer from the old R nineT, itself inherited from the R 1200, and its claimed 109 horsepower is closer to the current F900 parallel twin than the boxer 1300. The R 12’s 33.9-inch seat height is comparable to the F900’s 34.2 inches as well, though the retro-styled bike gets bigger 310 mm rotors up front to better stop its 505-pound wet weight. It may not be a 1300, but this new R 12 seems prepared to genuinely earn its G/S name in a way the old R nineT never quite did.

The R 12 G/S starts at $17,090 after $695 in destination fees, though like any BMW you’re unlikely to find one on a lot for the base price. BMW’s U.S. configurator for the bike is currently bugged, but it does show the Premium Package as coming in at $1,735 — don’t expect to see an R 12 G/S on a dealer lot without that, or for less than $18,825 with options. That positions the bike above its natural vintage-looks-and-modern-ADV-capability competitor, the Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE, which can regularly be found around the $16,000 mark. The BMW also outdoes the Triumph on power, claiming a 20-horsepower bump over the Scrambler, but it’ll be very interesting to see these two bikes go head to head. 

The R 12 G/S adds some long-awaited dirt capability to the old R nineT Urban G/S’s retro looks, which promise to make for an absolute blast of a bike. It lands in an interesting middle ground between the F 900 GS and the R 1300 GS in terms of function, but the form is wholly its own — unless you’re cross-shopping with a Concours-quality R 80 G/S PD. We’ll have to see what it’s like when it launches, but the R 12 G/S could well be one of BMW’s coolest new bikes.