BMW continues to dirty its image by announcing another off-road friendly model today, the 2012 G650GS Sertão. Described as a more off-road biased enduro machine than their renowned G650GS, the Sertão assumes the same role that had previously been filled by the Dakar variant of the F650GS.
Before we even had a chance to look over the new bike’s specs or an image of the machine, we were hung up by its name. After a little digging it turned out that the Portuguese name Sertão translates into backcountry – a perfectly suitable name to us – but Sertão also happens to be the name for a semi-arid region in Brazil that is characterised by its harsh terrain.
BMW Motorrad states that the Sertão is a more aggressively edged deviation of their current G650GS, which is already a good all-round adventure-touring mount. The leaner G650GS Sertão is said to be a more capable off-road machine and is ideally suited for riders who lean more toward the adventure side of the adventure-touring segment.
Technically speaking, the Sertão uses the same liquid cooled, single cylinder engine found in the G650GS that features dual overhead camshafts, fuel injection, and a dual ignition system. The 652 cc engine is rated at 35 kW (48 hp) at 6,500 rpm and 60 Nm of torque at 5,000 rpm. Where the new model differs is with its chassis; the G650GS was developed primarily for country roads and light off-road use, but the Sertão comes with longer suspension travel (front/rear 210 mm) that is more tautly tuned along with spoked light alloy wheels (a 21 in. up front and 17 in. at the rear).
The bike will be available in two seat heights with 860 mm being the standard height and a 900 mm seat height as an option. Other features that denote the Sertão from the existing G650GS is a luggage carrier, and extended front fender, hand guards, an aluminum skid plate and a taller windscreen. The bike will also feature an ABS system that can be switched off during off-road stints.
BMW Canada has confirmed that the bike will be available here; however, pricing will not be announced until mid-December.
