They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but if that were the case this story would already be over, so I guess I better fess up.

Unfortunately, there are no tales of wild nights and huge wins at the tables, but there are some pretty exciting motorcycle adventures to relay from two days of riding up into the mountains that dominate the Las Vegas skyline.

Leaving the eastern seaboard socked in with heavy clouds and driving rain, the glowing spring sunshine in Las Vegas was an instant delight. Immediately whisked away to a plush hotel on the outskirts of Las Vegas, my only task for the first day was to soak up some rays and get myself to the technical presentation before dinner.

This was as interesting as ever, with BMW’s Joan Horst showing us the latest safety innovations and clothing on offer this year. With new body armor, removable this and that, and a host of features not found on most motorcycle apparel, I certainly wouldn’t have been surprised to hear the latest jacket turns into two-man tent, for those times when you are stranded in some far off jungle.

But the assembled scribes and myself were here to learn about BMW’s new adventure touring bike, the R1200GS, so before long Tim Hirst took the floor. As a big fan of the Adventure, I was very pleased to hear the new GS has been on the motorcycle equivalent of the Atkins diet losing a total of 30kg, for a new dry weight of 199kg. Now a featherweight this doesn’t make, but it is a significant improvement over the previous GS.

The new 1200 has also been assigned a motorcycle personal trainer, as it now pumps out 100 horsepower at 7250 rpm, and 85 foot-pounds of torque at 5500 rpm. Losing 30kg and adding 15 horsepower, even I quickly figured out this was going to make for a very exciting new machine.

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