Didn't you use Ohlins yourself, Cole? You've got to think about budget here. The sort of mods you're talking about are beyond most people's means. I upgraded mine for £500, already well aware of the shortcomings of the showa gear but a lot of people use them with no trouble, I did mine to avoid possibilities of problems down the line. That was as much as I had to spend on the suspension and I would guess more in line with the budget of the average traveler. Your experience, Cole is not always relevant to most of us as you've spent a small fortune on that bike, I can't comment further because when I've talked to you about it on the ADV forum you ignored my questions.
Your bike is fun to look at but it's not directly interesting to me as I don't have that sort of budget to spend. I went Wilbers instead of Ohlins in the first place because I took time to read about multiple Ohlins failures. In my opinion they are pretty but nothing more. My shock is black, boring and 100% functional.
Now if someone wants to go RTW starting with a blank slate bike then let's be fair, the G650gs single is a great start and I can't think of a better one for the money. I mean what are the choices? KTM? They only make competition bikes and in some instances sell them as other things. They're unreliable, expensive to run and have short service intervals. I can't imagine anyone who knows what they're doing would think they were a good basis as a traveler. KLR? Very weak machine but reliable. Build quality is quite poor and finish is very thin. It's also heavy as well as under-powered. What about Yamaha? The Tenere looks the part and nearly is a good bike but it's an old fashioned engine and management system and build quality is beyond poor. Even dealers tell you it can't handle the rain. Some touring companies use them but swap them out at 20000 miles. That's running in for a rotax. Ok, for extreme use it might not suit some people but let's be fair... anyone asking such basic questions is not going to need a new set of suspensions and probably need a bit of friendly encouragement instead of horror stories. A friend of mine crossed India in very extreme muddy conditions on an Enfield with knackered tyres. When I was in Thailand old women on C90s were off-roading in ways that would put us all to shame on bikes held together with rope. I think us Westerners are a bit too spoilt. People around the world use what there is and do what they have to. We don't need the best of everything, we need to get out and DO IT. Would I like to swap out my forks? Yeah, of course. Do I need someone commenting that my forks "will just about do if I'm not fussy?" No, I can do without that. My bike is as good as it can be for the money I have to spend. It's a million times better than the bikes out all over the world that daily do the kind of things I'm still here planning and dreaming of. Am I happy with it? No, I would change a lot of things and I will up to my budget. As I've said before I believe suspension to be the best value for money as an upgrade. On the X-range I would do exhaust (weight and economy) and lighting next but attention to fuel supply and subframe (luggage capacity) and electrical power.

As for the Dakar, yes, it was a dealer. My brother is a bike dealer with BMW and we get behind the scenes a lot. The "Dakar" is already in the price list but details are not released yet. I thought the original Dakar had a different rear shock, maybe i'm wrong there. The front forks are definitely different, the front wheel is a different size and the mountings are different. Maybe the internals are similar but it's still a great basis for an RTW bike with fewer upgrades over stock. I repeat my previous comments, the GS single is not a hardcore machine. It's a bike that can handle a fire-road at best so let's get some perspective on it. I've ridden one and it's great, really great for the money. I wouldn't buy one. For my money I would go for an older Dakar with low mileage and start there but for a total newb then the new bike with a warranty is probably a better bet. Maybe even stick to the GS over Dakar. The 19" wheel is far better on the road where most of us spend more time. The 21" is better off-road but you pay your money and you take your choice. As for the smaller 14 litre tank, I'm not sure why they did this but apparently the range is more or less the same as BMW are quoting better economy.
Also... before it all kicks off, I'm not a fan of BMW. I've had 3 in a row and they're generally crap. My first R1200gs had electronics issues like all of them, the F800gs had build quality issues, like all of them and this one (G650x country) has massive design compromise issues to address. Also it's not a BMW. It's a rotax engine and everything else is Aprillia. Normally this would be the kiss of death but happily it works ok.

We all do this differently, I just get a bit fed up with people going on about the shortcomings of bikes when they're perfectly fine. I get a bit fed up with the toys-for-the-boys crowd who knock everything that hasn't had a ton of cash thrown at it. In my opinon the GS is fine for 99.9% of us. Upgrade the springs and shock and it would do it all. Even Cole was followed by a GS single on one of his trips (Dakar?) and he said, it kept up fine but the rider noticed the extra weight. Just do it, guys because I promise you one thing. Somewhere out there on your trip you're going to come across someone you'd never expect doing something you'd never dream possible on a bike you'd never think would make it. Encouragement guys. I like to keep things positive instead of finding fault with everything.

Just my 2 cents.