Hi, newbie saying hello

I've recently bought a rather nice 17 year old R850GS. I was looking for a CB500 or somat to use as a commuter but the GS was shiny and red and my mrs liked it. I sat on it, smiled, started it up (Remus end can) and grinned. Not at all what I was after but since when was riding bikes about being sensible? The sensible bit comes in though as I've sold my 185mph rocket ship and bought a bit slower, my licence was showing the strain...

Since then it has snowed a lot, but not enough to prevent a run from Yorkshire down to Hampshire, then across to Herefordshire and back home, visiting relatives after Christmas. Motorway traffic was horrendous, it was literally freezing and the snow across the Cotswolds a little unsettling... I liked the heated grips. A lot.

The big red thing was very impressive overall and I have now officially bonded. A little fat for filtering but the most stable bike for riding on white lines I have ever ridden bar none (and this is my 43rd bike), so that more than compensated. The bike felt very easy and reassuring to ride slowly on slippery surfaces and handled cruising speeds just fine, although the screen chucked a lot of air in my face meaning visor down over 60. I have just fitted an MRA screen thing (works brilliantly on my V Strom) but it's snowing again so road testing will wait a bit longer. The engine is smooth and sounds fantastic to me, not the quickest but that's what I wanted, a bike to enjoy riding at sensible speeds. I have now stopped beeping the horn when turning left but still cancel the indicators when turning right. I'm not keen, but will get used to it. I still bang my shins on the engine from time to time, but I always was a slow learner.

All in all, I'm a happy bunny. Any tips you may have about this fine bike will be gratefully received. Apart from a brief stint on an R65 a while back this is my first BMW.

Welcome o all thing UKGSer Uncon

Welcome too to the real world

That engine is a peach.

Dont be tempted to fit the bigger bore.

They are a revelation if you've never ridden a boxer before.

I've been a convert since 1985 odd

Thanks,

I've never had much luck with the real world though....

I've read the 850 is smoother than the 1100, less mass flying around? It has enough poke to be getting along with for now, and it is rather exclusive.

Greetings & welcome to the forum...

Welcome to the forum, uncon. You found yourself a solid bike in the R850GS. Certainly, it doesn't have the bells-and-whistles of the newer bikes but if you can look past that (and not great braking by modern standards), you'll enjoy it immensely...in fact it sounds like it's right your thing if you're looking to slow down some.

Welcome. We all smile when we hear of someone finding there way to the GS world. Grab a bevy and read on. No end of useful stuff hear amongst the prejudice and bollox. You'll love it

Path.

There's enough of us here with older bikes to keep you company.

Welcome to the site!

Uncon said:

I've recently bought a rather nice 17 year old R850GS. I was looking for a CB500 or somat to use as a commuter but the GS was shiny and red and my mrs liked it. I sat on it, smiled, started it up (Remus end can) and grinned. Not at all what I was after but since when was riding bikes about being sensible? The sensible bit comes in though as I've sold my 185mph rocket ship and bought a bit slower, my licence was showing the strain...

Since then it has snowed a lot, but not enough to prevent a run from Yorkshire down to Hampshire, then across to Herefordshire and back home, visiting relatives after Christmas. Motorway traffic was horrendous, it was literally freezing and the snow across the Cotswolds a little unsettling... I liked the heated grips. A lot.

The big red thing was very impressive overall and I have now officially bonded. A little fat for filtering but the most stable bike for riding on white lines I have ever ridden bar none (and this is my 43rd bike), so that more than compensated. The bike felt very easy and reassuring to ride slowly on slippery surfaces and handled cruising speeds just fine, although the screen chucked a lot of air in my face meaning visor down over 60. I have just fitted an MRA screen thing (works brilliantly on my V Strom) but it's snowing again so road testing will wait a bit longer. The engine is smooth and sounds fantastic to me, not the quickest but that's what I wanted, a bike to enjoy riding at sensible speeds.

Click to expand...

De Ja Vue....pretty much the same storey for many GS owners, welcome to oilhead ownership and life with a GS generally, go anywhere, any time and be happy about it.
You'll find that all the roads you'd avoid like the plague on rocket ship suddenly become pleasant and favored playgrounds.

From Halifax you have great access to some great little lanes.

Enjoy.


As with any bikes there is a plethora of screens available which can make a big difference to long distance touring comfort.

Look up Motorworks for your spare bits by the way they are only in Holmfirth. Good company to deal with for new and used bits.

The standard seats tend to be shocking by the way...popular mods are either corbin or sargent...but there are differing views on comfort for these.

If you think you 'd like some standard panniers by the way I have a set kicking about that have damaged locks but could be keyed to your bike.
You can have them for free if you didn't get a set with your bike as I already have a keyed set for my 1150 and some aftermarket ones.

Mean't to advertise them on here in the free section but haven't got around to it yet.

Worth subscribing by the way.
The Annual £12 gets you full access to the site, worth it for comedy value alone.
Any question about oilhead GS's has already been asked many times so the search function is your best friend.

AND DO NOT ASK WHICH OIL!!!!