I’ve had the odd one or three bikes over the last few years but had almost settled in to the R1200GSA as my perfect partner. This changed following a partial knee replacement that didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. The pressure of pushing the LC about was playing havoc with my knee so I started to look about.
I was galvanised into action when my wife started going on about how she needed more than the F700GS gave her when touring and how nice the S1000XR looked. Bearing in mind she is a below knee amputee I suggested it might be a bit big but a wiz down to our local dealer and a few pushes around the show room dispelled that myth.
OK I thought, they vibrate and are just too wild so if I take a test ride I can give her a first-hand account on how bad they are. That weekend I dutifully nipped down to the dealer again and took one out for an hour or two. The weather was not at its best, lots of rain and wind, so there was no way this was going to be as good as my old GSA. How wrong could I be it was a revelation! These things are so good I immediately sorted out a trade in and ordered a new one.
Maybe I should have mentioned the test ride to the wife because in true Queen Victoria mode, she was not amused! The next day we went back to the dealer and sorted hers out.
The week after she took delivery we were off to the French Alps so there was a flurry of activity on my behalf moving over her Kliktronic from her old to the new. The Kliktronic gives you a push button gear change whist retaining the normal clutch operation, very useful with no left foot
So back to the “review”, we started with the normal mundane jaunt down motorways from Leicester way to Calais. Cruise control came into its own for this giving me a chance to practice several hand signals that might not have been in the Highway Code We had blue tooth headsets on so could communicate, on the occasions when a fast overtake became useful the “Yeehaw’s” and screeches of joy from my missis became quite disconcerting as she relished her new power, I must admit it was fun!
We compared notes on the Ferry regarding our old versus new and it was a job to work out who out of the tow of us was most impressed by their new steed.
Our route in France was based upon D roads so that we didn’t square tyres off on the motorway, once again the S1000Xr showed its worth. The manoeuvrability and flick ability was a joy, the power in the engine pulling you out of the mire if you got gears wrong. Having ridden many thousands of miles in France, I can honestly say I have never had a bigger grin on my face than when I got off after the first day. My missus was bubbling like a teenager!
The ride improved no end as we got closer to our destination in the French Alps, I’ve done the Furka Pass on a GSA and thought it couldn’t get better, I was wrong. This thing is an absolute giggle so forgiving and easy to put back on line. We were both fully loaded with luggage, hers BMW mine SHAD this didn’t faze the beast at all.
When I first viewed the bike I thought the seat might be an issue but it actually is extremely comfortable, now I know that is a subjective comment but my wife had no issues either. Two hour stretches between fag breaks (for her!) are easily doable. Any longer than a quick waggle about or a stand on pegs for a bit of cold air did the trick.
Then next thing I’d heard said was that this was way too powerful a bike and you would lose your licence. Yes it does go, but, it’s not an on off switch. Hanging back so my mate on his Kawasaki 1200 could catch up we found it was happy to bumble along at normal speeds and returned 50mpg overall.
For me the biggest bonuses were
1) Having the same layout handlebars, all be it a smidgen lower, than my 1200GSA with everything familiar.
2) A digital dash to make reading the speed easier.
3) The ability to go slow or mental at the twist of your wrist.
4) Not weighing a ton when wheeling it around a car park.
5) Not vibrating as I was told it would.
Down sides?
I have to oil a chain, but Yin and Yan, I don’t have to save up for my Bevel Box repair
Is this the best bike in the world? I don’t know but it’s the best I’ve owned to date. Suffice is to say, when we got home, if we’d won the lottery we would have happily gone back and do it all again.
I was galvanised into action when my wife started going on about how she needed more than the F700GS gave her when touring and how nice the S1000XR looked. Bearing in mind she is a below knee amputee I suggested it might be a bit big but a wiz down to our local dealer and a few pushes around the show room dispelled that myth.
OK I thought, they vibrate and are just too wild so if I take a test ride I can give her a first-hand account on how bad they are. That weekend I dutifully nipped down to the dealer again and took one out for an hour or two. The weather was not at its best, lots of rain and wind, so there was no way this was going to be as good as my old GSA. How wrong could I be it was a revelation! These things are so good I immediately sorted out a trade in and ordered a new one.
Maybe I should have mentioned the test ride to the wife because in true Queen Victoria mode, she was not amused! The next day we went back to the dealer and sorted hers out.
The week after she took delivery we were off to the French Alps so there was a flurry of activity on my behalf moving over her Kliktronic from her old to the new. The Kliktronic gives you a push button gear change whist retaining the normal clutch operation, very useful with no left foot
So back to the “review”, we started with the normal mundane jaunt down motorways from Leicester way to Calais. Cruise control came into its own for this giving me a chance to practice several hand signals that might not have been in the Highway Code We had blue tooth headsets on so could communicate, on the occasions when a fast overtake became useful the “Yeehaw’s” and screeches of joy from my missis became quite disconcerting as she relished her new power, I must admit it was fun!
We compared notes on the Ferry regarding our old versus new and it was a job to work out who out of the tow of us was most impressed by their new steed.
Our route in France was based upon D roads so that we didn’t square tyres off on the motorway, once again the S1000Xr showed its worth. The manoeuvrability and flick ability was a joy, the power in the engine pulling you out of the mire if you got gears wrong. Having ridden many thousands of miles in France, I can honestly say I have never had a bigger grin on my face than when I got off after the first day. My missus was bubbling like a teenager!
The ride improved no end as we got closer to our destination in the French Alps, I’ve done the Furka Pass on a GSA and thought it couldn’t get better, I was wrong. This thing is an absolute giggle so forgiving and easy to put back on line. We were both fully loaded with luggage, hers BMW mine SHAD this didn’t faze the beast at all.
When I first viewed the bike I thought the seat might be an issue but it actually is extremely comfortable, now I know that is a subjective comment but my wife had no issues either. Two hour stretches between fag breaks (for her!) are easily doable. Any longer than a quick waggle about or a stand on pegs for a bit of cold air did the trick.
Then next thing I’d heard said was that this was way too powerful a bike and you would lose your licence. Yes it does go, but, it’s not an on off switch. Hanging back so my mate on his Kawasaki 1200 could catch up we found it was happy to bumble along at normal speeds and returned 50mpg overall.
For me the biggest bonuses were
1) Having the same layout handlebars, all be it a smidgen lower, than my 1200GSA with everything familiar.
2) A digital dash to make reading the speed easier.
3) The ability to go slow or mental at the twist of your wrist.
4) Not weighing a ton when wheeling it around a car park.
5) Not vibrating as I was told it would.
Down sides?
I have to oil a chain, but Yin and Yan, I don’t have to save up for my Bevel Box repair
Is this the best bike in the world? I don’t know but it’s the best I’ve owned to date. Suffice is to say, when we got home, if we’d won the lottery we would have happily gone back and do it all again.