I'm your age Kev, I currently have an AT 1100, T7, and R1200RS and am considering eliminating 2 of them. If I do it'll be the AT and RS because I appreciate riding a simpler and lighter machine that can do everything I need. The mods I've made to my T7 are a Seat Concepts, Bumot removable soft panniers, factory centre stand, and a 16T countershaft sprocket. I'll probably install heated grips also but that's about it.
Stock, 4,000 rpm was only 55 mph, it's now about 59 mpg which feels more relaxed. Idling in 1st gear w/o slipping the clutch stock showed 7 mph, now the display varies back and forth between 7 - 8 mph so hardly affected. There are two features missing (that if it had would make it about perfect for me) tubeless wheels and cruise control. But I'll suffer without those features in order to have all the rest this middle weight bike offers; build quality, wonderful drivetrain, comfortable ergos, simple to operate and ease of maintenance (take note Africa Twin!), nice handling on all types of roads. Origionally I was concerned that the 4.2 gallon tank could be inadequate but it's not been an issue so far because it gets well over 50 miles per US gallon, many times closer to 60.
This is about as poor quality road as I ride this bike on.
This one shows the panniers a little better.
Stock, 4,000 rpm was only 55 mph, it's now about 59 mpg which feels more relaxed. Idling in 1st gear w/o slipping the clutch stock showed 7 mph, now the display varies back and forth between 7 - 8 mph so hardly affected. There are two features missing (that if it had would make it about perfect for me) tubeless wheels and cruise control. But I'll suffer without those features in order to have all the rest this middle weight bike offers; build quality, wonderful drivetrain, comfortable ergos, simple to operate and ease of maintenance (take note Africa Twin!), nice handling on all types of roads. Origionally I was concerned that the 4.2 gallon tank could be inadequate but it's not been an issue so far because it gets well over 50 miles per US gallon, many times closer to 60.
This is about as poor quality road as I ride this bike on.
This one shows the panniers a little better.