Had a test ride

Minty, like you I’ve been on the test ride trail. Compared to my Street Triple, the quickshifter on the GS changes with a bang rather than a snick. However it hardly matters as all the other good stuff shines through and as the GS doesn’t egg me on to ride like the Triple the quikshifter is less relevant.
At 5ft 10 with a 31 inseam, seat height is a quandary. I’ve ridden three bikes, each with different seat heights. A standard GS with seat on the lower position, too high for me to be confident. Lowered GS with the standard seat in the low position, better but felt quite wide. Standard GS with the seat height reduced seat, much better, as easy to flat foot as my Triumph and will be my choice. Good luck with your search.
 
Thanks again for all the info, it really does help. Sometimes, asking a sales person, you wonder if they are just telling you what you want to hear...

The two main obstacles now are leaving a deposit and then paying for it lol

I am planning on another test ride, I am sold (I must be because I keep looking at aftermarket bits lol) but it it can't hurt to try again.

I think my eventual spec will be a te with rally paint and gold wheels. I will try for maybe a top box or engine bars in the deal. The reason for the te spec over the standard plus options is if I went for the standard bike with the options I want, it would be almost te spec anyway.

Insurance on confused is only £100 ish more than the gtr surprisingly! I'll call my current insurer though.
 
Thanks again for all the info, it really does help. Sometimes, asking a sales person, you wonder if they are just telling you what you want to hear...

The two main obstacles now are leaving a deposit and then paying for it lol

I am planning on another test ride, I am sold (I must be because I keep looking at aftermarket bits lol) but it it can't hurt to try again.

I think my eventual spec will be a te with rally paint and gold wheels. I will try for maybe a top box or engine bars in the deal. The reason for the te spec over the standard plus options is if I went for the standard bike with the options I want, it would be almost te spec anyway.

Insurance on confused is only £100 ish more than the gtr surprisingly! I'll call my current insurer though.

I found a similar thing out when building a R1200RS on the configurator a few years ago. If you intend keeping it forever it's no big thing, but if you think you'll be swapping it in the future then the TE is definitely the way to go as the trade in value will be higher
 
If buying new, i think the deals are atm

Free ally luggage :) GS & GSA or free satnav ..... take the luggage ;)
 
Haha. I did hear not very good things about the nav 6.

Been doing the insurance thing this afternoon. My current insurer through bikesure won't touch the gs, due to the value, but after taking advice from here, I spoke to a nice south African guy at Bemoto and he made my christmas. I currently pay £268 for the 6 year old gtr and for a new gs te, he quoted me £302!!! for the same cover i have now.

I will wait until next month and see if there are any more fruity offers. I did have a dealer contact me by email yesterday to see how I was getting on after the first test ride. I didn't think bmw motorrad did follow up calls, the car side certainly don't.
 
I found a similar thing out when building a R1200RS on the configurator a few years ago. If you intend keeping it forever it's no big thing, but if you think you'll be swapping it in the future then the TE is definitely the way to go as the trade in value will be higher

After looking at what I want to add to a standard bike, the price wouldn't be that far off a te spec anyway, so I would go for the te in standard white and may get the panels painted later on.
 
I had a good couple of hours on a gsa from york yesterday (they didn't have a standard gs to try) but before I went off on the test ride, I had 15 mins with one of the mechanics talking about my previous test ride in grimsby.

It looks like it genuinely was my fault that the previous test was so bad. He really made sure I knew how to use a quick shifter. Previously I was backing off the power and then shifting like I do on the gtr and it was this that was upsetting the bike.

The test on the gsa was like night and day compared to the first test ride. I used the clutch from 1 to 3 then clutchless up to top and fully shutting off I could change down to 2nd absolutely fine.

I really enjoyed the ride apart from feeling a bit cramped by the time I got back, but that turned out to be the seat on fully low position.

Engine, suspension, handling, brakes are all spot on.

Does anyone of 6' own a lowered chassis? All they have in the showroom at the minute are low chassis bikes or gsa's From what they were telling me, it's the whole bike that is lowered approx 25mm, the seat/peg distance is the same.

I am not rushing into spending big bucks but I am close to signing up. The only real thing stopping me is the move from jap 4's. Other than triumph triples and a few v4's it's all I have owned. The boxer is a nice engine and I know it's just time in the saddle. I have a mate with a bmw r1200r and he says the same, they do grow on you.

Oh and one last thing, I would have to upgrade to a puig screen or similar. The buffeting even on the gsa was way too much and I wear custom earplugs.

I'll keep updating until I go either way. And one last last thing, how are bmw dealers for discounting. I may wait until closer to the end of the year and see if that brings any incentives, I know it does with the cars but not sure about bikes.

I’m 5’11 1/2” and I have the lower chassis gsa and it’s perfect. Going for the low chassis model is nothing to do with your height, I believe it’s got everything to do with your inside leg measurement. I’m only about a 30” inside leg so I felt more comfortable with the lowered bike.
 
Minty, if you're really leaning toward BMW have a test on the R1250r. Unless you're going offroad it's a far better bike than the GS.
 
I did it last week.

I've ordered a black te with black spoked wheels, the gold wheels look pretty damn nice, there was one in the shop with them but I had already decided on the colour combo before I went in.

It took a couple of hours of negotiations, I hate spending money... they're a lot of money for a bit of tin and rubber! but its soon forgotten int it.
 
Minty, if you're really leaning toward BMW have a test on the R1250r. Unless you're going offroad it's a far better bike than the GS.

I did look at the RT and RS, my friend has an rs but I've always liked the gs, I've always liked the adventure style bikes, I used to pass an Africa twin parked up every day on the bus on my way to college back in 88 and I just fell in love with that style, plus I feel there's more leg room for me on the gs.
 


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