New owner from Wiltshire

[Martin#30]

Afternoon all,

Thought I'd say hello properly in the Intro's board. I am picking up my first GTR this coming Friday from Bristol, and the week or so wait whilst they register and PDI it is killing me.

Coming from a Triumph Trophy that an old deer (four legged variety) took a shine too and thus re-modelled. I am stunned what an extra 10 years R&D has done to the mile munching machines. Lovely.

Anyhow, I am sure I will be asking and contributing regularly - the bike needs to do 104 miles a day all year round so I am bound to run into a number of the things that you all have probably found and fixed by now.

Cheers,

Martin.

[Lonewolf]

Martin, welcome to the site and congratulations on your choice of replacement bike. You will not be disappointed. Did you test ride one first or just take the plunge?
Things are just taking off on here but new members are joining all the time and nobody seems to bite.
I'll be very surprised if you have any problems, they just seem to go on and on. Furthermore if your mileage is motorway travelling, the GTR just eats up the miles.

Stay safe,
Steve

[Kwikasfuki]

Hi Martin and welcome to the forums.

My daily commute is between 85 - 100 miles depending on the route I take and my bike is in use all year around except for snow. I assume you're getting a 2010 model so it'll come with heated grips and the higher windscreen. The traction control will be good for winter as well.

However, I would recommend getting a Cee Baileys Ultra Tour, fender extender, hugger and crash bungs for winter riding. The side mirrors are higher up than the older model and that should provide better wind protection. The new Bridgestone tyres may fare better than the old ones, and I found the Angel Pirelli ST to be good during winter although this year I'm planning on running the Continental Road Attack 2. I'm also in the process of upgrading the lighting on the bike, both front and rear.

Commuting on the GTR is brilliant. It is easy to hit over 100mph and not even realise it. Filtering may pose a problem, and the general rule is if the front goes, the rear will go.

As for hitting a deer, I hit one a few years ago in my car. Dread to think if that had happened on a bike.

[Martin#30]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys, and thanks for the tips NB. I have ordered a fender extender, though I had not realised that there is no hugger on the bike as standard. I shall have to have a search for who makes GTR huggers.

@Steve, I had a couple of GTR test rides before buying. The first one left me a little cold, with me focussing too much on the vibration and wind management weaknesses. I then test rode things like the Multistrada, GS Adventure etc, and found them all unsuitable. Had a second ride on Bristol Kawasaki's demo GTR and appreciated it so much more second time round.

I am very happy with my choice. It is a new 2010 in the what-were-you-thinking-Kawasaki-but-actually-it-has-grown-on-me metallic brown  :D.

Looking forward to picking it up this Friday, and I think I shall put a few miles on it before I start worrying about screens or tyres.

Cheers all,

Martin

[Lonewolf]

There is a thread on here for accessories where we did have a discussion on huggers. I think Skidmarx were the obvious UK manufacturers and suppliers. I still need to get one myself.

[da_boom]

your bike must be one day old now. whats the first impressions? how are you breaking in the engine? by the book or as mr moto suggests? as soon as i got my bike home first action was to change the oil and then give it a clean the way i like to do it

[Martin#30]

your bike must be one day old now. whats the first impressions? how are you breaking in the engine?

Absolutely magnificent bike, I am very pleased with my choice. Only done 220 miles so far since picking it up on Friday, but already I can tell it is a stunning machine. The power, comfort, stability, economy, looks, carrying capacity, grip, linked brakes, even the metallic brown paint - love them all.

I am running it in by the book, mainly because I am paranoid that there will be some ECU memory that would allow Kawasaki to get out of future warranty claims  ::) It is no great problem anyway, as I will be up to the 1,000 miles by the end of next week.

My only flies in the ointment are the fairly hard forks (that may calm down over time), and a nagging feeling that 3,750 mile service intervals are going to start to wind me up. No bike is perfect however.

Looking forward to enjoying more of the capabilities,

Martin.

[Rusty]

MJJ .... A brand new spanking out the box GTR eh ???? I am very jealous !
Sounds brilliant, good for you.
It's a personal thing and please ignore me all you like, most people do !!! .... like you I get my bikes straight out of the box and so have, over the years spent a fortune on Dealer servicing costs etc, just to have their stamp in the book and to back up the warranty ( which is also fantastic for when you come to sell/part exchange ). Depends on how much mileage your going to do and how often a 3/4000 mile service is going to come round, but I now take my bike for service every 6/7000 miles... I commute most days and rack the mileage up quite easily with what I call "hot" miles... motorways and dual carriageways... so although I am doing the mileage it's easy mileage with no real wear on brakes and clutch or anything else ... so they just change the oils filters and plugs etc and charge you the National Debt for the privilage... get where I am coming from ? Plus the fact that you are riding what is in effect, state of the art modern made computer machinery that is built to go on and on and on and on etc ... Your GTR will do tens of thousands of trouble free miles.. that's what they are made for !
I keep all my service history, receipts, stamps EVERYTHING, and I think that when someone comes to look at your bike when selling it if it's clean and tidy with all the paperwork no one is going to worry wether its' serviced on the 1st of August or the 42nd of Jelember ... if you get the idea ???
Just a thought !

[Martin#30]

Lord Rusty, I know exactly where you are coming from.

I normally service all my cars and bikes myself, and whilst I may not be the world's best spanner-wielder, there is nothing that a bit of patience and a workshop manual cannot solve. I have changed cambelts and valve shims and nothing has exploded yet  ;D

I am torn on this one though. This is my first new bike in ages, and also the first bike I have had loaded to the gun-whales with expensive, non-repairable electronics, ECUs and sensors.

I am thus wary of jeopordising the warranty by either extending the service intervals, or servicing myself. I do about 18k miles a year, so that will be a lot of 3,750s.

Still, as I said above, no bike is perfect.

Martin.

[Kwikasfuki]

I'm currently servicing my bike at the dealers once every two months. I'll cover more than the 4000 miles and the only reason it gets serviced at the dealers due to the extended warranty. Once the warranty finishes I'll be doing all the maintenance myself. Or looking to upgrade to the latest GTR model.

[Martin#30]

I'll cover more than the 4000 miles

Any suggestion from the dealer that the warranty will be invalidated by extending the service intervals? I guess not, but would have thought this was a classic small-print get out of jail free card for Kawasaki.

Martin.

[Kwikasfuki]

None whatsoever. I've had the rear TPS sensor replaced under warranty without any issues.

[Rusty]

Interesting stuff and I think NB has the right idea ... While the bike is new and under warranty let the dealer have it .... After that find someone else .. There are plenty of good independents out there. It's all very personal .. Anyway keep us all updated with your progress and welcome to the Forum.