Sanity Ride.

[flatfour]

Pete, it is a compliment!

I think that the bike in question might well have been affected by the transmission recall that prevented bikes made between 2017 and (I believe) late 2019 being ridden until the work had been carried out. I have several acquaintances who bought new bikes late last year and suffered delivery delays.

To the best of my knowledge, most (if not all) units were reworked by March of this year, so perhaps that is why the bike that you are looking at has only a few miles on and yet has changed owners? The gearbox is of the cassette type, so extensive dismantling is not, apparently required to do the work.

My friends who own K1600's are all well pleased, although as one commented it is more complex and heavier than the 1300GT yet has the same power output. If I really thought that I could cope with the weight, I would probably have bought one myself by now, although my K1300GT is all that I need and performing well so far.

[PRD]

Good to hear that your bike is performing well. I still get a buzz from my GTR but no harm in looking around. Ideally I would buy an updated GTR sadly that is not possible. Before buying another bike it would have to excite me. Will also get a test ride on FJR which is also now in its last year of production.  But all this will depend on when our lockdown situation improves.

[ChrisB]

I thought the idea was to stay in unless your journey is for work or absolutely necessary. So far I have lost 3 aquantancies to this virus, one of them a paramedic. Stay in and save lives we are told, anything else is stupid and selfish.

[O.C.]

I had bad experiences with two BMW motorcycles,  however what I must say is the K1300 GT EE that I owned (like Colins) was very comfortable and had a stonking engine, which IMHO was better than the GTR       

[flatfour]

Chris, I'm sorry to hear of your friend's suffering and the loss to their families.

In this rural area, visiting the doctor's surgery for our prescriptions involves a round trip of 23 miles and the supermarkets are only slightly closer. The doctor's surgery will not allow a telephone call to check that prescriptions are ready and, twice I turned up on the appointed day for collection to be told to return in a few days, as they were behind with issuing medication. Two wasted journeys, therefore.

Should there be an issue with me using a bike to make these journeys instead of the car? When I arrived at the supermarket with my wife a week or two ago in the car, we were told that only one of us could enter. In light of this, I have to go alone, and I am as alone on the bike as in the car, surely?

I go out when I would have to make a journey in any case and although I registered in early April (for the first time ever) for online supermarket deliveries, in the three weeks since not one delivery slot has come up, despite checking as early as 5:30 a.m. and as late as 11p.m.

Unfortunately, the thought that you can confine yourself to your own house and garden in these times is simply not one that works in practice.

[O.C.]

I'm left wondering how many of the Lycra clad cyclists that are seen every day are collecting prescriptions or groceries

I do fully understand the need to self isolate       

[Lonewolf]

Chris, sorry to hear how the virus has impacted on your life and that of the families involved.


Of the two occasions I have been out on the bike, each journey was short and I incorporated into it a shopping trip. Firstly to collect some meds and food for the dogs and more recently some other dog stuff. As Colin has stated earlier some shops are controlling numbers who enter the shop even if from the same family. The shop I am referring to above operates this practice so it makes sense to go alone and on the bike.


However it goes deeper than this, Matt Hancock the Health Secretary has now on a number of occasions gone on tv and raised serious and genuine concerns about how the governments advice to stay at home, (and it is just advice not law), will significantly impact upon a persons mental health. I'm talking about ordinary people, not necessarily even people who have a history of MH, just everyday folk, no doubt like you and I who suddenly are expected to shut themselves off from the world.


Think also about people who are autistic and find change to be difficult if not impossible to deal with, individuals who may be registered blind, who suddenly find that in addition to the loss of their sight they have now lost the ability to have any interaction with another human, victims of domestic abuse who want to escape their violent partners but they are being told to stay at home thereby putting themselves at greater risk. One size does not fit all. You cannot treat everyone the same as everyone's needs are different.


Am I being stupid and selfish by going out on my bike, I don't believe I am. Does it give me a morale boost, yes it does and therefore when it is appropriate to do so I shall continue to use my bike for such journeys.

[O.C.]

    I too have had a friend whose family have been seriously impacted by Corona virus, my friends son-in-law spent 15 days in an induced coma in ITU he is an extremely lucky 36 years old, otherwise fit postman, and has since returned home via various other wards, he is delighted to be home with his family altough he has loss of movement in his legs, and has lost 3 stones in weight

Chris,, I would add that I too am sorry about the losses you have experienced     

[PRD]

I ,too, am sorry to hear Chris's news. As I think I have mentioned my brother is in a 12 week lockdown. I have used the bike to get his meds and groceries on the bike. With regard to self isolating I am doing it and have not seen the girlfriend since beginning of lockdown. (Every cloud has a silver lining!)  But I have also been on bike For purely pleasure reasons  and I believe it has a therapeutic  value.

[mcfroyce44]

Like our friends on this forum, I'm very sorry to hear of your loss, Chris.

The journey I took on my bike was essential travel - delivering medication to my parents (88 & 86) who live in a rural area and who haven't left home for about 6 weeks now. Their nearest shop for groceries is a few miles away and they don't deliver. However, the shop owner lives about 1/4 mile from my parents and has been delivering their groceries on his way home out of the goodness of his heart.

And to my friend who has a back ailment keeping him indoors.  Left the medication at their front doors.

I'd have made the same journey by car. Taking the bike was a pleasure, no argument, but I wasn't in contact with anyone and it was within the lockdown rules.

That being said, I find it hard to criticise anyone going out on their bike for therapeutic reasons. Head in a helmet, no contact with anyone. Riding especially carefully to ensure they don't have a trip to A&E.

Especially after travelling Dubai to Dublin on 22 March in a 777-300 with no empty seats and virtually no-one wearing a mask. That had me worried but didn't have much of a choice. Cabin crew didn't stay in Dublin but went straight back to Dubai for lockdown.

[Rusty]

I took the GS out for a "Sanity Ride" this afternoon ... just me and the roads of Sussex with no need to bother the NHS enroute. Warm and sunny it was lovely to get out and just ride the bike ..especially as the Scotland trip is now off ... it certainly works wonders and clears the old head 

[Lonewolf]

I took the GS out for a "Sanity Ride" this afternoon ... just me and the roads of Sussex with no need to bother the NHS enroute. Warm and sunny it was lovely to get out and just ride the bike ..especially as the Scotland trip is now off ... it certainly works wonders and clears the old head 

Coincidentally so did I. I went over to Fridaythorpe towards the East coast where there is a bikers cafe called Seaways. I didn't expect it to be open of course but I did enjoy the ride. Here's a wee video from my ride. I felt much better afterwards and of course I fully complied with self isolating in the process.

[PRD]

The clunking is very endearing! Not sure about the music though.

[Lonewolf]

Nobody seems to like my choice of music! 

[PRD]

I trust the police car did not stop you. I went out for about an hour today,thoroughly enjoyable but definitely an increase in traffic.