Hi
My name is Sander, almost 44 years young and biking for 6 years now. I'm Dutch but live in Belgium with my wife and son.
I started out on a Yamaha XVS 950a and owned that one for three years. Then I switched to a Kawasaki Versys 1000 gen 1, which turned out to be a slight mistake due to its height (I'm a shorty with 172 cm). So after a year I traded it in for a Z1000SX 2014 model with panniers.
The Z is great. But it doesn't offer the protection from the elements that I would like given my big commutes over the highway (100 - 200 km single way depending on the client I work for).
So yesterday after having two test drives, I decided to trade in my beloved Z after almost 2 years and 25000 km for a brand new 2016 model GTR (grand tourer with top case) in metallic slate blue (my Z was grey and I wanted something different).
Delivery will be May 20th or 27th, depending on when the top case and crash sliders arrive. Just in time for the 4 day trip in the Eifel which is starting the 28th.
Can't wait! :-)
Cheers
Sander
:185: from the fens of Lincolnshire
Look forward to seeing pictures of your new :scooter: ride :punk:
:185: :185:
Welcome to the light side!
Welcome from US!
a very warm welcome from the U.K Sander
You will find lots of help, advice and good fun on this forum :yes:
Welcome! And great choice of bike. You won't be disappointed. :banana:
Cheers
Paul B.
Goeddag Sander en welcom aan het forum.
Waar in Belgie ben je?
Mijn Sus woont in Schaerbeek.
Ik began mijn moto-rijden in Brussel.
Quote from: Boomer on May 14, 2016, 09:05:53 PM
Goeddag Sander en welcom aan het forum.
Waar in Belgie ben je?
Mijn Sus woont in Schaerbeek.
Ik began mijn moto-rijden in Brussel.
I live between Leuven and Tienen.
Thanks for the warm welcome. I will post some pictures when I picked it up and will probably have some questions to ask. Meanwhile just lurking and reading what you all have to say about this beast.
Keep it between 7-9k rpm and say YeHa :punk:
If you fancy a little trip we would love to meet you at "Fun in the Forest" our meet this year :scooter:
PS Lurking is good 🍻👍😃
Quote from: estrenuo on May 14, 2016, 11:05:31 PM
I live between Leuven and Tienen.
Nice area. I went to school in Tervuren.
Quote from: Charlie747 on May 14, 2016, 11:19:27 PM
Keep it between 7-9k rpm and say YeHa :punk:
If you fancy a little trip we would love to meet you at "Fun in the Forest" our meet this year :scooter:
PS Lurking is good 🍻👍😃
Unfortunately it's a no go for me. It's my wife's birthday on the 3rd of June and she is giving a big party.
But I'm sure there will be other opportunities in the future.
:clap:Welcome from the UK
Welcome, Iv'e just got back from the Eiffel region with my bike club, its a fantastic area for biking and so (relatively) close. Been there several times on my GTR and LOVED every tour.
Enjoy!
Quote from: kwarrgtr on May 15, 2016, 06:19:59 PM
Welcome, Iv'e just got back from the Eiffel region with my bike club, its a fantastic area for biking and so (relatively) close. Been there several times on my GTR and LOVED every tour.
Enjoy!
I've been there twice. Once on my Versys 1000, once with the Z1000SX and now it will be with the GTR. I'm a bit worried (not exactly the right word, it's a bit too much, but can't find the right one) about the weight in tight corners though, especially while I may not have a chance of practice before I go.
TRUST me (but more importantly) the bike!! It handled and handles wonderfully in the twisties.
Yes it is heavy beast - but as you know its very 'planted' and really well balanced.
Several sports bikes on our recent tour including a couple of K1300S's.
The only one that left me behind was the one ridden by a ring trainer!! So, just relax and enjoy the wonderful roads and scenery - you an the bike will be in your element.
+1 for a 'big' bike the GTR really does handle very, very well, so set off on your journey with all your kit and enjoy the ride.................you will :yes:
Hi Sander
I have recently bought my GTR which is exactly the same as the one you have ordered, you will be very happy, as others have said it handles very well for such a big bike, great choice, enjoy!!
No worries. The second you get moving the weight just disappears.
Oh, it's no sportsbike but will stay with just about anything on the road.
I've embarrassed a few sportsbikes in my time and I don't think I'm that fast.
The bike is probably more capable than you are, unless you race motorcycles (amateur or pro).
Quote from: Boomer on May 16, 2016, 08:37:45 PM
The bike is probably more capable than you are, unless you race motorcycles (amateur or pro).
I don't doubt that ;-) The first part I mean. Have only been on the track once in my.life.
Presents have been delivered! 😀
(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160525/ea0ad008e56db216e46194792cf7907b.jpg)(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160525/b9af38ff3063f48cdc70be0a9f2610c4.jpg)(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160525/9840ddd832e6f48e6a6194d747d86b27.jpg)
:clap: :clap:
:banana:
:sweet: :scooter: :punk:
:agree: Nice one ... :clap: :clap:
Enjoyed two days in the Eifel region. Unfortunately I did drop the bike while it was parked downhill and I forgot to put it in gear so it rode of the side stand when I wanted to get back on. Top block sliders took the controlled fell over and there is only a tiny tiny scratch on the left pannier that you can only see when lying on the floor.
All in all great bike but it did take a bit of getting used too, which was expected.
A summary of the tour can be found here on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/f0dGjPJnR6E (https://youtu.be/f0dGjPJnR6E)
Nice vid, some of those roads looks very familiar, especially the long sweeping bends thru the forest.
Sorry to hear about the drop, glad its not too serious.
Good practice I was told about sometime ago, never park downhill - especially the GTR, you cannot push it backwards if you need to!! Also, leave it in 1st gear and flick the side stand down, then let clutch out and make sure bike cannot move (even a little bit) forward. Sorry if you know all this anyway. ;-)
Quote from: kwarrgtr on May 31, 2016, 06:33:29 PM
Nice vid, some of those roads looks very familiar, especially the long sweeping bends thru the forest.
Sorry to hear about the drop, glad its not too serious.
Good practice I was told about sometime ago, never park downhill - especially the GTR, you cannot push it backwards if you need to!! Also, leave it in 1st gear and flick the side stand down, then let clutch out and make sure bike cannot move (even a little bit) forward. Sorry if you know all this anyway. ;-)
Good advice which should be practised as a routine :yes:
Nice video and edit :punk:
The bike will steer and ride better than you can imagine once you change the tyres for T30, PR3/4GT, Angels etc.
I doubted what the others said about tyres until I fitted my first replacement set :clap:
Hope you're enjoying the :scooter: and once again :185: aboard
Nice video there and the little map insert on the left was very clever. Sorry to hear about you dropping the bike, I've done the same myself, and now always park it in gear. It's surprising how easily you can pick up such a heavy bike when you're angry lol.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Thanks guys. Yes, I know about the fact I should put it into gear. Problem was that we passed another group (we went in smaller groups because of different speeds and we were 36 bikers in total) of which one had crashed so we stopped to see if we needed to help with anything. In that excitement I forgot to put it into gear. Fortunately the guy that crashed wasn't injured. He only lost one of the headlights of (his wife's) Street Triple and some scratches on the side and broken rear break handle but could continue his trip.
Yes, when the tires need to be replaced I will go for PR4GT or Angels and also a 55 profile rear. It made a world of a difference on my SX too. But I must say that the Bridgestone BT21R aren't that bad. They are better than the stock S20 I had on my SX.
The video editing is mostly with the app that comes with my TomTom Bandit camera, including that map in the left top corner. It automatically records certain highlights like turning, going downhill, accelerating etc. The annoying music (but gives no copyright issues on YouTube or Facebook) and titles were done using iMovie on my iPad.