what next?

[pistole]

am gonna get a new watercooled R1200GS to add to the GTR !

.

[Winston Smith]

am gonna get a new watercooled R1200GS to add to the GTR !

.

Good choice!  What an awesome engine. Love 'em to pieces!!

[pistole]

if it starts to fall apart on me , am gonna ride all the way to the UK and have it out with ya !!

.

[Winston Smith]

GS12WC is f*****g brilliant.  Honestly.  It is sublime.  If it falls apart I will send you my home address!!

[pistole]

hoi !!



.

[100milesaway]

GS12WC is f*****g brilliant.  Honestly.  It is sublime.  If it falls apart I will send you my home address!!

How many miles of riding one, has it taken for you to form that opinion? 

[zedmeister]

How many miles of riding one, has it taken for you to form that opinion? 

Well if it is as good as winnie says, it took me 10 minutes to decide the GTR was for me, and i am now on my fourth one, and the ear to ear grin is still there.

[Winston Smith]

A good day Geoff, and I am very open minded having ridden the amount of bikes and the testing I have done over the years.

The new water cooled GS is a superb bike and it has again raised the bar for all the other manufacturers, KTM, Honda Kawasaki et-al

Like it or not, the Germans are really understanding the current market in the way the Japs did 40 years ago.

They have created the adventure market which others (including yourself with the Versys) have benefitted from.

They have stolen the crown from the likes of Honda for tourers/sports tourers, with the RT knocking the Pan from it's podium and K16 taking sport touring to another level.

Even the sport bike market has been shaken up with the S1000

As I have said before, I love the GTR, it is a fantastic machine, and the Versys is a fine machine too.

It's just a fact - the new GS (and no doubt the new RT) is sublime and has raised the bar again.

[Lonewolf]

Chris, how do you rate the pre water cooled GS's & which might be the better model, standard or the Adventure model? 

[Charlie747]

A good day Geoff, and I am very open minded having ridden the amount of bikes and the testing I have done over the years.

The new water cooled GS is a superb bike and it has again raised the bar for all the other manufacturers, KTM, Honda Kawasaki et-al

Like it or not, the Germans are really understanding the current market in the way the Japs did 40 years ago.

They have created the adventure market which others (including yourself with the Versys) have benefitted from.

They have stolen the crown from the likes of Honda for tourers/sports tourers, with the RT knocking the Pan from it's podium and K16 taking sport touring to another level.

Even the sport bike market has been shaken up with the S1000

As I have said before, I love the GTR, it is a fantastic machine, and the Versys is a fine machine too.

It's just a fact - the new GS (and no doubt the new RT) is sublime and has raised the bar again.

I would want to see it around a few years before buying as the model launch had a very dark day regarding its stability with the British press breaking a steering lock stop off and the tragic death of Mr Ash which has yet to be fully explained. 

[pistole]

the new (updated) GS has a steering damper. Read into that what you will , but am plain looking forward to the new bike !

.

[pistole]

Agree with Winston there.

Not having tested the number of bikes that he has (how he suffers .... ) , my opinion is limited to the hd , gtr and shortly the gs , but really feel that the Japanese makers have fallen off the log at the moment and are being outclassed by the europeans (just look at the two big euro makers , bmw and ducati).

more and more riders here locally are going euro simply because of the tech , design and badge.

the reverse was true maybe 8-10 years ago , but certainly not now. Look at the CBR1000RR and the Goldwing ... and the GTR really needs a total ground up revamp ... and the new FJR with 5 gears ? Really ? Who sat around that table and said "5 gears good , ok" ?

Unfortunately , I think the Jap bike makers are feeling the 10 years of malaise that has afflicted the general japanese economy, and that translated into their bikes.

sad for them since they have such a good base of reliability to work from

.

[tapps]

We are all very different and so all have different tastes in our bikes .. but Dave pop down to your BM dealer and take a look .... you may be pleasantly surprised ! 

I must say I agree rusty,went to the nec show on Saturday,spent a lot of time looking at the beemer's.i liked the look of the k1600gt se,being more on the realistic side the rt1200rtle looked good,I can see a test ride being on the cards.

[O.C.]

I'll be trying the new GS, after having owned its predecessor (which was  ) I'll also be trying out the TEX (Triumph Explorer), so that I can add it to my list of bikes that I've tried and so far disliked,  I'm working on the principle of "don't knock it till you've tried it" 

Other bikes I have recently tested are:-

Aprillia Caponord 1200 about which much has been said and written, it is supposed to have  suspension capable of providing a magic carpet ride and an engine to die for....well it didn't do it for me  frankly the suspension was no better than my Versys 1000, and the engine was bloody awful, it banged and klonked to a point where I feared it was about to spill its guts all over the road. It got a BIG thumbs down from me and Geoff who also gave it a 'spin'

MV Augusta Stelvio. (see correction below) Much has been said about the famous Guzzi over many years and it is a bike that is revered by its owners, some say its quirkiness is an attractive feature, in short it just didn't work for me...at all. I didn't like the riding position, as a consequence the bike didn't give me a feeling of confidence and to be fair I'm really not a fan of twins so its engine, which to me is rough didn't appeal, it does sound good though 

There's nothing scientific about my opinion of the bikes I've tested so far, I'm simply checking whats out there and passing on my views.

I do like the look of the FJR though, but them I allus have  but its lighter machinery that I require and fit my riding needs these days 

[100milesaway]

Rog, have you been out all night on the sauce?                                           MV Augusta ( Agusta)  Stelvio !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ?                                   I shall be having a word with you 2 mora, when you will  recieve a clip around your solar panel.