what next?

[O.C.]

OOOPs, Shoulda said Moto Guzzi not MV   

Well it was early when I posted, and I was left singularly unimpressed by the test ride ~ so its not surprising that I'd forgotten what it was that I was testing 

mmmmm...... maybe I should try an M.V next perhaps Turismo 

[Winston Smith]

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. 

Charlie, I am pretty confident that poor Kevin's death isn't attributable to the bike, but I am not going to say anymore on the matter.

I personally found no problems with stability at real world speeds and on real world roads.  A friend who bought one had a slight problem, but the was found to be down to the torque setting used on the subframe which was resolved accordingly.

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

The old Adventure was a better bike than the GS.  However, with the new GS it is all about the engine.  It has lost the harshness and 'agricultural' feel of the aircooled unit, but still retains character. 
It delivers power in a similar way to an inline four and as a result feels a lot more sophisticated than it's predecessor.

As to which would be the better model, the Adventure isn't out yet (March I believe) so hasn't been through the mill yet.
That said, the difference between the GS and Adventure is very much a personal one.  I liked the 'look' of the the Adventure and preferred the ride it delivered, but the new GS is, in my opinion, in a different league.

Better?  Personal choice really.

[O.C.]

Chris, as you know I always respect your opinion, and would ask, is the new GS more comfy than its predecessor as Gillian found the pillion seat on the 2010 model GS I had very uncomfortable, she also reports that the pillion facility on the Versys is extremely comfortable by comparison...the riders seat certainly is very comfy, frankly more so than the GTR 

[Winston Smith]

Without being faciscuos - I haven't (ever) sat on the pillion of one!

I did find it similar to the old one, but can't really compare due to the time between riding them.

I found the original to be comfy seat-wise but (and the reason I got rid) I found the bar position gave me back ache

[2kwacks]

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 can't comment on the  B.M.W 1600, S1000 or the new GS because I've never ridden those 3 bikes ..  but I've ridden the RT1200 many times and if that had any part in knocking the Honda pan of it's podium... then I'm a monkeys uncle the reason the pan ST1300 as gone the way of the dodo is because it's "yesteryears" technology   now...  if you were to say, the GTR1400 knock the ST1300 of it's podium then that would be believable

[Lonewolf]

Dave, the GTR1400 knocked the ST1300 off it's podium......do you believe me? 

[Kevin]

(I looked for a Thread-Swerve icon but couldn't see one...)

<snip>  Gillian found the pillion seat on the 2010 model GS I had very uncomfortable <snip>

That'll be because the seats on both the GS and the GSA are crap in our experience. Mind you, I do have a damaged coccyx and the only manufacturer's seats we have on any of our bikes are the Yamaha 'extra comfort' seats on the FJR which are very good. They are an aftermarket extra because, I assume, Mr. Yamaha thought FJR purchasers wouldn't want to be comfortable as standard.

We tried having the GSA seats modified in the UK but they weren't much better. I have a pretty much brand new Kahedo GSA seat in the garage which didn't work for me and eventually settled on a Sargent seat with the rear lip cut off supplemented with an Airhawk on long trips and copious amounts of painkillers. Lyn used an Airhawk with the standard seat.

When we were in California we had the seats modified by Rick Mayer and the comfort is so much better now it's like night and day. On a trip down to Spain recently we were riding for pretty much 24 hours with a few short breaks and while I was suffered a bit the next day I took no painkillers at all. The seats from our new-to-us Ténéré will shortly be winging their way across the pond in Rick's direction.

Kevin

[O.C.]

Interesting Kevin, obviously not all bike riders suffer the same problem with all seats, but your point is well made, and you've confirmed my suspicions that it isn't just myself or Gillian who found the GS uncomfortable.

The mileage that you cover and the resulting 'saddle time' more than qualifies your observations

[2kwacks]

Dave, the GTR1400 knocked the ST1300 off it's podium......do you believe me? 

and

[pistole]

GS12WC is f*****g brilliant.  Honestly.  It is sublime

she's here !!

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[Lonewolf]

Very nice indeed....just needs some panniers now. 

[Rusty]

Lovely Lovely .. just needs an Akro pipe and it'll be 100% 

[2kwacks]

  with Mr rusty akrapovic exhausts are the way to go not cheap but quality never is

[pistole]

german meets japanese

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