Shep
Shep of the Dessert
Hi all
Took my 1200gs to my local dealer for its 12000 service and annual thingy, plus a bit of cosmetic warrantee work ( front engine cover replaced due to corrosion) they lent me an R1150R for the day.
Unfortunatly I got a call in the afternoon saying a bearing in the front cover was iffy and only available from Germany, this could take 7 days!!
Good thing is they've let me keep the 1150R
So here goes, a quick report on the "1150R"
First impressions were awful, terrible handing, and I mean frightningly so, (mid corner shakes, not holding any sort of line in and out of fast corners) I stopped to give it a quick check over just in case of a puncture, found the rear tyre really squared off and bald as a badger down the middle, returned to dealer they fitted a new rear tyre (020), what a transformation, its a quite a nice bike now, quite stable now, very easy to flick l&r.
Foot pegs a bit high for me and could do with moving back a bit.
Engine seems ok, a bit of a lazy thing compared to the 1200, but that may be exagerated by the difference between 5spd & 6spd boxes, if this is the same engine as the 1150gs i can see how riders of the earlier gs can get on a 1200 and either go wow thats faster, or feel there's no real gain all depending on the way the bike is ridden on the test ride.
Fueling seems to have cold start glitch, causing the bike to stall easily when cold, then be a struggle to start again.
Brakes are a bit average compared with the 1200, but then again I think the 1200's brakes are the best i've had the pleasure use on the road so far. (40yrs riding/racing)
Finish on the 1150r is poor, front forks are already pitted, other bits and bobs are corroding and losing their finish.
Build quality is also not up to 1200 quality, castings are rougher, forks look poor, lots of little marks and paint flakes all this and only 5000 mls, the gs looks better after 12000 mls.
The clocks and dash area look ok, maybe a bit retro for me, and the idiot lights are hard to see in sunlight, but not to bad on a dull day.
Feels a bit lighter than the 1200 to ride, but dos'nt give the "king of the road" feeling I get with the 1200.
Still its a bike and its free(ish)
See ya soon
Shep
Took my 1200gs to my local dealer for its 12000 service and annual thingy, plus a bit of cosmetic warrantee work ( front engine cover replaced due to corrosion) they lent me an R1150R for the day.
Unfortunatly I got a call in the afternoon saying a bearing in the front cover was iffy and only available from Germany, this could take 7 days!!
Good thing is they've let me keep the 1150R
So here goes, a quick report on the "1150R"
First impressions were awful, terrible handing, and I mean frightningly so, (mid corner shakes, not holding any sort of line in and out of fast corners) I stopped to give it a quick check over just in case of a puncture, found the rear tyre really squared off and bald as a badger down the middle, returned to dealer they fitted a new rear tyre (020), what a transformation, its a quite a nice bike now, quite stable now, very easy to flick l&r.
Foot pegs a bit high for me and could do with moving back a bit.
Engine seems ok, a bit of a lazy thing compared to the 1200, but that may be exagerated by the difference between 5spd & 6spd boxes, if this is the same engine as the 1150gs i can see how riders of the earlier gs can get on a 1200 and either go wow thats faster, or feel there's no real gain all depending on the way the bike is ridden on the test ride.
Fueling seems to have cold start glitch, causing the bike to stall easily when cold, then be a struggle to start again.
Brakes are a bit average compared with the 1200, but then again I think the 1200's brakes are the best i've had the pleasure use on the road so far. (40yrs riding/racing)
Finish on the 1150r is poor, front forks are already pitted, other bits and bobs are corroding and losing their finish.
Build quality is also not up to 1200 quality, castings are rougher, forks look poor, lots of little marks and paint flakes all this and only 5000 mls, the gs looks better after 12000 mls.
The clocks and dash area look ok, maybe a bit retro for me, and the idiot lights are hard to see in sunlight, but not to bad on a dull day.
Feels a bit lighter than the 1200 to ride, but dos'nt give the "king of the road" feeling I get with the 1200.
Still its a bike and its free(ish)
See ya soon
Shep
