2008 GSA Jerky throttle

[Richard M]

I have now done 3000 miles on the GSA. What a great bike!
One question - is it normal for the throttle response to be jerky? When the bike was new, I seem to remember that it was really smooth, but this is not the case anymore. My dealer says it is a characteristic

 

[GSmonkey]

I had an 08 courtesy bike last week whilst the GSA was in having some work done. I noticed that the response was jerky compared to mine. This particular bike had 3000 miles on it as well.

I got off the bike convinced that BMW had changed it from the 07 bikes to more fast acting throttle on the 08, which I guess could make it more jerky. It could of been the courtesy bike syndrome though which found me running a full throttle a bit more readily

 

[kiwiAdventure]

My 08 gsa is fine for me with 2000ks on the clock, but then I like mine as it is just like my HP2 was.

 

[The Bede]

They all do that sir

... Ferkin' Euro emissions regs have the venerable ol' boxer running so lean in it's fuel injected 1200 incarnation that any slight feathering of the throttle gives on-off fueling and hence jerkiness.

... Don't know if they've changed the actual hand grip and cable mechanisms on newer models, but there's going to be some slight variation from bike to bike as shit and grit build up in the gubbins.

 

[motorbaker]

I have an 07 GSA with 11500 miles on it and have the same issue. It was beautifully smooth when new but now, however smoothly I turn the throttle, there is always a jerkiness in the response, which makes riding at slow speeds, in particular, rather uncomfortable.

Additionally, I have (since about 600 miles) been able to feel a developing slack in the shaft drive. I mentioned it to the Battersea motorrad people at both the 600m and 6,000m services but they were unhelpful: "happens to em all, gov - just the way they are and nothing we can do." Thanks a lot - exactly the attitude that allowed me to go abroad and get stuck miles from anywhere with an EWS failure. My Yamaha FJR (28,500m so far) is a much more reliable bike and the attitude of their service engineers is more helpful - and I thought I was moving up to something classier when buying the BMW. My mistake...