Easily confused these GSA riders - who knows what he had a ride on - perhaps it was a Thomas
2021 1290S
- Thread starter Arsey
- Start date
Hi Chris, I didn’t think Premier had a SAR on test. Was it an old model? I can definitely testify that there are no bumps or clunks on mine, but a 21” front wheel does take more effort to turn in than the 19” on the GS, but then I’m used to it as all my bikes are now 21” wheel since the 1190 and 9T went.
I used to feel that the 9T wa s falling over over it turned on so quick!
I used to feel that the 9T wa s falling over over it turned on so quick!
BBB61
Registered user
At least it's adjustable. Those power sapping GS shafts have to be put up with when the clonk clonk startsAnd you can't fix the harsh suspension - you just have to live with that. The shift cam bikes I've ridden were noticeably crashy after jumping off the KTM.
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And you can't fix the harsh suspension - you just have to live with that. The shift cam bikes I've ridden were noticeably crashy after jumping off the KTM. What harsh suspension? When I changed from my 2018 Super Adventure S to the 1250 GSA I certainly didn't notice the harsh suspension you speak of, especially in comparison to the KTM suspension.
Cannot comment on the GSA as not ridden one for ages but the 1200GS TE I test road recently to me felt like the suspension was harsh and you could not dial it out using the different settings. Suspension on the latest KTM is a step forward and has loads of adjustment all of which you can do on the move
Cannot comment on the GSA as not ridden one for ages but the 1200GS TE I test road recently to me felt like the suspension was harsh and you could not dial it out using the different settings. Suspension on the latest KTM is a step forward and has loads of adjustment all of which you can do on the move
That's the issue with the GS. Stuck in the telelever dark ages whilst the electronics world moves on with more advanced setups. There's a reason why the new Ducati and KTM are much improved and why the GS sits where been for the last 10 years. In fact I preferred the bouncy previous setup to the newer 1250 one. Not saying the GS setup is bad of course, but time and progress moves on. I'll bet that in another 10 years when everything's gone electric, they'll still have a telelever setup with Boxer battery compartments
BBB61
Registered user
It's only an issue in your mind, the rest of the world, including the press don't see it stuck in the telelever dark ages, it's a system that works well and holds its own and this is reflected in the road tests and also the views of the owners.
Probably. The world moved on from leaf springs eventually though. Personally I take some of what the press say with a pinch. The owners? There are many Prada hand bag owners - I doubt a single one of them dislikes their look in the shop windows as they walk the high street. It's a Prada darling. They like the brand as much as the bag. Most GS owners I submit are the same. They'll never bad the brand. Even the thought of sitting on a KTM, or something Japanese, lowers their self esteem, so they never move on, content that they look and feel good on their current steed. And they probably do. When I had one I probably did too, in my head.
I dare say if they improved the shock quality front and back it would be perfectly fine. For now though, the mighty GS doesn't ride rough roads like the KTM. Certainly doesn't make every ride an event like the KTM either. But for sure they're great bikes and few would disagree.
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My mistake on the subsequent post after the ride. As I mentioned in the original post the R wasn’t available as a demo bike. I was on the S..
I’m not slating the bike here, the engine is great and pulled really well. IMHO it just looked and felt cheap in comparison and yes I’m comparing it to the GS as I’m guessing it’s supposed to be the GSs biggest competitor…
Maybe I didn’t give it enough of a try maybe I should have been on a ‘R’… Who knows?
I’m not slating the bike here, the engine is great and pulled really well. IMHO it just looked and felt cheap in comparison and yes I’m comparing it to the GS as I’m guessing it’s supposed to be the GSs biggest competitor…
Maybe I didn’t give it enough of a try maybe I should have been on a ‘R’… Who knows?
Well my 5penneth is i have owned and rode GS GSA's Rallye 1250's had 11 on the bounce and don't get m wrong had some memorable happy fun times along with a few offs spills and everything else that go's with the rove of two wheels.As Apex says you do get brand loyal and I too was sucked up in all that BMWs is best stuff. Yes the build quality was and I say was very good but IMHO BMW are going south fast! the build standards are not what they were particular the plastics are cheap and flimsy. The weight and the TFT poor connectivity wheels, engine paints etc plus a boredom factor brought me after a bad accident last year to look at other brands. I bought the V4 Ducati MS and soon realised that it was not for me the V4 had to be revved didn't feel like adv bike and the poor Brembo M50 front brakes which should have been amazing were dull.{Yes they were bed in) I liked the hayes brakes on BMW. The other thing was the cluttered TFT well to much going on strong noises from air box huge chain clunk clunk! and I just didn't like the Duke. Its amazing and well made but it was a case of not for me. So I then moved onto a bike id always poo pooed KTM. I was hovering like a Kestrel over the KTM Configurator and priced mine up with luggage at a tad over £20k the 1290 s in ORANGE that is. I rode the demo 1290s and the 850 to and boy they are both nice bikes. Let me say this a GS flatters a lot of riders riding where as the new KTM makes you ride the bike! the unlinked brakes means you have a back brake that actually works and the whole feel of it is "Lets Go" Im 5,000 miles in from end of April and yes I have issues like you do with all bikes.
The GSA GS will always be the comfy slipper! very nice but The KTM im riding is agile feels lighter than it is and puts a huge smile on your face. The downside for me being a fatty is the ergonomics I have the OEM seats the High heated Ergo seats and now th flat Rally high seat. But im getting there.
When you wash a bike properly you clean a lot from how well or not its made I have to say I was well impressed with the KTM Plastics are solid and tons better than BMW IMHO and the wheels are great the engine is a proven Badd ass and gives you fun sedate or on the gas. The chain for me coming after 100's of thousands of miles on the shaft drive BMW's (Not without failure) has been a new learning curve but easy as someone says just add the tightness up a bit and it's sweet.We ride down some very bumpy back lanes and on my GS1250 Rallye I used to think cant get better than this over these bumps! this lane is 4 miles so a good test yesterday on way home we rode same lane I remembered to swap the KTM suspension " on the fly" into Street mode and comfort suspension it really was amazing! the difference was noticeable. In fact the KTM ride Modes you really can feel the difference as you should be able to then theres Rally Mode with changes the whole bike... if thats your thing.Switchgear like every bike change takes a bit of getting used to but I'm fine with it now.Fuel Unlike the Ducati i was in the low 20's the KTM will give you all the fun you need and still give you a 52-54mpg return.
9k miles service intervals and a bike that you can put on the centre stand with ease push around gravel car parks easy etc.Go's like a missile Looks good when you let it grow on you
Suffered same with Ugly Beemers So for me its been a Happy change to KTM a bit of love hate thing I don't like how you cant turn your headlight on and off and you cant run the DRL with the headlight on, sometime when it does its auto change cars think your flashing them.Its each to their own I would not say i will never have another BMW but right now i like team orange....I wish I had tried a few Other brands and not had the last 12.5 years riding GS GSA 1200 1250's
The GSA GS will always be the comfy slipper! very nice but The KTM im riding is agile feels lighter than it is and puts a huge smile on your face. The downside for me being a fatty is the ergonomics I have the OEM seats the High heated Ergo seats and now th flat Rally high seat. But im getting there.
When you wash a bike properly you clean a lot from how well or not its made I have to say I was well impressed with the KTM Plastics are solid and tons better than BMW IMHO and the wheels are great the engine is a proven Badd ass and gives you fun sedate or on the gas. The chain for me coming after 100's of thousands of miles on the shaft drive BMW's (Not without failure) has been a new learning curve but easy as someone says just add the tightness up a bit and it's sweet.We ride down some very bumpy back lanes and on my GS1250 Rallye I used to think cant get better than this over these bumps! this lane is 4 miles so a good test yesterday on way home we rode same lane I remembered to swap the KTM suspension " on the fly" into Street mode and comfort suspension it really was amazing! the difference was noticeable. In fact the KTM ride Modes you really can feel the difference as you should be able to then theres Rally Mode with changes the whole bike... if thats your thing.Switchgear like every bike change takes a bit of getting used to but I'm fine with it now.Fuel Unlike the Ducati i was in the low 20's the KTM will give you all the fun you need and still give you a 52-54mpg return.
9k miles service intervals and a bike that you can put on the centre stand with ease push around gravel car parks easy etc.Go's like a missile Looks good when you let it grow on you
Suffered same with Ugly Beemers So for me its been a Happy change to KTM a bit of love hate thing I don't like how you cant turn your headlight on and off and you cant run the DRL with the headlight on, sometime when it does its auto change cars think your flashing them.Its each to their own I would not say i will never have another BMW but right now i like team orange....I wish I had tried a few Other brands and not had the last 12.5 years riding GS GSA 1200 1250'sAttachments
Well my 5penneth is i have owned and rode GS GSA's Rallye 1250's had 11 on the bounce and don't get m wrong had some memorable happy fun times along with a few offs spills and everything else that go's with the rove of two wheels.As Apex says you do get brand loyal and I too was sucked up in all that BMWs is best stuff. Yes the build quality was and I say was very good but IMHO BMW are going south fast! the build standards are not what they were particular the plastics are cheap and flimsy. The weight and the TFT poor connectivity wheels, engine paints etc plus a boredom factor brought me after a bad accident last year to look at other brands. I bought the V4 Ducati MS and soon realised that it was not for me the V4 had to be revved didn't feel like adv bike and the poor Brembo M50 front brakes which should have been amazing were dull.{Yes they were bed in) I liked the hayes brakes on BMW. The other thing was the cluttered TFT well to much going on strong noises from air box huge chain clunk clunk! and I just didn't like the Duke. Its amazing and well made but it was a case of not for me. So I then moved onto a bike id always poo pooed KTM. I was hovering like a Kestrel over the KTM Configurator and priced mine up with luggage at a tad over £20k the 1290 s in ORANGE that is. I rode the demo 1290s and the 850 to and boy they are both nice bikes. Let me say this a GS flatters a lot of riders riding where as the new KTM makes you ride the bike! the unlinked brakes means you have a back brake that actually works and the whole feel of it is "Lets Go" Im 5,000 miles in from end of April and yes I have issues like you do with all bikes.
The GSA GS will always be the comfy slipper! very nice but The KTM im riding is agile feels lighter than it is and puts a huge smile on your face. The downside for me being a fatty is the ergonomics I have the OEM seats the High heated Ergo seats and now th flat Rally high seat. But im getting there.
When you wash a bike properly you clean a lot from how well or not its made I have to say I was well impressed with the KTM Plastics are solid and tons better than BMW IMHO and the wheels are great the engine is a proven Badd ass and gives you fun sedate or on the gas. The chain for me coming after 100's of thousands of miles on the shaft drive BMW's (Not without failure) has been a new learning curve but easy as someone says just add the tightness up a bit and it's sweet.We ride down some very bumpy back lanes and on my GS1250 Rallye I used to think cant get better than this over these bumps! this lane is 4 miles so a good test yesterday on way home we rode same lane I remembered to swap the KTM suspension " on the fly" into Street mode and comfort suspension it really was amazing! the difference was noticeable. In fact the KTM ride Modes you really can feel the difference as you should be able to then theres Rally Mode with changes the whole bike... if thats your thing.Switchgear like every bike change takes a bit of getting used to but I'm fine with it now.Fuel Unlike the Ducati i was in the low 20's the KTM will give you all the fun you need and still give you a 52-54mpg return.
9k miles service intervals and a bike that you can put on the centre stand with ease push around gravel car parks easy etc.Go's like a missile Looks good when you let it grow on you
That looks good with the orange seat
I think I've discovered one possible cause of the noisy chain. There is a plastic chain guide underneath the swing arm. If you push the chain up fast it hits this plastic guide which then hits the swing arm. The sound of the plastic hitting the swing arm is very noticeable, loud. If you push the plastic piece against the swing arm and then hit it with a chain it makes much more of a dead sound.
Solution is some marine Sikaflex sealer/adhesive. It's bonkers stuff. Stays flexible but is super strong. If nothing else it would act as a shock absorber but I think it will stick this into place no problem at all.
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Solution is some marine Sikaflex sealer/adhesive. It's bonkers stuff. Stays flexible but is super strong. If nothing else it would act as a shock absorber but I think it will stick this into place no problem at all.
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Yea I saw this Im no chain expert but why is the plastic guide not fixed anyway? If you push the chain up it also clicks from the rear guide too. My solution is turn up my music SRV on the headset works fine Let us know how you get on with your fix....
Let us know how you get on with your fix....
discoed
Registered user
So after deciding I was going to wait for Arrow to produce an end can for the 2021 KTM SAS my resolve to wait weekend to the point where I held my nose and paid my money for an Akropovic from my local KTM dealer who unfortunately had two in stock which gave me no time to re consider my rash and expensive decision.
Looks a lot better than the standard can, still large but at least it has the carbon end cap and is less slab sided. Sounds OK and I'm sure with baffles in will become slightly louder with use however I did want the see if I could remove the baffles so decided to follow the approach my Ricardo Yeep on YouTube (although with input from commenters on his post I was able to short cut the carbon end can removal)
So if anyone is interested in doing the job its easy and quite fast.
Start by marking the two access holes on masking tape on the end cap - you can do this by eye looking at the edge of the 8mm hex screw that retains the two baffles.
I used a pilot drill (4mm) followed by a 12mm countersink drill but to make a neat 12mm hole through which you can then see the 8mm hex screw.
You can then insert an 8mm socket on a 1/4 inch drive extension and seat the socket on the head, The hex screw is tacked with weld but frees off very easily with a firm anti clockwise rotation, out comes the screw and carefully withdraw through the neat 12mm hole in the carbon.
Simply remove the baffles with long nosed pliers.
I then used rubber grommet bungs to fill the 12 holes (it looks factory) and job done.
Before....
<img src="https://i.vgy.me/E2wvTu.png" alt="E2wvTu.png">
After.....
<img src="https://i.vgy.me/YsHrds.png" alt="YsHrds.png">
Looks a lot better than the standard can, still large but at least it has the carbon end cap and is less slab sided. Sounds OK and I'm sure with baffles in will become slightly louder with use however I did want the see if I could remove the baffles so decided to follow the approach my Ricardo Yeep on YouTube (although with input from commenters on his post I was able to short cut the carbon end can removal)
So if anyone is interested in doing the job its easy and quite fast.
Start by marking the two access holes on masking tape on the end cap - you can do this by eye looking at the edge of the 8mm hex screw that retains the two baffles.
I used a pilot drill (4mm) followed by a 12mm countersink drill but to make a neat 12mm hole through which you can then see the 8mm hex screw.
You can then insert an 8mm socket on a 1/4 inch drive extension and seat the socket on the head, The hex screw is tacked with weld but frees off very easily with a firm anti clockwise rotation, out comes the screw and carefully withdraw through the neat 12mm hole in the carbon.
Simply remove the baffles with long nosed pliers.
I then used rubber grommet bungs to fill the 12 holes (it looks factory) and job done.
Before....
<img src="https://i.vgy.me/E2wvTu.png" alt="E2wvTu.png">
After.....
<img src="https://i.vgy.me/YsHrds.png" alt="YsHrds.png">
Deleted account 211025001
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I'm assuming the Akro has a cat inside it (Euro 5) as if I ran the Wings can on my old 1190R without baffles it fair made your ears bleed?
Andres
discoed
Registered user
I think the cat is in the collector box not in the end can - I have yet to ride it with baffles out (next job) but if it proves too loud (as my Arrow pipe was with no baffles on the last gen 1290) then I will probably trim the baffles to manage the sound output to a good level
discoed
Registered user
Geoff transformed my old 1200 GSA so I will be visiting him again with my 2021 SAS - maybe next year!
Photo from Adverture Rider - that's where the CAT is:
Looks like end can slides over the top.
Deleted account 211025001
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I ‘think’ but may be wrong that Euro 5 requires 2 cats as some bikes have one in the silencer and one in the pipe (sorta as per Paul’s photo).
My latest bike had two in the silencer which 1) meant it weighed a ton and 2) you wouldn’t believe just how hot the silencer got, it was lethal - I’m sorta guessing that as Akras are all legit these days they would have a cat in them (so no baffles shouldn’t be tooooooo loud?).
Andres
discoed
Registered user
Yes thats right and I suspect every after market can will have to fit over this second cat in the picture - so they will all 'contain' a E5 cat. As for noise the baffle free akro is still plenty loud enough! no pops on over run but lots of snarl and growl - you know its there!
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