A nice early start today and a drive south to BMW Motorrad at Carlisle for a planned couple of hours each on an R1300GS, followed by an S1000XR, both TE spec.
I took the GS out first and headed out towards Langholm on the A7, breaking off on to the back roads for a few twisty bits, then back out and over to Hawick. Roads were damp and there were only a handful of miles on the new demonstrator tyres, but it behaved impeccably and I was very impressed with its handling. I started in ‘rain’ mode, just until I got a feel for the bike, but quickly changed to ‘dynamic’ for the rest of the demo.
After reading many reports on here about the awful engine noise, I was mildly surprised that it wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated. I did have earplugs in and a new Shoei helmet, which probably helped and I got back to the showroom thinking the GS had ticked lots of boxes for me.
A quick turnaround and I was out on the XR, again starting in ‘rain’ mode for the first few miles, then straight in to ‘dynamic’. This felt much lighter and nimble, and was much smoother, with none of the engine vibration I noticed on the GS. I could have easily lost my licence if I’d stayed out on the A7, so quickly dipped in to the twisties across to Annan. Just wow !!….. I think my arms came back longer than when I set off
The acceleration seemed equally as good as I remember my ZX9R Ninja having, but being over a decade older now and as fun as today was, I have decided on the GS.
I hadn’t initially planned a 3rd demo, but again after reading posts on here about the ASA variant, I decided to give one a go while I was there. The only one available was on a GSA, which has not featured at any point in my wish list. I’m in the camp that does not immediately like the looks (from the side), but riding it was lovely. I didn’t take it out for long, just long enough to try it out in both modes and to see if I thought I might warm to having no clutch.
The answer was “yes”.
I took the GS out first and headed out towards Langholm on the A7, breaking off on to the back roads for a few twisty bits, then back out and over to Hawick. Roads were damp and there were only a handful of miles on the new demonstrator tyres, but it behaved impeccably and I was very impressed with its handling. I started in ‘rain’ mode, just until I got a feel for the bike, but quickly changed to ‘dynamic’ for the rest of the demo.
After reading many reports on here about the awful engine noise, I was mildly surprised that it wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated. I did have earplugs in and a new Shoei helmet, which probably helped and I got back to the showroom thinking the GS had ticked lots of boxes for me.
A quick turnaround and I was out on the XR, again starting in ‘rain’ mode for the first few miles, then straight in to ‘dynamic’. This felt much lighter and nimble, and was much smoother, with none of the engine vibration I noticed on the GS. I could have easily lost my licence if I’d stayed out on the A7, so quickly dipped in to the twisties across to Annan. Just wow !!….. I think my arms came back longer than when I set off
The acceleration seemed equally as good as I remember my ZX9R Ninja having, but being over a decade older now and as fun as today was, I have decided on the GS.I hadn’t initially planned a 3rd demo, but again after reading posts on here about the ASA variant, I decided to give one a go while I was there. The only one available was on a GSA, which has not featured at any point in my wish list. I’m in the camp that does not immediately like the looks (from the side), but riding it was lovely. I didn’t take it out for long, just long enough to try it out in both modes and to see if I thought I might warm to having no clutch.
The answer was “yes”.
