Hi all,
I've now gone past the 8000 mile mark on my May registered R1200GS and thought it was worth posting an update, so here goes...
I picked the bike up from Vines after a long wait. Yellow, grey panels, black seat, with wire wheels of course. I was really chuffed with the look of it, and still am. I think it looks fantastic - very purposeful and a nice colour too. The yellow is very slightly metallic in the sun.
Initially, the bike was very juddery when pulling away from low revs. I solved this by pulling away from higher revs. I think the engine was v.tight when brand new, as this juddering reduced gradually until it was gone by 1000 miles.
I found the front suspension very harsh to begin with, and backed the adjuster all the way off to the softest setting. Strangely the harshness went away gradually and I ended up winding the adjuster back on to 3 clicks from minimum, which is where it is today.
I also found the front end to be quite light and a bit vague at 70-90mpt. I cured this quickly by winding up the rear preload which effectively raises the rear and tilts the bike forward a bit, putting more weight onto the front wheel. This made a big difference and made motorway riding much more stable. Sorry - cant remember how many turns/clicks I wound it up - I just sort of twiddled the adjuster a few times.
The first service at Vines was pretty uneventful - nothing needing doing other than the usual stuff. By then I had the 1200 Tobinators designed & developed as well.
I ran it in fairly briskly and it hardly uses any oil as a result. Briskly means hard acceleration up to 6k rpm and a bit more as I neared the 600 mile mark.
Shortly after the 600 mile service I headed off to Scotland with a couple of mates for a week on the north west coast. Before the trip I fitted an Autocom complete with push-to-talk button and Motorola 2-way radio. I rigged this up to my iPod and phone. However, I just couldn't get the iPod to be loud enough to be satisfactory when wearing earplugs. I've since found something called eupod which boosts the volume of all songs on your iPod in about 5 seconds, and now its much better! Moulded earplugs to come from Green Leopard in the next few days which will make the eupod thing redundant. I fitted the radio and autocom in the battery compartment but have since moved the autocom to sit behind the tank where the manual holder thingy is.
On the way up to Scotland, it rained (a lot!). At some point, my gear indicator went AWOL, telling me I was in 1st when I was in 6th etc etc. This was mildly annoying because it didn't know when I was in neutral, so I had to start the bike with the clutch in.
A bit later on the trip, the sidestand broke off due to a crappy weld. This necesssitated some dodgy shenanigans to remove it and reconnect the wires to the sidestand switch that I'd cut cos I couldn't remove the switch from the stand.
Aside from that, the trip itself was superb. The bike was just fantastic as it loosened up. Very capable of doing long distances in comfort (whilst hurling abuse at my two pals via the Autocom, just for fun of course). It was also supremely capable in the many twisties that we found up there - the bike handles beautifully and I didn't miss my Aprilia RSV at all. I could really throw it around - it is much more agile and responsive than my 1150 was. We also did some light off road stuff. Fire roads up the mountains and some nice tracks leading down to deserted beaches where we attempted to catch some fish. Offroad I found it far more manageable than the 1150 mainly due to it being much lighter and easier to keep upright.
On return back to sunny Guildford, I went into Vines and asked them to sort out the gear indicator and sidestand problems. Some hassle ensued from the service team which I wont go into now, but which has now been rectified very successfully. It culminated in the problems being sorted under warranty as I'd expected and I got the bike back as though nothing had ever been wrong with it.
Since then, nothing at all has gone wrong
Some time later, I removed the rubber sleeve from the filler neck which stopped petrol spurting all over me when I filled up. It also meant faster filling and more petrol in the tank. I haven't done the "must do" hole drilling mod yet as I'm very lazy. Must do it though.....
I fitted a Hepco Becker top box which I am very pleased with. It is a great solid piece of kit, but I would like it to have some bracing for the rack, which just fits to the plastic rear rack on the GS. I my make something....
The 6k service was uneventful as well, Vines doing a great job and returning the bike looking pristine.
Right now, I am riding it to work every day - 52 mile round trip. I use a BMW heated waistcoat plugged into the accessory socket, and the heated grips are excellent as well. If anything, they are too hot! The waistcoat is superb. I went through a few weeks with it cutting out intermittently (the waistcoat) but finally last night worked out that the end contact on the plug had pushed into the plug housing by about 5mm, resulting in a poor connection with the socket.
Oh yes, I have a Garmin V GPS wired direct to the battery with an inline fuse. The Autocom kit is powered by connections soldered onto the accessory socket connectors and has worked faultlessly.
I've also got a Motorrad Concepts carbon front mudguard, which keeps all the crap of the engine and looks the part too. I was disappointed when the hugger failed to materialise - it'll be a great addition to the bike. I happen to have a set of Tobinators on the bike as well
It came with Trialmax tyres. The rear one wore out at about 6k and I have replaced it with a Tourance, but the front is still hardly showing any wear at all so I've left it as is. I havent detected any problems causes by having mismatched tyres. The Tourance is wearing v.well.
Overall, it's a fantastic bike. It does long distance in comfort, is superb when on adrenaline inspired blasts, and is very capable off road. A real 3-in-1 machine. Even on my commute to Slough I can have a real laugh when I go into hooligan mode, or just toddle along in relaxed fashion if I dont feel like a blast. I much prefer it to my 1150, though I did like the fat grips on the 1150. Also, I think the bars are angled backwards a bit too far putting pressure on the outside of the palms rather than evenly distributing pressure across the bars. I might investigate some straighter bars with risers.
I've ridden my Aprilia RSV about 5 times in the 7 months sice I got the 1200. Sad but true, but the 1200 is so good that I dont miss the zap of the RSV at all. However, when I do take the RSV out, it's bloody quick!
So, aside from some early hassles, all fixed under warranty briskly and very effectively, the bike has been absolutely brilliant.
Cheers!
Andy
I've now gone past the 8000 mile mark on my May registered R1200GS and thought it was worth posting an update, so here goes...
I picked the bike up from Vines after a long wait. Yellow, grey panels, black seat, with wire wheels of course. I was really chuffed with the look of it, and still am. I think it looks fantastic - very purposeful and a nice colour too. The yellow is very slightly metallic in the sun.
Initially, the bike was very juddery when pulling away from low revs. I solved this by pulling away from higher revs. I think the engine was v.tight when brand new, as this juddering reduced gradually until it was gone by 1000 miles.
I found the front suspension very harsh to begin with, and backed the adjuster all the way off to the softest setting. Strangely the harshness went away gradually and I ended up winding the adjuster back on to 3 clicks from minimum, which is where it is today.
I also found the front end to be quite light and a bit vague at 70-90mpt. I cured this quickly by winding up the rear preload which effectively raises the rear and tilts the bike forward a bit, putting more weight onto the front wheel. This made a big difference and made motorway riding much more stable. Sorry - cant remember how many turns/clicks I wound it up - I just sort of twiddled the adjuster a few times.
The first service at Vines was pretty uneventful - nothing needing doing other than the usual stuff. By then I had the 1200 Tobinators designed & developed as well.
I ran it in fairly briskly and it hardly uses any oil as a result. Briskly means hard acceleration up to 6k rpm and a bit more as I neared the 600 mile mark.
Shortly after the 600 mile service I headed off to Scotland with a couple of mates for a week on the north west coast. Before the trip I fitted an Autocom complete with push-to-talk button and Motorola 2-way radio. I rigged this up to my iPod and phone. However, I just couldn't get the iPod to be loud enough to be satisfactory when wearing earplugs. I've since found something called eupod which boosts the volume of all songs on your iPod in about 5 seconds, and now its much better! Moulded earplugs to come from Green Leopard in the next few days which will make the eupod thing redundant. I fitted the radio and autocom in the battery compartment but have since moved the autocom to sit behind the tank where the manual holder thingy is.
On the way up to Scotland, it rained (a lot!). At some point, my gear indicator went AWOL, telling me I was in 1st when I was in 6th etc etc. This was mildly annoying because it didn't know when I was in neutral, so I had to start the bike with the clutch in.
A bit later on the trip, the sidestand broke off due to a crappy weld. This necesssitated some dodgy shenanigans to remove it and reconnect the wires to the sidestand switch that I'd cut cos I couldn't remove the switch from the stand.
Aside from that, the trip itself was superb. The bike was just fantastic as it loosened up. Very capable of doing long distances in comfort (whilst hurling abuse at my two pals via the Autocom, just for fun of course). It was also supremely capable in the many twisties that we found up there - the bike handles beautifully and I didn't miss my Aprilia RSV at all. I could really throw it around - it is much more agile and responsive than my 1150 was. We also did some light off road stuff. Fire roads up the mountains and some nice tracks leading down to deserted beaches where we attempted to catch some fish. Offroad I found it far more manageable than the 1150 mainly due to it being much lighter and easier to keep upright.
On return back to sunny Guildford, I went into Vines and asked them to sort out the gear indicator and sidestand problems. Some hassle ensued from the service team which I wont go into now, but which has now been rectified very successfully. It culminated in the problems being sorted under warranty as I'd expected and I got the bike back as though nothing had ever been wrong with it.
Since then, nothing at all has gone wrong
Some time later, I removed the rubber sleeve from the filler neck which stopped petrol spurting all over me when I filled up. It also meant faster filling and more petrol in the tank. I haven't done the "must do" hole drilling mod yet as I'm very lazy. Must do it though.....
I fitted a Hepco Becker top box which I am very pleased with. It is a great solid piece of kit, but I would like it to have some bracing for the rack, which just fits to the plastic rear rack on the GS. I my make something....
The 6k service was uneventful as well, Vines doing a great job and returning the bike looking pristine.
Right now, I am riding it to work every day - 52 mile round trip. I use a BMW heated waistcoat plugged into the accessory socket, and the heated grips are excellent as well. If anything, they are too hot! The waistcoat is superb. I went through a few weeks with it cutting out intermittently (the waistcoat) but finally last night worked out that the end contact on the plug had pushed into the plug housing by about 5mm, resulting in a poor connection with the socket.
Oh yes, I have a Garmin V GPS wired direct to the battery with an inline fuse. The Autocom kit is powered by connections soldered onto the accessory socket connectors and has worked faultlessly.
I've also got a Motorrad Concepts carbon front mudguard, which keeps all the crap of the engine and looks the part too. I was disappointed when the hugger failed to materialise - it'll be a great addition to the bike. I happen to have a set of Tobinators on the bike as well
It came with Trialmax tyres. The rear one wore out at about 6k and I have replaced it with a Tourance, but the front is still hardly showing any wear at all so I've left it as is. I havent detected any problems causes by having mismatched tyres. The Tourance is wearing v.well.
Overall, it's a fantastic bike. It does long distance in comfort, is superb when on adrenaline inspired blasts, and is very capable off road. A real 3-in-1 machine. Even on my commute to Slough I can have a real laugh when I go into hooligan mode, or just toddle along in relaxed fashion if I dont feel like a blast. I much prefer it to my 1150, though I did like the fat grips on the 1150. Also, I think the bars are angled backwards a bit too far putting pressure on the outside of the palms rather than evenly distributing pressure across the bars. I might investigate some straighter bars with risers.
I've ridden my Aprilia RSV about 5 times in the 7 months sice I got the 1200. Sad but true, but the 1200 is so good that I dont miss the zap of the RSV at all. However, when I do take the RSV out, it's bloody quick!
So, aside from some early hassles, all fixed under warranty briskly and very effectively, the bike has been absolutely brilliant.
Cheers!
Andy
