Banjaxed
Registered user
Yes, yes, yes...
Like you I had a long time away from bikes (25 years), then very tentatively the urge grew. .. but I got a bike instead!
All excellent advice here - these guys REALLY know their stuff - I've learned more on this site about bikes than I could have imagined. Like you I'm over 6 feet and not exactly slight. So, needed a big, safe bike. Having saved my bacon a couple of times in a car, ABS was a must on the bike, so without going to a Pan-European or scary big Yamaha, BMW was the only real choice. Started with a lovely used R1200C - this is a MUCH underrated bike and ideal as an intro back to biking. Low seat, not too much power, ABS, but big and strong. Took several refresher lessons with an excellent local bike training group and BOY did I learn some stuff - some I knew and had forgotten, some I learned for the first time. Took that bike to France a couple of times and loved it to bits.
But eventually I outgrew it and needed a better bike for a pillion, so looked at the RT and GS - rode both, liked both, joined both websites, learned lots ... and bought a GS Adventure. Don't get me wrong - the RT is a stonking bike and one day I may get one, but for now the GS is the best bike for me. Took it on the BMW Road Skills course last year at Cadwell Park and had a ball - good training, learned that the bike has more capability than I do, goes, steers, stops brilliantly and REALLY improved my riding skills - do it NOW!
So, IF you have some extra training, IF your inside leg is 31" or more, and if you want to get uncontrollable urges to ride, not polish a bike, there's only one way to go m'lad...
Like you I had a long time away from bikes (25 years), then very tentatively the urge grew. .. but I got a bike instead!
All excellent advice here - these guys REALLY know their stuff - I've learned more on this site about bikes than I could have imagined. Like you I'm over 6 feet and not exactly slight. So, needed a big, safe bike. Having saved my bacon a couple of times in a car, ABS was a must on the bike, so without going to a Pan-European or scary big Yamaha, BMW was the only real choice. Started with a lovely used R1200C - this is a MUCH underrated bike and ideal as an intro back to biking. Low seat, not too much power, ABS, but big and strong. Took several refresher lessons with an excellent local bike training group and BOY did I learn some stuff - some I knew and had forgotten, some I learned for the first time. Took that bike to France a couple of times and loved it to bits.
But eventually I outgrew it and needed a better bike for a pillion, so looked at the RT and GS - rode both, liked both, joined both websites, learned lots ... and bought a GS Adventure. Don't get me wrong - the RT is a stonking bike and one day I may get one, but for now the GS is the best bike for me. Took it on the BMW Road Skills course last year at Cadwell Park and had a ball - good training, learned that the bike has more capability than I do, goes, steers, stops brilliantly and REALLY improved my riding skills - do it NOW!
So, IF you have some extra training, IF your inside leg is 31" or more, and if you want to get uncontrollable urges to ride, not polish a bike, there's only one way to go m'lad...
