Fuck !!
Well, I've just come back from a test ride so here's my tuppence worth!
Reviews are often a complete lottery. Look at some of the comments on tyres for instance. Some peepes get 4k, others get 12 k out of a rear. So trying to decipher different reviews on a forum full of strangers should be done, (read) with an open mind.
Today I went to Coopers in Kent, and have to say that I deliberately really zoned in on my bike on the way there (went with a work colleague, so we had a bit of a play on the way..) so that I could compare it with my test ride. I've got a GSA, it's been hilltopped, has a quick action throttle to get rid of that long throttle action that the GS's have, and it's on pure road rubber. I'm pretty happy with it, but I miss that speed rush. It's a great bike and it ticks nearly all the right boxes for me. It's just not quite sporty enough. But hey ho. it's what yer do with it that counts!
My test bike was a white GS. It had 1,500 on the clock and was booted with Tourances. After Andres had questioned his demo bike's handling, I had a good look at the tyres.The rear was just on the turn of loosing it's profile - a hint of a shoulder on the back. So Andres - with 3K on your demo bike, I reckon your rear was maybe a bit squared off. If you think about it, what's the mindset of the average test rider? It's probably something like ..''It's not my bike, it's a new model, I want to see how quickly it goes, but I don't want to crash and loose my £1,000 excess. I'm most likely going to bin it on a bend so I'll hoon in a straight line and take it easy in the corners''. Demo bikes will probably get squared off rear tyres pretty quickly
I had a quick play with controls before we set off, I don't especially like all the day light through the top of the fork legs! It sounds really petty, but as I look down at the dash, I see all the wiring and the back of the headlight, top of the forks, inside of the panels ... I think some little filler panel / toilet seat would have looked better. Touratwat are you listening?!
Some peepes have said they didn't like the indicator switch. Well, I nigh on deliberately tried to break it! It's fine. yes it doesn't have that clunk, click that we like about the traditional BM indicators, but it ain't going to break. The actual toggle has clearly been designed to have a bit of play in it. But I don't see it as particularly vulnerable. I like the look of the bike, but I wouldn't want to take it off road! Like the Multistrada, one simple drop is going to hurt your wallet.
There are plenty of hoses and panels that get damaged pretty easily.
So I see this model, in this guise (no crash bars) as pretty much a road going bike only.
The manually adjustable screen is pretty well thought out - Simple things like putting the adjuster 'tap' on the right hand side, so that your left hand can easily turn it (whilst still holding a throttle with yer right) make those little touches of common sense really stick out. Nice. The seat height adjustment is a doddle (the last bloke was clearly under 5'10''
) and simply by flicking over the little dumbell set up, the seat was sorted out in a jiffy.
Starting it up, the very first thing that hit me was how freely it revved. The controls have a wonderful lightness of touch about them - the clutch was beautifully light - if you were going to play off road, swap this lever for a short stubby two finger job, and hey presto - wonderful light modulation of clutch control. The brakes were pretty much as you'd expect - still class leaders in my opinion, and certainly knocking the old KTM 990's into a cocked hat. (Haven't tried the new 1190 yest..).
The motor made a nice sound, and the gearbox, was again, light and very easy to use.
Out on the road, (don't forget I'm coming from an - albeit sorted - GSA), I though this bike was bloody brilliant. It revs so freely, the motor is now a complete delight. For thirty five / forty minutes it's had a serious hoon on gnarly back roads, third gear wheelies over little rises in the road
and has generally been ... errrr .... well thrashed basically
I loved it
Whilst on the faster, longer, sweeping bends, I found myself still getting to the inside of the bike (that crooked inside elbow ... bike more upright than me ..) back into sports bike territory, I also found myself super motoing the bike through faster flick flack stuff. Grip the tank with yer knees and push it down underneath you. What a hoot! On a back road B road, this bike is now rubbing shoulders with the Multistradas of the world. (Which I've also test ridden).
The power delivery is now enough to get the front twitchy if you push it. A couple of times it's given me the little odd little head shake - not because there's a problem with the steering, but simply because it's now able to lift the front or at least get it very light, off the gas. So all these stories of wild tank slappers by journos - yeah they probably did have the odd moment. That aint difficult if you're putting your front back down off a crested corner.
Running back in I deliberately sat at 80 on the dual carriage way. At about 4, 600 revs it would quite happily sit there all day. At 90 though, it's just beginning to get a bit too windy and buzzy to make Calais to Troyes in the sort of complete relaxed touring mode that say a Kwak GTR would give you. (But that wouldn't be comparing like for like).
So yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Now then ....
Here is the burning question. Is it better ??
Who are you the reader?! Are you me, are you Timolgra, are you GS or Bust?? What does a GS mean to you??
When the older, 'been GS'ing for the last 15 years before it became popular' lot talk of their beloved 11**'s, I've got to be honest (Fuck I hate to sit on the same side of the fence as that lot ..
) but I know
exactly where they're coming from. I can't describe it, I can't put it in to words, but I get and also feel, the very GS thang that they get. (yes even on a 1200!)
That feeling is, I think, completely unique to the GS. Triumph, Ducati, Guzzi .. they quite simply can't replicate that heart beat and that chacter. The BM twin has it own very unique soul. But for me, as much as I love my TC 1200 GSA, Arrgghhhhh .. I just want it to be a tad more spritely. I want rush. I still want that soul, that BM je ne sais quoi, but I would love to have that sports bike kick in the nuts every now and then, that squirrily front end sports bike delivery. Not always .. just now and then.
Does the new GS do that for me? Yeah, pretty much
It's never going to be
seriously 1198 quick, but
now here is a bike that is somewhere between a Multistrada and a 990.
Will that suit everybody?? The danger that BM are flirting with, is loosing that uniqueness that the 11** boys bang on about. They eroded it a tad with the 1200, and now they're taking it a stage further with the WC.
Have they gone too far? I don't think so - but I think they're right on the cusp of Gs'ness! This bike isn't so stately as mine, it's a bit cocky, it's a black sheep of the family, but it is still family - just. Will the Timolgra's of the world hate it? yeah, probably. But that's no slur on them - for all the piss taking, I genuinely do understand them and the drum they bang
I rode home on my GSA and again, got in the zone trying to really compare the two bikes. And yer know what? that is a feckin' good bike. Three figure speeds pushing 230KGs down a b road? It will still murder a sports bike on the right road. It's planted, it's chocolate smooth (thank you hilltop) and it is still a bloody good bike. I put it back in my garage, and thanked it for all the fantastic trips it had given me over the last three years - from two up all round Europe, to the dusty trails in the Pyrenees. I'll miss you Brunhilda
I'll be picking up a new GS over the next couple of weeks
