Mine's "Eva" because that would be the German pronounication of the last three characters of the number plate... and yes, I always pat her after every ride too! She's not just a machine, she's a bike, and a GS too!
None of this is at all daft to anyone familiar with "The Third Policeman" by Myles Na Gopaleen/Flann O'Brien.
Mine earned the name "Hal" (as in Space Odyssey) on our 2006 US trip, as the canbus didn't like the Autocom unit and you never quite knew whether they were going to speak to each other from one day to the next ...