Deleted account LB
Registered user
Well, picked up my brand spanker 1200 GSA from Southport Superbikes on Wednesday morning with sunny sky's although a bit nippy !!!
Roy and the team had prepped the bike and I had 20 minutes to go through all the pre flight checks, bells, whistles and god knows what before pushing the bike out of the garage ready for take off. First impressions where “Christ its huge” the bike seems to have grown since I ordered it a couple of weeks ago but hey I'm not small myself!.
So, swung my leg over, both feet on the ground (more or less) and press the starter. I first felt the famous side to side motion of the pistons but this goes away on tick over, finding first was pretty painless with the box nice n smooth, I was expecting it to be a bit agricultural going on the stories I had heard but non of it.
With the bike starting to roll, the size really does seem to disappear so I headed out of Southport on my way to North Wales, no plans just keep going (I have the first service booked for Friday morning so I had 1.5 days to get the miles in).
“A” road riding is fine, the roads are wet and the big GS seems to get you into a rhythm of just cruising around, its only when you look at your speed that you realize that the bike really flatters your riding and covers ground quicker than you think. I gave no thought to the shaft drive, flat twin, or bulk of the bike, it just got into it which was a real surprise considering my diet of sports bikes.
After 20 minutes of A roads with the only issue being the indicator switches (there is a knack !!) it was time to get onto the motorway, down the slipway, and upto 70mph ish and no blast, buffeting, and nice n cosy! Heated grips on and yes they were very warm on “2” and away we go. 40 minutes on the motorways then time to turn off for Wales.
I messed around with the ESC settings whilst on the move and normal to comfort on the motorway but didn't notice a huge difference, although it was comfy, so perhaps its better than I thought. !!
Getting onto the twisty stuff heading for horseshoe pass, it was time to go to sport mode, now this does make a change! The bike feels tighter with very little wallowing, I don't believe that the GS is the best handling bike but for the sheer size and versatility it is amazing, throw into the mix the bikes ability to cope with crappy, slimy, lumpy and potholed roads and this is where it comes to the fore, no bike I have owned previously would have been safer or more “progressive” in the conditions, I didn't get the vague front end feeling and the rear just felt planted even with 2 full BMW boxes on the back, (I did have the ESC set to one rider with handbag!)
I stopped off at the Ponderosa on the Horseshoe Pass for a quick brew and bumped into another GSUKer, I had only been on the bike for an hour or so !!!. After a chat and route advice LOL it was time to go again with plans to head to Bala and perhaps call it a day, off I rolled and hit a huge bank of fog as I came into the valleys, on with the fogs, not sure how well they did but they do look cool !! and kept on going arrived in Bala then thought oh well as I here I might as well keep rolling , this attitude found me in Barmouth !!
Its 5.30am as I type this and it looks dry outside so time to pack the bike and head off again, 300 miles today then the bikes ready for its first service !!
Roads today were a mixture of wet, wet or muddy but it didn't seem to make a difference, the bike just handled it. Got over to see Les to pick up some HID's so they will be going on next week (sometime ???) but got 450 miles under the wheels so all on track for the first service in the morning.
To sum up, the bike is great and does its job brilliantly, I cant wait for dryer roads and hot weather !!!
Roy and the team had prepped the bike and I had 20 minutes to go through all the pre flight checks, bells, whistles and god knows what before pushing the bike out of the garage ready for take off. First impressions where “Christ its huge” the bike seems to have grown since I ordered it a couple of weeks ago but hey I'm not small myself!.
So, swung my leg over, both feet on the ground (more or less) and press the starter. I first felt the famous side to side motion of the pistons but this goes away on tick over, finding first was pretty painless with the box nice n smooth, I was expecting it to be a bit agricultural going on the stories I had heard but non of it.
With the bike starting to roll, the size really does seem to disappear so I headed out of Southport on my way to North Wales, no plans just keep going (I have the first service booked for Friday morning so I had 1.5 days to get the miles in).
“A” road riding is fine, the roads are wet and the big GS seems to get you into a rhythm of just cruising around, its only when you look at your speed that you realize that the bike really flatters your riding and covers ground quicker than you think. I gave no thought to the shaft drive, flat twin, or bulk of the bike, it just got into it which was a real surprise considering my diet of sports bikes.
After 20 minutes of A roads with the only issue being the indicator switches (there is a knack !!) it was time to get onto the motorway, down the slipway, and upto 70mph ish and no blast, buffeting, and nice n cosy! Heated grips on and yes they were very warm on “2” and away we go. 40 minutes on the motorways then time to turn off for Wales.
I messed around with the ESC settings whilst on the move and normal to comfort on the motorway but didn't notice a huge difference, although it was comfy, so perhaps its better than I thought. !!
Getting onto the twisty stuff heading for horseshoe pass, it was time to go to sport mode, now this does make a change! The bike feels tighter with very little wallowing, I don't believe that the GS is the best handling bike but for the sheer size and versatility it is amazing, throw into the mix the bikes ability to cope with crappy, slimy, lumpy and potholed roads and this is where it comes to the fore, no bike I have owned previously would have been safer or more “progressive” in the conditions, I didn't get the vague front end feeling and the rear just felt planted even with 2 full BMW boxes on the back, (I did have the ESC set to one rider with handbag!)
I stopped off at the Ponderosa on the Horseshoe Pass for a quick brew and bumped into another GSUKer, I had only been on the bike for an hour or so !!!. After a chat and route advice LOL it was time to go again with plans to head to Bala and perhaps call it a day, off I rolled and hit a huge bank of fog as I came into the valleys, on with the fogs, not sure how well they did but they do look cool !! and kept on going arrived in Bala then thought oh well as I here I might as well keep rolling , this attitude found me in Barmouth !!
Its 5.30am as I type this and it looks dry outside so time to pack the bike and head off again, 300 miles today then the bikes ready for its first service !!
Roads today were a mixture of wet, wet or muddy but it didn't seem to make a difference, the bike just handled it. Got over to see Les to pick up some HID's so they will be going on next week (sometime ???) but got 450 miles under the wheels so all on track for the first service in the morning.
To sum up, the bike is great and does its job brilliantly, I cant wait for dryer roads and hot weather !!!
