I'll Miss Parts Of It.

[Silas]

I've made the decision to get rid of my GSA after 18 months of owning one. The reason is, the daily commute is a bit of a frustrating episode on the big thing. I'm swapping it for something smaller, faster and more fun. I need a bike that I can enjoy the ride home on, and the GSA just doesn't do it. There are too many occasions when I can't quite squeeze through the gap and I'm left waiting in line with all the car drivers, which is not what biking is all about for me. The GSA is a perfect bike for touring, especially when the road conditions are not ideal, but not for commuting through city centers. I will miss the massive tank range and no doubt will be spending most of my time in petrol forecourts from now on, and the heated grips will also be missed.

For those that are interested, I've decided to go for a Triumph Speed Triple R with a few accessories, hoping it will restore the fun I used to have going home after a busy day in work. Before the GSA, I owned a long history of sports bikes and I'm hoping the speed triple will be a perfect compromise between the two. Please feel free to discuss the wisdom of my decision.

I am therefore no longer in need of ************************************reasonable offers will be accepted. They are pretty much as new, in perfect condition.

 

[Silas]

Cheers Toad, I suppose there will be parts of this forum I'll miss as well. Not being able to post in the For Sale section wont be one of them.

ps. Just for your information, everyone is free to post in the for sale section on the Triumph forum.

 

[david a hall]

Cheers Toad, I suppose there will be parts of this forum I'll miss as well. Not being able to post in the For Sale section wont be one of them.

ps. Just for your information, everyone is free to post in the for sale section on the Triumph forum.

Its so unfair!!!!!, I wonder if you will post there cos you havent here

 

[Bikerjim]

You could just try a normal GS

Jim

 

[bod]

£12 is a lot of money for 8 posts . . . about £1.40 a pop me reckons!

Now run along to the Trumpet site . . there's a good lad.

 

[snerkler]

I personally don't find filtering a problem on the GSA and can squeeze through very small gaps. I haven't come across a gap yet I can't squeeze through on my GSA than I could on my other bikes. I know the bars are slightly wider not enough to make it that much more difficult And on the rare occasions I've REALLY squeezed through I've found that due to the extra height the bars pass over the top of car wing mirrors

 

[David Nimrod]

Please feel free to discuss the wisdom of my decision.

Very wise

Next!

 

[bowser]

Sfunny but I got a 650 single because I thought that commuting on the gs would be a bit of a chore, but to be honest the 650 has sat in the garage not because its not a good bike but I dont enjoy commuting on it. Its to much effort I would rather ride the gs, and even with the biggest pannier that vern makes its still a piece of piss to filter through traffic

 

[timeandtide]

I personally don't find filtering a problem on the GSA and can squeeze through very small gaps. I haven't come across a gap yet I can't squeeze through on my GSA than I could on my other bikes. I know the bars are slightly wider not enough to make it that much more difficult And on the rare occasions I've REALLY squeezed through I've found that due to the extra height the bars pass over the top of car wing mirrors

But not Transits et al

 

[Silas]

£12 is a lot of money for 8 posts . . . about £1.40 a pop me reckons!

Now run along to the Trumpet site . . there's a good lad.

You are obviously in a position to patronise me because you have 1056 posts, and I only have 8, or 9 now. Does that mean I can patronise people with only 2 or 3 posts? That was sarcasm by the way. How big you must feel and what a Dick Head you are.

Back on topic which is not who's posted the most. This is a forum, and by definition, a place for opinions and discussion. It is my opinion that my GSA didn't make a great bike for commuting though city centers, and having owned one and commuted on it 5 days a week for a year and a half, I'm in a position to have that opinion. I know full well the gaps it can get through and the gaps it can't. No one can argue with physics, and the bike being wider then most, both in bars and engine, it stands to reason that it wont get through gaps that narrower bikes can.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not slagging the bike off, I had no issues with mine, and like I say there will be things about it I miss. Just for my purposes I think there is a better bike for the job. There will be loads of commutes that the GSA will be ideal for, just not mine.

 

[rocky burns]

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BHHezFM5i9g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Get one of these

 

[Bayman]

Silas, enjoy your new bike

 

[B4ndit]

£12 is a lot of money for 8 posts . . . about £1.40 a pop me reckons!

Now run along to the Trumpet site . . there's a good lad.

Why is it that out of all the biking forums I have frequented that this one has the biggest jerk offs on it? In fact I have never been on any forum where there has been any sort of sarcasm, just plain honest help. The sarcasm on here isn't even funny.

When I talk to my non BMW owning mates about it they all say. 'Thats BMW owners for you'.

Guys you got to get with the program.

 

[Silas]

To be fair this is a GS forum, and posting a topic saying that the GS is not the best bike for a certain function or person, and that another bike might be better suited, then asking them to discuss, may have been a bit provocative. It's a bit like going to the Catholics and asking them what they think about Hindu's. It probably didn't help that I broke the rules, and offered to sell my enduro style boots in the same post, or that in the next, I pointed out that the Triumph forum might be better. So I guess I expect some stick for it.

There is a point to it though, and it wasn't to wind anyone up. I came from a superbike background, the bike I had before the GS was a heavily modified GSXR1000. There is a massive jump from a GSXR1000 to a GS and while there are those on here who are quite happy filtering on a GS, I think there are levels of progress that some people are happy with, yet the same level of progress will not satisfy others. For example, I'm sure Ghostrider's interpretation of making progress is a lot different from the majority of GS riders. Personally I think Ghostriders progress is more suicide than filtering, but you get the idea. If I'd read this post before I bought the GSA, I might have thought harder about buying it in the first place. Was it really the best choice of bike for me at the time? All I'm saying is for people who are making the change from superbikes to a GS it might end up being a step too far and there are bikes in between like the KTM Superduke or Ducati Monster, Kawasaki Z1000 etc...that might better fit the bill or purpose intended. For me the fun was taken out the ride because for my particular journey the bike was too big and slow. Horses for courses and all that, the GS is a great bike for its purpose, but can hardly be described as nippy.

 

[theop]

I personally don't find filtering a problem on the GSA and can squeeze through very small gaps. I haven't come across a gap yet I can't squeeze through on my GSA than I could on my other bikes. I know the bars are slightly wider not enough to make it that much more difficult And on the rare occasions I've REALLY squeezed through I've found that due to the extra height the bars pass over the top of car wing mirrors

You clearly don't live in a big city....

I reckon that on my vespa or xt125 I am 30% faster on any A to B distance within London than on my old gs12 or my current big bike VFR12. In very tight 5pm traffic in central London I can beat all motorcycles with.... a bicycle. Very easily if allowed to go against the one way systems etc.

 

[Wapping]

Why is it that out of all the biking forums I have frequented that this one has the biggest jerk offs on it?

They eat the most pies, perhaps?

 

[snerkler]

You clearly don't live in a big city....

I reckon that on my vespa or xt125 I am 30% faster on any A to B distance within London than on my old gs12 or my current big bike VFR12. In very tight 5pm traffic in central London I can beat all motorcycles with.... a bicycle. Very easily if allowed to go against the one way systems etc.

I guess it all depends on how tight a gap you wish to squeeze through, how busy it is, and how impatient you are. Obviously with the examples you gave you can squeeze through smaller gaps, but for me I don't find the GSA any more difficult to commute that's all I was saying

And to answer your question I commute through Sheffield which is a pretty big city, but obviously the traffic doesn't compare to London.

 

[Bones]

Why is it that out of all the biking forums I have frequented that this one has the biggest jerk offs on it? In fact I have never been on any forum where there has been any sort of sarcasm, just plain honest help. The sarcasm on here isn't even funny.

+1. To be fair it is a small minority, but they happen to be the most frequent posters. I can't be arsed commenting most of the time as the 'clique' rally around and support each other. Use the site for the things it is usefull for and try to ignore the dick heads.

 

[Silas]

The difference of opinion whether the GSA makes a good commuter bike must just depend on the persons view on filtering and making progress. Some of you have probably seen this guy on the internet, it's been doing the rounds for a while.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XihQeZpwqpE

On a sliding scale with this guy on the R1 on the left and at the opposite end you have a guy on the Honda Gold Wing with his trailer sat in the queue. I would suggest that the average GSA rider would be right of the middle closer to the Gold Wing than the lunatic on the R1.

I'm not saying I want to ride to work like the Russian in the video, of course not. Equally I don't get past a couple of cars in a queue before getting stuck, then feel happy that I've made progress. Let's put this bike into perspective, it's massive. To get it out the garage, I have to open both large doors where as a normal bike will fit through one. In the video when the traffic builds up around 4 or 5 minutes in, it just comes back to physics, there is no way a GS would be able to get through those spaces, yet the R1 can.

 

[snerkler]

It's definitely down to preference and needs

I'm under no illusion that the GS/GSA's not for everyone, life would be boring if it was. Whatever bike the OP gets I hope he's happy with. I've had a couple of Triumphs and they're bloody good bikes.

On the subject of commuting one thing I love about the GSA is the vantage point, and being able to see over cars and plan ahead much better. Especially as I have my seat on the high setting, and am 6'4"