Hi Spanish Bob,
In the short time I've been riding my bike, I find the front brake excellent, but the back brake is lacking a little. The manual states it takes 300-400 miles for them to bed in before they start working properly - don't know if I believe that though

. As for the extra assistance, I don't really notice it that much. I did try the brakes with the engine off and that DOES make a difference

. I haven't done a long off-road downhill descent with a locked back brake ( for balance ) yet so can't yet make a judgment in that respect. I find that for such a big heavy bike it is really well balanced. I had a Gran Canyon 900 a few years ago and it felt nowhere near as nice as the GS to ride.
I also tried the out the anti-lock side of things on the GS. When it kicks in, the bike keeps going and overshoots your stop point. Luckily I did it down a straight lane with nobody else about. It is quite a surprise at how much further you end up. I find the ABS quite good ( I didn't think I'd like them ) as I find that if I brake as I normally do, I don't activate the ABS. I was worried that BMW may have set it too sensitively, and that it would activate too early for me but as I say, it works well enough for me.
I haven't been out on it much this week as we are having some visitors staying with us for a fortnight. I am in the middle of a major building project and have to get it all finished before we can accomodate them. It's a bit arse, as it's been like summer ( well almost

) here since I picked it up. I must say, I have really enjoyed the off road stuff and you are right about the bar risers. I am getting a slight ache at the base of my neck, inbetween me shoulder blades. I'm going to have a little fiddle with the angle of them and I will also try a riser as you suggested -cheers for that
