We are of course forgetting there is barely a crap motorcycle out there anymore, makes MCN's job quite tough, I remember when the top sports tackle handled not much better than todays budget commuters.
I can't remember the last time I rode an awful motorcycle, I have owned and tested all sorts over the last 25 years, in the last few years everything has been half decent - i.e. if someone offered to fuel it up for me for free I would be hooning round quite happily.
Just seen the new Versys - gotta be a contender for ugliest bike of the year, I was unmoved by the pictures, but in the flesh it is awful IMO. It should be better than the ageing Tiger, but who knows, I liked the Tiger, suspension was not great, but the only thing that really stopped me getting one was she hated the pillion seat and the luggage is a bit small.
If I were a tester I could not really fault the GS, if your ignoring purchase price / reliability / Servicing costs / insurance prices etc. and just judging the bike as you find it to ride the only thing I could come up with against a GS is they are a bit vibey (and thirsty) when cruising at speed.
If you consider the bikes as tourers the GS would win hands down for extra's and luggage, it must also win any off-road comparison in this company, and the GS handling is fine, perhaps the only other place the others could win is at the drag strip - which I am sure MCN will probably make a big thing off.
And I just remembered the main reason I bought MCN back in the day, it was for sports results, when the nearest thing to the Internet was Teletext I looked forward to Wednesday to get the low down on the previous weekends GP - in the Lawson / Gardner / Mamola days this was the only way to keep up.