So this is a year in the life of an ex Vern 1100GS… I’ve worked out that if I keep going at this rate and Vern retires the Donkey then I’ll catch up in 2040… ha ha… This was bought in late march 2023 and lived its first 2-3 days and in my hands in much pissing rain and then a bit of snow… So much fun…
It’s my 5th 11GS, I shouldn’t have sold the last Dakar version that had a lot of mods or even perhaps the two before that that had similar but we’re always striving aren’t we… I only bought it from Vern as he had an Aeroflow screen jokingly labelled the Popemobile like two of my previous incarnations.
1100Gs’s are not without their faults and foibles but you can mod a few, work around a couple and mitigate the worst.. Or fix them when they break. In the late 1990’s it was the first BMW that I thought I could be seen on, I remember the shock at first seeing one up close and thinking WTF is that and it was only bought by the Devon copper owner as he couldn’t get a 916… ha ha…
I’ve tried many different bikes between GS’s and they have mostly been good, even excellent but have fallen foul of not being the sum of their parts or just being too dam new and shiny with bling I would never get around to using…
And… I have never felt quite as fulfilled in my little bubble of contentedness as a twisty A or B road and a good blast on the GS… They should float along where others crash about a bit and they have the best balance of go, brakes, engine braking and balance I can remember… Probably the other bike I just for using was a fairly scruffy but sound ST11 that I had with the Dakar 11GS, didn’t handle overly well but was a lot of fun just to use.
The last year has had much commuting, firstly in Shetland on the roads of little traffic and now around Aberdeen with city riding too… I managed one small tour around the mountains and down to Dumfries and Galloway but a house move got well in the way…! I ride it as much as I can and clean it only when I must so it has suffered a bit but after a bit of late winter neglectful blues, especially living outside most of the time, but I have caught up with many of the jobs along-side a few little mods to keep it and me happy.
This winter had been shite, really shite and one thing we hopefully moved away from was Shetland wind and rain but we’ve had tons over in NE Scotland this winter… Then there’s living in the sticks with the extra winter black ice which I only made a twat of myself on once while trying to be a hero. A gentle glide up and icy slope and a few minor scrapes was all that occurred… Until my wife backed into it the next day in the dark and broke a couple of other bits… ha ha ha… Serves me right…
So this one’s been a shopping donkey, a commute in the dark wet shite donkey and now a chance at being a bit more of a spring/summer mule… It’s usually got all the boxes on and is surprisingly good at filtering… We’re on approx 14k miles for 2023-24 which is about average.
It has broken down once, the HES went on the commute in and I knew what it was even before it’d stopped rolling… An easy enough DIY garage fix. It’s has a new fork seal and a new front brake light switch, speedo cable, some dash bulbs and two winter brake calliper services to stop them seizing.
There's been the usual oil/filters services, new brake pads all round and a few tyres in there too, but… a bit less than usual and the last rear Mitas only died of one too many punctures from filtering.
The necessary but unnecessary mods have been a set of cheap but good quality lower alloy rally style footpegs, a set of used 1200 injectors and fittings, the use of my old bar backs and Airhawk seat pad that makes comfy out of the worst seats. I’ve also added my Givi top box which makes it good for loading up.
The very recent addition is a new set of YSS shocks with rear remote preload similar to standard. YSS are seen as a more budget brand but are a great refresh of very tired shockers. They may not be all singing Ohlins or similar but shelling out £800 for a pair is at least less than 50% of the worth of the bike rather than 100%!
The old original rear shock was very tired and pretty seized on adjustment after a hard winter and the front WP shock would have needing a rebuild. I set up most of my bikes as lightly preloaded as possible and can’t stand crash bang suspension especially noticeable as our road system falls apart…!
So we’ve a fresh MOT and mileage heading for 90k. Even though my patience with maintenance during the winter and my itch for different bikes has raised its head I’ve managed to fight it and am now feeling pretty chilled out ha ha…
Newer bikes are “better” but not necessarily better in the “quality” stakes if you’ve read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance.
Much of the new “better” is about equipment and bling but not necessarily that “quality”. I am going to try hard, yes, really hard to keep hold of this one even though it may get a pal at some point.
So here’s one for the blingless, non matching and slightly scruffy Oilheaders amongst us…
It’s my 5th 11GS, I shouldn’t have sold the last Dakar version that had a lot of mods or even perhaps the two before that that had similar but we’re always striving aren’t we… I only bought it from Vern as he had an Aeroflow screen jokingly labelled the Popemobile like two of my previous incarnations.
1100Gs’s are not without their faults and foibles but you can mod a few, work around a couple and mitigate the worst.. Or fix them when they break. In the late 1990’s it was the first BMW that I thought I could be seen on, I remember the shock at first seeing one up close and thinking WTF is that and it was only bought by the Devon copper owner as he couldn’t get a 916… ha ha…
I’ve tried many different bikes between GS’s and they have mostly been good, even excellent but have fallen foul of not being the sum of their parts or just being too dam new and shiny with bling I would never get around to using…
And… I have never felt quite as fulfilled in my little bubble of contentedness as a twisty A or B road and a good blast on the GS… They should float along where others crash about a bit and they have the best balance of go, brakes, engine braking and balance I can remember… Probably the other bike I just for using was a fairly scruffy but sound ST11 that I had with the Dakar 11GS, didn’t handle overly well but was a lot of fun just to use.
The last year has had much commuting, firstly in Shetland on the roads of little traffic and now around Aberdeen with city riding too… I managed one small tour around the mountains and down to Dumfries and Galloway but a house move got well in the way…! I ride it as much as I can and clean it only when I must so it has suffered a bit but after a bit of late winter neglectful blues, especially living outside most of the time, but I have caught up with many of the jobs along-side a few little mods to keep it and me happy.
This winter had been shite, really shite and one thing we hopefully moved away from was Shetland wind and rain but we’ve had tons over in NE Scotland this winter… Then there’s living in the sticks with the extra winter black ice which I only made a twat of myself on once while trying to be a hero. A gentle glide up and icy slope and a few minor scrapes was all that occurred… Until my wife backed into it the next day in the dark and broke a couple of other bits… ha ha ha… Serves me right…
So this one’s been a shopping donkey, a commute in the dark wet shite donkey and now a chance at being a bit more of a spring/summer mule… It’s usually got all the boxes on and is surprisingly good at filtering… We’re on approx 14k miles for 2023-24 which is about average.
It has broken down once, the HES went on the commute in and I knew what it was even before it’d stopped rolling… An easy enough DIY garage fix. It’s has a new fork seal and a new front brake light switch, speedo cable, some dash bulbs and two winter brake calliper services to stop them seizing.
There's been the usual oil/filters services, new brake pads all round and a few tyres in there too, but… a bit less than usual and the last rear Mitas only died of one too many punctures from filtering.
The necessary but unnecessary mods have been a set of cheap but good quality lower alloy rally style footpegs, a set of used 1200 injectors and fittings, the use of my old bar backs and Airhawk seat pad that makes comfy out of the worst seats. I’ve also added my Givi top box which makes it good for loading up.
The very recent addition is a new set of YSS shocks with rear remote preload similar to standard. YSS are seen as a more budget brand but are a great refresh of very tired shockers. They may not be all singing Ohlins or similar but shelling out £800 for a pair is at least less than 50% of the worth of the bike rather than 100%!
The old original rear shock was very tired and pretty seized on adjustment after a hard winter and the front WP shock would have needing a rebuild. I set up most of my bikes as lightly preloaded as possible and can’t stand crash bang suspension especially noticeable as our road system falls apart…!
So we’ve a fresh MOT and mileage heading for 90k. Even though my patience with maintenance during the winter and my itch for different bikes has raised its head I’ve managed to fight it and am now feeling pretty chilled out ha ha…
Newer bikes are “better” but not necessarily better in the “quality” stakes if you’ve read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance.Much of the new “better” is about equipment and bling but not necessarily that “quality”. I am going to try hard, yes, really hard to keep hold of this one even though it may get a pal at some point.
So here’s one for the blingless, non matching and slightly scruffy Oilheaders amongst us…
GS country...
shiteola in the NE... Perfect 11GS territory and I'm not sure I'll ever ride a bike that feels so good whilst navigating the shite... Even without all those electronic toys that fill modern motorcycling... Just the right amount of everything with no drama...
Just great all-round bikes and I've not found a better fit for me in 10's of different bikes... 
