My first GS ride report covers the first 300 miles of ownership. Conventional wisdom on report writing says you should say what you’re going to say, then say it, then say what you’ve said. So, if you’re getting bored and impatient, here’s the first section: I’m happy!
I picked up the bike on Friday at about 10 and must say that I was impressed with Pidcocks. Ritchie, the sales guy, spent plenty of time with me making sure I understood all the controls and was happy with things before finally letting me ride off. The bike itself was, of course, impeccably prepared and even had about half a tank of fuel, which was nice. This is me, about to ride off (with a guest appearance from Ritchie's finger):
First stop was home for a brew and a proper walk round the bike. Whilst I was there, the postie arrived and admired the bike, asking how many miles it had done. “8”, I was happy to answer.
Riding off through Derby was unbelievable nerve wracking. First day with a new bike and I found myself worrying so much about the unfamiliar bike that I wasn’t really concentrating on what was going on around me. So I had to make a conscious effort to relax and ride, but keeping watch on that tacho ‘cos that new engine was limited to 4,500 revs. It was almost like driving a diesel, the useable rev range was so short (maybe only 2,500 to 4,500) and I was changing gear all the time. First quick stop on my ride was Monsall Head, up in the Peak District. Being a Friday, it was pretty quiet, weekends are absolute mayhem up there, but the view’s nice.
Then, it was off to the Woodbine Café in Hope for a bacon roll and a coffee, sitting in the sunshine. It’s a well recommended stopping point if you’re in the area.
Then onwards up the Derwent Valley, where the Damn Busters did their practicing. You’re not allowed up the full length of the road at weekends, so that was another advantage of going out on a Friday. By now, I was starting to feel comfortable on the GS and found myself looking at the view and relaxing more.
Coming back, I stopped at Fairholmes and discovered a couple of other GS riders, both with GSAs. I’ve no idea whether these 2 guys frequent this site or not, because I didn’t pluck up the courage to ask. Is there a polite way of asking someone whether they are a Tosser? The bike furthest away from the camera comes from the Shrewsbury area and has 77 on the clock. I was forced to confess that mine only had 68 miles on the clock, although I suspect he might have meant 77,000! Anyway, if you’re reading this, nice to meet you both.
Coming home, I had to show off my new toy to my Godson.
So, what did day 1 teach me? I guess the most surprising thing was that GS riders look over the hedgerows and traffic. Riding roads I know pretty well as a VFR rider for the last 8½ years, I genuinely did get a different view. Nice.
Fuel consumption, brim to brim, was 48.6mpg (the computer showed 49.5).
Slightly more concerning was that I used almost half a window of oil in just 146 miles. As a Honda man who rarely even bothered to check the oil (and can’t ever remember topping it up), that was scary. Jumping slightly forward in the story, the oil level is still exactly the same tonight, so I’ve used no oil whatsoever today. I’m not so worried now.
Unlike Friday, which was really riding for the sake of it, today had a purpose – I was going over to Peterborough to meet up with friends for lunch. That, obviously, didn’t stop me going a slightly round about route via Melton Mowbray, Colsterworth, Little Bytham and Stamford and I must admit that the GS was just superb on the B676 between Melton and Colsterworth. It’s a favourite road of mine, so I was keen to experience it GS style and the bike didn’t disappoint, except perhaps that freedom to use a few more revs would have been good but even limiting myself to 4,500 (ish!), I was impressed with the low down grunt that engine’s got. Coming home, I was in rather more traffic and started to use that great view to do some overtaking and make a bit of progress. On the odd occasions I saw 6k revs, it was pulling nicely and I reckon once it’s run in, it’ll be very nice to ride.
So, after 2 days and 300 miles, the engine’s loosening up nicely and I’m getting to be more familiar with the bike, so I am well pleased with the GS and looking forward to some more miles over the next few days. Next weekend, I get to do a longer run, going up to Scarborough for a weekend away at the racing at Oliver’s Mount, which I’m certainly looking forward to, then on Monday 21st, the bike goes in for its first service.
I’m still happy.
I picked up the bike on Friday at about 10 and must say that I was impressed with Pidcocks. Ritchie, the sales guy, spent plenty of time with me making sure I understood all the controls and was happy with things before finally letting me ride off. The bike itself was, of course, impeccably prepared and even had about half a tank of fuel, which was nice. This is me, about to ride off (with a guest appearance from Ritchie's finger):
First stop was home for a brew and a proper walk round the bike. Whilst I was there, the postie arrived and admired the bike, asking how many miles it had done. “8”, I was happy to answer.
Riding off through Derby was unbelievable nerve wracking. First day with a new bike and I found myself worrying so much about the unfamiliar bike that I wasn’t really concentrating on what was going on around me. So I had to make a conscious effort to relax and ride, but keeping watch on that tacho ‘cos that new engine was limited to 4,500 revs. It was almost like driving a diesel, the useable rev range was so short (maybe only 2,500 to 4,500) and I was changing gear all the time. First quick stop on my ride was Monsall Head, up in the Peak District. Being a Friday, it was pretty quiet, weekends are absolute mayhem up there, but the view’s nice.
Then, it was off to the Woodbine Café in Hope for a bacon roll and a coffee, sitting in the sunshine. It’s a well recommended stopping point if you’re in the area.
Then onwards up the Derwent Valley, where the Damn Busters did their practicing. You’re not allowed up the full length of the road at weekends, so that was another advantage of going out on a Friday. By now, I was starting to feel comfortable on the GS and found myself looking at the view and relaxing more.
Coming back, I stopped at Fairholmes and discovered a couple of other GS riders, both with GSAs. I’ve no idea whether these 2 guys frequent this site or not, because I didn’t pluck up the courage to ask. Is there a polite way of asking someone whether they are a Tosser? The bike furthest away from the camera comes from the Shrewsbury area and has 77 on the clock. I was forced to confess that mine only had 68 miles on the clock, although I suspect he might have meant 77,000! Anyway, if you’re reading this, nice to meet you both.
Coming home, I had to show off my new toy to my Godson.
So, what did day 1 teach me? I guess the most surprising thing was that GS riders look over the hedgerows and traffic. Riding roads I know pretty well as a VFR rider for the last 8½ years, I genuinely did get a different view. Nice.
Fuel consumption, brim to brim, was 48.6mpg (the computer showed 49.5).
Slightly more concerning was that I used almost half a window of oil in just 146 miles. As a Honda man who rarely even bothered to check the oil (and can’t ever remember topping it up), that was scary. Jumping slightly forward in the story, the oil level is still exactly the same tonight, so I’ve used no oil whatsoever today. I’m not so worried now.
Unlike Friday, which was really riding for the sake of it, today had a purpose – I was going over to Peterborough to meet up with friends for lunch. That, obviously, didn’t stop me going a slightly round about route via Melton Mowbray, Colsterworth, Little Bytham and Stamford and I must admit that the GS was just superb on the B676 between Melton and Colsterworth. It’s a favourite road of mine, so I was keen to experience it GS style and the bike didn’t disappoint, except perhaps that freedom to use a few more revs would have been good but even limiting myself to 4,500 (ish!), I was impressed with the low down grunt that engine’s got. Coming home, I was in rather more traffic and started to use that great view to do some overtaking and make a bit of progress. On the odd occasions I saw 6k revs, it was pulling nicely and I reckon once it’s run in, it’ll be very nice to ride.
So, after 2 days and 300 miles, the engine’s loosening up nicely and I’m getting to be more familiar with the bike, so I am well pleased with the GS and looking forward to some more miles over the next few days. Next weekend, I get to do a longer run, going up to Scarborough for a weekend away at the racing at Oliver’s Mount, which I’m certainly looking forward to, then on Monday 21st, the bike goes in for its first service.
I’m still happy.
