hooley
Guest
Picked up the new GS on Friday, love the bike. I hadn't ridden much since doing the DAS at World of BMW last September.
I was going to ride the bike from the front of Bristol Motorrad but they suggested I ride it from the Burger King car park out onto the M32 as I was very nervous. The member of staff who rode the bike to the car park was great, put me at ease and really settled me down before moving off (didn't catch his name but he had a slight accent which I couldn't place, not UK).
Out into the traffic and it all started to come back, across one roundabout great, pulled up the next I'm in the outside lane which is blocked due to roadworks. Stop in first gear waiting for a someone to let me in - and waiting and waiting - slight whiff of hot clutch linings - quickly find neutral, nerves getting the better of me there. Waved in, Hendon shuffle, easy with the revs and filter in - across the roundabout then around the next and onto the M32 and freedom. The road is quiet and I relax into the bike, my gear changes are a bit sloppy I hope that comes with time and pearls of wisdom would be gratefully received.
Over the old Severn bridge with rain, leaning the bike into the cross wind. A builders truck is up ahead, suddenly an old bucket blows off the back into my lane and shatters into pieces 25 yards in front off me. Luck is on my side and the debris dissappears before my eyes. Off the motorway and into Chepstow and across to Usk, plenty of gear changes a couple missed ones sending revs higher than 4000rpm I hope it doesn't affect the engines bedding in process.
Approaching Usk and some rough tarmac, my throttle hand goes into a feedback loop, I throttle off and the engine dies, apply throttle and it responds quicker than expected so I throttle off. The road is bouncing my hand making matters worse, this isn't good as I'm lurching and can hear the transmission knocking and just as I decide to pull in the clutch and let the throttle back to idle there's a clang somewhere down below - I feel sick.
The lurching stops and the engine is holding revs and sounds great, I'm absolutely panicked about that sound and pull over. All seems ok, into first all smooth no snatch in the transmission, still seems ok and I calm down but still listening for any new sounds. The bike is as it was before the incident.
Out of Usk and eventually onto the heads of the valleys road, pulled over into a layby to have a rest and chat to my dad who has been alternating ahead and behind in his car since Bristol. Boy racer blows his horn - why? Then we realise they must have thought I was a policeman who had pulled someone over for speeding - the stern look on my face relating the feedback loop story to dad not helping.
Nice journey home even though it's raining, have a cup of tea and look at the bike absolutely love it. Visit the brother in law who's going to follow me over to the temporary storage I've sorted and help me load the GS into the container using some wood off-cuts to form a ramp. I try to turn around at the end of the cul de sac exhausted, the bike is stationary and over she goes in slow motion as I try to steady her progess. The air is blue, can't lift her then remember a youtube vid and lever her up via the handlebar as per BMW offroad school. Check her over with a fine tooth comb with the brother in law, only a slight scratch to the black plastic head guards I had fitted that very morning. Not a mark anywhere else, very lucky indeed. She's now locked up safe and sound and I'm waiting for a break in the weather as I'd ridden in the wet on Friday.
I'm so glad I decided on the GS, I hope I can improve quicky and do it justice. Apologies for the rambling stream of consciousness but any feedback would be appreciated as a new biker who might have bitten off more than he can chew.
Hooley
I was going to ride the bike from the front of Bristol Motorrad but they suggested I ride it from the Burger King car park out onto the M32 as I was very nervous. The member of staff who rode the bike to the car park was great, put me at ease and really settled me down before moving off (didn't catch his name but he had a slight accent which I couldn't place, not UK).
Out into the traffic and it all started to come back, across one roundabout great, pulled up the next I'm in the outside lane which is blocked due to roadworks. Stop in first gear waiting for a someone to let me in - and waiting and waiting - slight whiff of hot clutch linings - quickly find neutral, nerves getting the better of me there. Waved in, Hendon shuffle, easy with the revs and filter in - across the roundabout then around the next and onto the M32 and freedom. The road is quiet and I relax into the bike, my gear changes are a bit sloppy I hope that comes with time and pearls of wisdom would be gratefully received.
Over the old Severn bridge with rain, leaning the bike into the cross wind. A builders truck is up ahead, suddenly an old bucket blows off the back into my lane and shatters into pieces 25 yards in front off me. Luck is on my side and the debris dissappears before my eyes. Off the motorway and into Chepstow and across to Usk, plenty of gear changes a couple missed ones sending revs higher than 4000rpm I hope it doesn't affect the engines bedding in process.
Approaching Usk and some rough tarmac, my throttle hand goes into a feedback loop, I throttle off and the engine dies, apply throttle and it responds quicker than expected so I throttle off. The road is bouncing my hand making matters worse, this isn't good as I'm lurching and can hear the transmission knocking and just as I decide to pull in the clutch and let the throttle back to idle there's a clang somewhere down below - I feel sick.
The lurching stops and the engine is holding revs and sounds great, I'm absolutely panicked about that sound and pull over. All seems ok, into first all smooth no snatch in the transmission, still seems ok and I calm down but still listening for any new sounds. The bike is as it was before the incident.
Out of Usk and eventually onto the heads of the valleys road, pulled over into a layby to have a rest and chat to my dad who has been alternating ahead and behind in his car since Bristol. Boy racer blows his horn - why? Then we realise they must have thought I was a policeman who had pulled someone over for speeding - the stern look on my face relating the feedback loop story to dad not helping.
Nice journey home even though it's raining, have a cup of tea and look at the bike absolutely love it. Visit the brother in law who's going to follow me over to the temporary storage I've sorted and help me load the GS into the container using some wood off-cuts to form a ramp. I try to turn around at the end of the cul de sac exhausted, the bike is stationary and over she goes in slow motion as I try to steady her progess. The air is blue, can't lift her then remember a youtube vid and lever her up via the handlebar as per BMW offroad school. Check her over with a fine tooth comb with the brother in law, only a slight scratch to the black plastic head guards I had fitted that very morning. Not a mark anywhere else, very lucky indeed. She's now locked up safe and sound and I'm waiting for a break in the weather as I'd ridden in the wet on Friday.
I'm so glad I decided on the GS, I hope I can improve quicky and do it justice. Apologies for the rambling stream of consciousness but any feedback would be appreciated as a new biker who might have bitten off more than he can chew.
Hooley
