Ride Magazine 50 Best Cornering Bikes Ever

[Mzokk]

What a load of twaddle. A sports 600 will eat an r1150gs on the track with riders of the same ability. On the road a lot will depend on the risks the rider is prepared to take. Have had both my gsxr600 (handles well goes like stink 100bhp 194kg fueled up is uncomfortable unless the road is twisty and your riding quickly and is crap for carrying luggage and pillion but is peerless on track days) and my r1150gs (handles well until bits of it gouge lumps out of the road and starts it wallowing about, is comfortable ridden slowly or quickly and in traffic, and is great for carting the missus and luggage but its slow 80hp 260kg wet and a frontal area like the albert hall) on track and the difference in lap time on a 1.5 mile track was about 8 seconds a lap. Doesn't sound like much but if I was ridding the gs against myself on the gsxr I'd be lapping myself every 8-9 laps!! Still ride the gs more these days mind cos i'm getting old and like me comfort but i'd have to use the sports bike on the track every time way faster and safer!!

 

[rdover]

Thing is ....

most sprtsbike riders have no idea of the limits of their bike and therefore only use 50%, whereas most GS riders know the limits and can ride 90%.

I regularly beat sportbikes on the twisty back roads on my 1150GS becasue I can take my bike to its limits where sportsboy won't (rather than can't). I am quick but I'm also more experienced, older and smoother than the majority and do 10k miles a year. Give yer average sportsboy the same cerdentials and I'll be left for dead.

Us GSers only lack false modesty, and that's no a bad thing!

 

[skybluebird]

Isn't handling about "feel", rather than outright corner speed? If so, my 1150 handles way better than the Blackbird or Firestorm I've owned previously.

They had some strange criteria, presumably if you expected a bike to handle like a shopping trolley and it turned out to be only as bad as a '70's Jap bike, it'd score highly? With the scoring system they used, the winner should have been the Honda 400 Super Dream!

 

[Deleted account W]

On the road, you don't beat the bike,you beat the rider

After 2500 miles on a ride around Europe with a VFR and a Fazer this year, riding all sorts of roads I agree.

We swapped bikes and did the same roads. The bike we were riding didn't make a difference, one rider always showed us how to do it.

Shame it wasn't me.

I wish you all could see my friend taking a line into a corner, feathering the brake and throttling out of it (the best I saw was on my GS ) . Poetry

 

[streaky]

What a load of twaddle. A sports 600 will eat an r1150gs on the track with riders of the same ability. On the road a lot will depend on the risks the rider is prepared to take. Have had both my gsxr600 (handles well goes like stink 100bhp 194kg fueled up is uncomfortable unless the road is twisty and your riding quickly and is crap for carrying luggage and pillion but is peerless on track days) and my r1150gs (handles well until bits of it gouge lumps out of the road and starts it wallowing about, is comfortable ridden slowly or quickly and in traffic, and is great for carting the missus and luggage but its slow 80hp 260kg wet and a frontal area like the albert hall) on track and the difference in lap time on a 1.5 mile track was about 8 seconds a lap. Doesn't sound like much but if I was ridding the gs against myself on the gsxr I'd be lapping myself every 8-9 laps!! Still ride the gs more these days mind cos i'm getting old and like me comfort but i'd have to use the sports bike on the track every time way faster and safer!!

buy yourself a1200gs and try again

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

What a load of twaddle. A sports 600 will eat an r1150gs on the track with riders of the same ability. On the road a lot will depend on the risks the rider is prepared to take. Have had both my gsxr600 (handles well goes like stink 100bhp 194kg fueled up is uncomfortable unless the road is twisty and your riding quickly and is crap for carrying luggage and pillion but is peerless on track days) and my r1150gs (handles well until bits of it gouge lumps out of the road and starts it wallowing about, is comfortable ridden slowly or quickly and in traffic, and is great for carting the missus and luggage but its slow 80hp 260kg wet and a frontal area like the albert hall) on track and the difference in lap time on a 1.5 mile track was about 8 seconds a lap. Doesn't sound like much but if I was ridding the gs against myself on the gsxr I'd be lapping myself every 8-9 laps!! Still ride the gs more these days mind cos i'm getting old and like me comfort but i'd have to use the sports bike on the track every time way faster and safer!!

I'm with you on this one...it would take one hell of a bad road and a badly set up sports bike not to leave a GS .... i know i wouldn't even be close.

it's all right if you know a road and take advantage of that you may show up a sports bike or two with their just back to biking full race leathers and unscuffed knee sliders.
a different story with guys that can ride

 

[Steptoe]

it's all right if you know a road and take advantage of that you may show up a sports bike or two with their just back to biking full race leathers and unscuffed knee sliders.
a different story with guys that can ride

You can still fall off on roads you know, driving in a straight line - ( well, some of us can)

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

lack of ability....plain and simple

 

[Steptoe]

lack of eyebrows ....plain and simple

.....

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

"--------------------------------- " space left for witty retort....once i can think of one

 

[Deleted account W]

"--------------------------------- " space left for witty retort....once i can think of one

Can I suggest "Take a walk old man and take your razor with you"

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

Can I suggest "Take a walk old man and take your razor with you"

That works for both of you

 

[Deleted account W]

That works for both of you

Go do one Baldy brow

Wheres my new toy

 

[streaky]

I'm with you on this one...it would take one hell of a bad road and a badly set up sports bike not to leave a GS .... i know i wouldn't even be close.

it's all right if you know a road and take advantage of that you may show up a sports bike or two with their just back to biking full race leathers and unscuffed knee sliders.
a different story with guys that can ride

I think you should try a1200 gs as well

 

[Rabbitson]

An interesting article and good to see the GS up there but who really thinks the Buell is the best cornering bike ever? Never ridden one but the centre of gravity must be high with that Harley motor.

Schtum, nice story, but are those unscuffed knee sliders on the track . . . . shame on you

 

[slimbo]

tbh i can see both sides of the debate , and whilst the gs has an air of superiority over all those rice rockets nothing can compare to a good rider ...

but may i offer an alternative view?

having come from the crotch rocket brigade, i believe its all to do with how comfortable you are on the bike of your choice...

i spent many moons believing i was a riding god on my chosen steed. only to be taught a lesson and realising how uncomfortable i was and being in the wrong position , it made me slower and possibly dangerous....
then on to me gs oh deep joy reduced pain and more ability to concentrate.
so i am now a riding god and rice rockets are only seen in my mirrors...










just before they pass me !!!!

 

[Warthog]

I've just read this entire thread, much to my interest & amusement, but I have to agree with two specific points: one is that the rider is the rate limiting factor in the vast majority of riding contests and two, sportsbikes are inherently built to be more responsive in terms of handling and engine power. As far as I know there are no racing teams that have specifically chosen a beemer to compete in a road racing competition, certainly not a GS, 1200 or otherwise.

Don't get me wrong: I've been riding sports bike ever since I past my test 13 years ago, and it was only up until last month, when I bought my 1150GS that I have had a non-sports machine as my main bike. For me the GS is now the perfect choice as it does everything with a respectable degree of competence: a rare quality these days when bike categories seem to becoming more and more specialised and single minded (Touring on a CBR 600 6 years ago was a more comfortable affair than it is now). But despite being more experienced now, I doubt that I would be as fast on this bike as I was on my TL1000S back in 2000.

All things being equal, a sports bike will be faster than a GS on a tarmac surface: its what they're built for. If the GS could beat that, they'd be everywhere.

 

[sjwb]

Amen and thank God for some common sense at last.

 

[ELIMINATOR]

As stated, it's the ability of the rider that counts. It always makes me smile when you read of a bike being 2 kilos lighter than last years model, then some fat bastard gets on it!

 

[Pukmeister]

Reminds me of the lucky competition winner who got a pillion around Brands WSB this year during the race interval with James Toseland on a Ducati biposto 999. Talk about 'Who ate all the pies', he was a huge bloke who well filled the race leathers they gave him. They must have been made-to-measure as I doubt they would get off the peg race leathers in team colours to fit. He dwarfed JT and sat rigid on the bike, probably filling those race leathers from the ankles upwards with brown adrenaline !!

Its a good job Toseland did two laps to warm the tyres first, with Mr Small on the back he needed all the grip he could find.

I bet Toseland was still quicker with his not-so-dainty pillion than I could be riding solo.