Suicide or good idea help required

[gsmilleduecento]

my 2 pennies

Hi Scott
I did something similar. had a 125 cc 20 years ago. Then April last year I bought an Aprilia Pegaso 650. One of the first hilly croassroads I drop it. But since then no problem. I used it to commute everyday 50 miles mainly on B roads. A couple of month ago I bought the 1200 GS. The best buy in my life.

I suggest you to buy something smaller to start and become confident. Later when you move to the GS you can really enjoy every bit and every corner.

 

[BAKERMAN]

Loads of advice from a laod of .i. s

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

anybody that rode motocross bikes for so long must have developed good riding skills

you may be a bit rusty but you'd still likely have better riding instincts than a lot of us

buying a smaller bike for a while might be a bit easier but cost may make it more simple to just buy the bigger bike and just treat it with a little more caution.

Get abs.. better than having none ..for most but the most skilled or ones that think they they are skilled

 

[North]

Hi Scott,

Welcome to the site.

After reading what you want the Bike for, I was wondering if a 400 to 650 Jap Dual Purpose bike might suit your use better?

Are looking for a bike that is mainly a street legal Dirt bike to go blasting on trials on with ? A Bike that you can ride to the trails on and than let loose. (Dual Purpose Jap bike.)
Or a larger, heavier bike for Highways, City, Backroads and Cart Paths? (BMW GS.)

I see my 1200 as being a light nimble bike, its great Downtown in rush hour, fine on the Highway and wonderful on Dirt roads. But, I would not take it up a creek bed or do jumps with it. Nor do I see the Adv built for that. At least not at a speed that you might consider fun if you really are after a Dirt bike.

Going from a Yamaha RD 250 to a 1200 ADV, hey if you really want one, go for it. Just take a 1150 and 1200 out first, so you know what you are getting into. (Get the ABS.)

Personally my progression was, 125 street, 360 dirt, 500 street, 1100 street. I would of got a larger bike right away, but the lack of money stopped me at the time.

North

 

[scottcam]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the replies, It has given me lots to think about. There seems to be a few common pieces of advice. The most common is get training and the more the better. So that’s where I will start, I will find a good school in the Glasgow area and start my training just after Christmas. I will continue training as much as possible until March April then I will look at what bike to get.

Most advice seems to point in the direction of a smaller bike until the following year. Some people advise getting the 1200 but taking it easy. Both are sensible options but personally I am kind of swaying towards getting a big jap single trail/enduro bike for next year. I know the handling of these bikes well, I will go for something mid 90’s as that should be pretty similar to the late 80’s bikes. One other point, which was mentioned, was this would also give BMW time to sort out any teething problems with the 1200.

Out of interest what is Yamahas equivalent now to the old XT600, not too bad a bike for green trails.

But one thing I never really thought about and a few people asked, what exactly do I want the bike for? Good question, took me all night to figure out the answer! Just for the hell of it, is the truthful answer.

But more long term it could lead to doing some touring as I have always loved overland travel. My current car is a 110 Defender (2.5Td for people who know the defender (crap engine)), bit of a dog now(failed MOt), so getting rid of it for a Nissan patrol. I would just like to get a bike that will also be able to tour and take some rough stuff. I also see a common use for it as a bike to take on the green lanes at the weekend, nothing too extreme. Maybe I will go nowhere(unlikely) with it but I hope it could lead to some memorable trips.

So why the 1200 Adventure, bit sad really but it was long way round that brought the GS to my attention. After reading about them I realised they were pretty decent bikes so why not, it will do every thing I need and it’s a bit different.

Ohh almost forgot, its unanimous that ABS should be included, so ABS it is.

Any suggestion on a mid size jap trail/enduro bike would not go amiss as I am really out of touch. My last big dirt bike was a Yamaha YZ 465, which was a great bike, but a two-stroke road going bike for me is out of the question. Cannot be bothered with the on/off nature of them anymore.

So I guess I am looking for a mid end 4 stroke with pretty neutral handling, nothing too extreme I guess. Another good piece of advice was to leave getting a bike until the winter is over, so I will pass on the Honda for sale. Looks pretty similar to the late 80’s models, I guess they have not changed too much.

Phew I can go on a bit, so I know I will eventually buy the 1200 adventure its just a case of how I get there, I will decide after I have done the training. I will take it sensibly and start the training first. So I am now off to look up training schools in the Glasgow area.

Thanks for all the advice.

Scott

PS

Tried some of my old gear on last night(never throw anything out), they must have shrunk in the wash as there is no way they ever fitted me.

 

[North]

Hi Scott,

A year ago my Brother got a Kawasaki KLR650. He loves it. It's his second bike. His first was a 250 ninja. He has gone on trips on it lasting 3 to 4 days and thinks it great. Next summer he's riding from Ottawa, where he lives. To Vancouver, where I live on it.

I have this thing weight with dirt bikes. His 650 is 337 lb. Which I think is a bit much. But it is water cooled.

I would go for something under 300 lb. So it would not be a 650, they are all around 330 lb.

The Yamaha XT225 is 238 lb, put it's only 225 cc.

The 400 cc dual purpose bikes are 290 lb.

I just think think that 650 dual purpose bikes are pigs off road when you are used to riding a 240 or 250 lb bike.

I do like the Suzuki DR650SE. The down side is that it's gas tank is only 2.9 gallons.

The Kawasaki KLR650 has 5 gallon tank, but its not as powerful. (Thats what my brother says.)

I thought that over-all the Kawasaki KLR650 is the one to get if you want to do trips. If not, than I would get the Suzuki DR650SE.

North.

 

[Andy Hird]

Scott

I don't agree with the advice you've received about getting a small bike first. If you've ridden motocross bikes for a long time then you'll probably be able to handle a bike better than most of the people you have replied to your thread.

Get the bike you're really after, wether it's the 1200, 1150 or an Adventure, and within a couple hours of riding it you'll have it sussed.

My background to riding is very similar to yours, 50cc trail bike, then onto enduro riding, and competing then onto a 600 cc road bike for six months, then a break of 16 years, then straight onto an 1100 GS. At first sight of the 1100 I was a little intimidated by the size of it, and wondered wether I'd cope after such a long break. But tby the time I got to the end of the first road on the test ride, I was fine.....it's just like riding a bicycle, once you've learnt, you never forget.

 

[Pipboy]

The Honda CX500 - was it the GS of its day?

Hi Scott, welcome, and what a great topic.

Whatever bike you get, I'm sure you'll find that engines, handling, suspension, brakes, tyres, lights, reliability and just about everything have really moved on from those 'classic' seventies memories.

Frames are now made out of metal instead of liquorice, oversized washers no longer serve as brake discs, tyres are now made out of rubber instead of some nylon/bakelite composite, and even modest engines are tractable and punchy and a far cry from the on-off switch of small-bore 2-strokes. This makes them much easier to ride, although this is offset as you note, by the fact that the road environment has also changed: cars have made similar advances, teenagers are now driving Saxo VTRs instead of crumbling Ford Anglias, waiflike mumsies now pilot 3-ton urban assault vehicles on the school run, and the modern sales rep saloon would have won World Grand Prix races 20 years ago.

Apart from the volume of traffic, cars are just so quiet, comfy and safe-feeling that people's hazard perception has reduced, and it seems to me that drivers today are simply less switched on than those of yesteryear, for whom the prospect of an engine block foot-warmer was an ever-present tonic to concentration and defensive driving.

My point is, bikes today are fabulous, and respond much more predictably and precisely to control inputs than during the glorious reign of the LCs and their stinkwheel kin. Most of my riding these days is focussed on not being taken out by people whose attention has wandered. The GS is such a peach to ride, that I can give more attention to what other folks are doing. When I was riding Honda Dreams and other such exotica, most of my attention was focussed simply on not crashing. All in all, I think now is the best time ever for biking. We may come to look back on now as a Golden Age, although some may say that leaving a 100-yard plume of burnt 2-stroke oil in your wake as you rin-tin-tinned along empty dual carriageways was that time.

Which ramblings and rose-tinted musings bring me back to the topic of my title. No, it wasn't.

Whatever you choose to do, have fun & ride safe.

 

[BLUE(UK)]

Test ride a 950adv!!