Shamone
Registered user
I've been lurking on this forum for a while, researching about the new GS by reading up on people's views, problems, upgrades etc. I have never had an adventure bike and only recently moved to naked bikes a few years ago after many years of sports bikes. I currently have a Street Triple R and a CBF1000 for distance. I've been pondering whether the GS could replace both bikes.
Well finally popped over to Rainbow Motorcycles in Rotherham (UK) and took out their demo GSW yesterday. Had it for 2 hours so tested it in slow city traffic and across the Peak District. I was totally blown away by the handling - just so easy to lean over and transition from one side to the other. The bikes feels very lightweight once on the move, likes it's defying the laws of physics.
The engine had plenty of torque but I did think it was very vibey over 4k rpm. I checked the Odo and it had only done 380 miles so wondered if this was because the engine was tight, or just a characteristic of the bike?
Tested for my pet hate surging, by running at highish revs in a low gear at constant throttle and it was fine. When idling the engine sounded like it kept wanting to stall, but it didn't so perhaps this was because of the low mileage?
Had no issues with the gearbox, just what I think is the normal clunk into first. Definitely not the snick snick of my Triumph in the other gears but nothing that was an issue.
Played with the screen at different speeds and found that in the highest position if I tucked slightly I could get completely out of the wind. When not tucked it was a little buffeting so I preferred the lower position. Either way the speed felt slower than the Triumph then I'd realize just how fast I was going so it definitely works. The mechanism was very stiff around the mid position so think it needed greasing or adjusting.
Overall I thought it had great handling, much better than I expected, but the engine vibes at higher revs were a little intrusive to the extent that most of the time I rode the torque instead.
The current trade in offer made me wince, and they are calling me with a final offer next week.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Well finally popped over to Rainbow Motorcycles in Rotherham (UK) and took out their demo GSW yesterday. Had it for 2 hours so tested it in slow city traffic and across the Peak District. I was totally blown away by the handling - just so easy to lean over and transition from one side to the other. The bikes feels very lightweight once on the move, likes it's defying the laws of physics.
The engine had plenty of torque but I did think it was very vibey over 4k rpm. I checked the Odo and it had only done 380 miles so wondered if this was because the engine was tight, or just a characteristic of the bike?
Tested for my pet hate surging, by running at highish revs in a low gear at constant throttle and it was fine. When idling the engine sounded like it kept wanting to stall, but it didn't so perhaps this was because of the low mileage?
Had no issues with the gearbox, just what I think is the normal clunk into first. Definitely not the snick snick of my Triumph in the other gears but nothing that was an issue.
Played with the screen at different speeds and found that in the highest position if I tucked slightly I could get completely out of the wind. When not tucked it was a little buffeting so I preferred the lower position. Either way the speed felt slower than the Triumph then I'd realize just how fast I was going so it definitely works. The mechanism was very stiff around the mid position so think it needed greasing or adjusting.
Overall I thought it had great handling, much better than I expected, but the engine vibes at higher revs were a little intrusive to the extent that most of the time I rode the torque instead.
The current trade in offer made me wince, and they are calling me with a final offer next week.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
