OH Giles, what a short memory you have dear boy! Maybe it's all the gin, or perhaps you have been somewhat blinded by the colour orange
There is however a wonderful thing about the internet and that is that everything you say at a point in time can easily be regurgitated at the simple press of a few search buttons!
So perhaps the best opinion about a bike is the one that was expressed by the owner of the bike AT THE TIME THEY OWNED IT!
So here you go, below is a sample of a few quotes a well known member put up about their lovely R1200GS LC at the time they owned it in 2013. I will leave it up to the good tossers of this forum to guess who posted this outpouring of love and affection
“No problems on mine Thrashed from day one and is as sweet as a nut ...”
“To be fair to Mr Engineer, I'd like t have a go on a 'bad' bike too. Mine really is fine - yep, it's very different to the dry clutch I've just traded in, but compared to all the other Jap wet clutch bikes I play on, it's pretty much on a par”
“So I just adapt my style a tad. Every machine has it's quirks once you get to know it .. ”
(Disclaimer**!! This is just my bike! I'm sure some of you genuinely do have a problem gear box / clutch ..!)
“As it happens ...... I would like to have a go on a problem bike. Mine is absolutely fine, always has been, and I don't know (so take that as a genuine comment in the spirit that's it meant!) what people are moaning about. So yes, I'd like a go!! “
Why aren't you matching your down changes?? Why is there no throttle on your down change - whether it's constant or a blip? ... you're just shutting it, pulling in the clutch (revs drop) and then letting out the clutch again .. No wonder it feckin' clonks! There's no deft balancing of gas and revs at all
“Going up the gear box, I don't use that much clutch. I preload my gear lever with my foot, take up the tension, then a tiny dip of the clutch against the pressure of my foot and ... snick ... it's in gear in the blink of an eye.
Every bike I've ever owned has clunked into 1st ”
“I accept wrinklyowlie's complaint that there are bad bikes out there - and yep there will always be good bikes and bad bikes, but I also think there's either a reluctance by some folk, or maybe no appetite (maybe a genuine ignorance ), that machines, engines, gearboxes ... are all different and all need an element of 'ok ... so how do you work best'.”
My frustration is that it seems (I'm trying to tread carefully here and not upset anybody .. ) that nobody is willing to step back, look at their bike and experiment with it. Learn it, bond with it, play with it.
“I think my bike is feckin' brilliant. Remapped, full exhaust system ... it is really dialled in. “
"So learn it Get yer head around it, find out how it works best, understand it's heart beat, and fall in love with a bike that may not be quite perfect, but has a whole lotta more soul than your average Honda ... Learn the bike .... "
My gearbox seems to be getting better with age. Ive certainly never had the bad box that some people are claiming to have...
Had a test ride on the 1190 the other day. I was of course really honing in on the gearbox and how it felt and remember feeling the odd walnut here and there coming down the box. I remember thinking that it was certainly no better or worse than my GS ….
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