Well i did it.....

[t2grr]

You may have been following my questions on this group about, 'short sixth gear' and 'test rides', well this Saturday i had a test ride on an Adventure. The bike, superb.... the weather, terrible.

Got down to the dealers on my TLS in the pouring rain and went out on the Adventure....in the pouring rain, it's never great to take a test ride in that kind of weather, but i knew i must.

Needless to say the bike performed beautifully and after 1.5 hours in the saddle i was soaking, 2 hours dripping in the dealership and we had struck a deal.

The bike i test rode had crash bars and it took me ages to avoid smashing my chin as i put my left foot down, anyone else have this problem?

Anyway in early March i become proud owner of GS1150 Adventure, (without crash bars).

So.....can i join you merry men and ladies on rides out?

Is many members in and around Leeds who would like to meet and/or meet up?

Cheers GRR

 

[Steve]

it took me ages to avoid smashing my chin as i put my left foot down, anyone else have this problem?

Bloody Hell! You must be short!!

 

[t2grr]

oops..... i mean shin.

Cheers GRR

 

[TaffyScouser]

Get the crash bars for gods sake. From the write up you seem short in the leg and you need the BMW bars at £175 fitted with the bike if you have the large tank or the Hepcos if you have a standard tank. They will pay for themselves the first time you try to turn it on a slope or put your foot down on the downhill side of the bike whilst parking. 5 foot 10 plus is ok below this you may be looking at some problems.

ANDY

 

[Fanum]

Indeed...definately get the crash bars...... do a quick search for them using the button at the top of the page and you'll see why...

I laid down my Adv the other day....zero MPH and controlled as I deliberately lowered her after i realised i was past the point of no return....i don't think there would have been any damage if i hadn't had the bars but it certainly made me glad I had them for the inevitable 'next time'....


I presume you've either specifically requested no bars or it's a used model 'cos the ADV comes with them as standard now.

Enjoy the new bike......you've got a few teitchy weeks coming up now

 

[t2grr]

some confusion, i am 6 ft 3", so not short in the leg, (must have been the chin incident).

Maybe i am just needing to get used to putting my leg down into a different place, on the TL, i could put leg down wide and forward to give me complete stability, with the GS, i can't put leg down forward, as there are two big chunks of metal in the way... guess i need to get used to it.

The dealer told me they don't come as standard, he wanted £190 for them. Also the website doesn't say they come as standard, not to worry.

Feb is going to be a long month

 

[Davey B]

After a couple of weeks you do get used to the shin cracker, watch out for actually catching your leggings on it and that feeling of helplessness as you start to sway ever so slightly to the left....
The North Eastern folk are meeting at the Hopper Lane Hotel on the A59 between Harrogate and Skipton from about 7.30 pm tomorrow night, Tuesday, thence its the first tuesday of each month, make one in, on the TL or the car, some of the girls go in the car and aren't ribbed too badly...jim...

 

[TaffyScouser]

Tha bars are not standard they just ship the bikes with them on the 04 ones but they are a charge item for £175-195 depending on the deal you set. The trouble is that some dealers are using pre exmas bikes as their 04 models and others are quoting 04 bikes as post Jan bikes. There is much confusion here but it depends on the spec you want and whats out there.

I had to get a week 47 bike ( you can check this) cos I wanted and Adventure with no ABS, large tank, bars, black engine, heated grips and a standard box. Also wanted tourances as they come with shit bridgestones at moment. The 04 bikes come with knobblies, large tank, low box and the bars are not in the prices i have been quoted but then again dealers vary??????? so much at the moment with the new 1200 coming out.

 

[BawdyMonk]

Congratulations

Feb won't be as long as you think, start saving now!
If I was you I'd take Andy's advice and double check on exactly what you are getting, or should be getting...
The bars are a must really, I've not needed mine but felt much better after I'd fitted them, maybe I read it wrongly but from the above it seems like knobblies are standard You won't need those unless you're doing some very serious offroading.

 

[Spanish Bob]

some confusion, i am 6 ft 3", so not short in the leg, (must have been the chin incident).

Maybe i am just needing to get used to putting my leg down into a different place, on the TL, i could put leg down wide and forward to give me complete stability, with the GS, i can't put leg down forward, as there are two big chunks of metal in the way... guess i need to get used to it.

The dealer told me they don't come as standard, he wanted £190 for them. Also the website doesn't say they come as standard, not to worry.

Feb is going to be a long month

I would say get some bars - the BMW ones dont protect the pots much, but the very cool if you want to ride Harley style or like me youve got a duff knee and changing position helps.

I just hope your did the right thing and went silver rather than slow and uncool black?

Happy to do a ride out. Meet you half way?

 

[harlequin6]

So did I ...!!! Yeeehaaa!

I have been itching to get back on a bike after selling the last one ( a Suzi RF900 ) 4 years ago , women troubles !

Mid last year ( single again) & armed with £5k I began snooping around. I didn't want to go back to a sports biased machine as I drive approx 50k miles & already have 3 points. I had come to a choice between a Varadero or an 1150 gs.
After reading many reviews, I of course opted for the GS.
But £5k I was dreaming!

I decided that if it was my dream machine I might as well go the whole hog & spotted a GSA 02 at a Honda dealers in Wakefield. I even put a deposit over the phone from the piccy.

I cought 7am train from Bolton-Manchester- Wakefield & got collected from the station by the dealer.

All was well & the deal was done for £7,100. incl : crash bars , ABS, Remus can & chip+O/E, Olins suspenders & a matching baglux tank cover. ( good deal or not? I don't care)

As I had not even been on a bike for 2 years i had spent a sleepless night beforehand dreaming of wheelying out of the dealers yard and streight through the next door hedge.
However by riding like a granny & threppenybitting the corners I made it to the post office for a tax disc. I fitted it in a 50p rubber
holder & put it in the screen only for it to disapear over my shoulder on the dual carriage way. Cue a high speed traffic dodge in true Harold LLoyd style to retrieve it , into the top pocket this time and a nice alloy holder purcased. (INCIDENTALLY WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO SITE IT, I'M STRUGGLING TO FIND A BOLT TO USE!)

Insurance quotes varied from £850 -£1850! I had just bought a steel bike garage thing and self assembled it ( another story, i will include pics) which helped get the £850 quote.

I have just fitted my Streetpilot ( bought from Staples on xmas eve for £499 although I had to drive to Carlisle to get the last one!) wiring & brackets and I am raring to go.

All this in the space of a couple of weeks & cue the snow! Great!

Can't wait to get involved with some of the roadtrips on the board.

Great forum by the way! Really Really helpful . Anyway , I'm one of you lot now & you're stuck with me.

Thanks all.


HARLEQUIN