Today I had the WESA set-up fitted by Revs Racing in Halesowen.
With a long trip of some months lined up I thought I'd treat my GSA. The bike is now just over 3 years old. Given the residual values against new and the fact I'm happy with this one I thought I'd spend some cash on a few bits and make it a keeper (well, for a while anyway). I've been quietly impressed by the tell me your mileage thread and visited a pal last night of this parish who'd just hit the 60k mark on his, and as he put it, that it is now 'nicely bedded in'. So 1200's are not all crap? Shock horror.
Anyway.
Anyone who I've ever questioned with uprated suspension has always been of the mind that 'once you have it done, you'll never go back'.
So: Suspension it is. I was thinking that my standard ESA shocks were feeling the pace somewhat. This probably due to the fact I am the pie eaters' pie eater and the good lady pillion isn't exactly Bonnie Langford either and even at 22k to me they felt a litle bit tired. Pushing it whilst loaded got me all nostalgic, reminding me of being on a Spacehopper, with the added sounds of grinding of centre stand.
I'd previously phoned and ordered the shocks from the gents at Revs. As part of the order process they ask you for your weight in kit, plus your pillion, plus approximate weight of what sort of luggage you would carry and some estimates of how often you do what. From this data the shocks are built at Wilbers in Germany and sent on to Revs. You can arrange a ride in ride out fitting which takes the most part of the day.
The set up at Revs is small and neat, tucked away in a corner of the Black Country in the town of Halesowen. I rode around the block having missed the entrance to it the first time. The place is small and the workshop is compact but it is almost militarily clean, neat and tidy.. although they assured me this was one of their messier days. We spent an hour or so shooting the breeze and generally chatting over coffee. The guys there, John and Nick are clear enthusiasts.. for me it is something you see less of these days and it was good to chat and I learned a fair bit about a subject I confessed to knowing not much at all about.
Then it is down to work. John's missus, Angie kindly drives me in to town where I can use the Internet with the laptop and have a bite. It's a little bit of a wait around but hey ho. Around about 3.30 I'm picked up and brought back with the job done. A quick test ride and it’s a good signs, so we conclude and I head off.
After the fitting I had a run up to Wolverhampton and then back nipped back to Birmingham for the evening. First signs are quite promising. Different. The bike feels more composed for sure and I almost was hitting the potholes on purpose to see how things stood up. Very well was the answer to that.
I'm looking forward to testing things harder over the coming days, I think the true quality will show with some more spirited use than today.
So initial thoughts very promising and I'll update further with how it goes. It is early doors with the product but I was very pleased with the service from John and Nick.
R
With a long trip of some months lined up I thought I'd treat my GSA. The bike is now just over 3 years old. Given the residual values against new and the fact I'm happy with this one I thought I'd spend some cash on a few bits and make it a keeper (well, for a while anyway). I've been quietly impressed by the tell me your mileage thread and visited a pal last night of this parish who'd just hit the 60k mark on his, and as he put it, that it is now 'nicely bedded in'. So 1200's are not all crap? Shock horror.
Anyway.
Anyone who I've ever questioned with uprated suspension has always been of the mind that 'once you have it done, you'll never go back'.
So: Suspension it is. I was thinking that my standard ESA shocks were feeling the pace somewhat. This probably due to the fact I am the pie eaters' pie eater and the good lady pillion isn't exactly Bonnie Langford either and even at 22k to me they felt a litle bit tired. Pushing it whilst loaded got me all nostalgic, reminding me of being on a Spacehopper, with the added sounds of grinding of centre stand.
I'd previously phoned and ordered the shocks from the gents at Revs. As part of the order process they ask you for your weight in kit, plus your pillion, plus approximate weight of what sort of luggage you would carry and some estimates of how often you do what. From this data the shocks are built at Wilbers in Germany and sent on to Revs. You can arrange a ride in ride out fitting which takes the most part of the day.
The set up at Revs is small and neat, tucked away in a corner of the Black Country in the town of Halesowen. I rode around the block having missed the entrance to it the first time. The place is small and the workshop is compact but it is almost militarily clean, neat and tidy.. although they assured me this was one of their messier days. We spent an hour or so shooting the breeze and generally chatting over coffee. The guys there, John and Nick are clear enthusiasts.. for me it is something you see less of these days and it was good to chat and I learned a fair bit about a subject I confessed to knowing not much at all about.
Then it is down to work. John's missus, Angie kindly drives me in to town where I can use the Internet with the laptop and have a bite. It's a little bit of a wait around but hey ho. Around about 3.30 I'm picked up and brought back with the job done. A quick test ride and it’s a good signs, so we conclude and I head off.
After the fitting I had a run up to Wolverhampton and then back nipped back to Birmingham for the evening. First signs are quite promising. Different. The bike feels more composed for sure and I almost was hitting the potholes on purpose to see how things stood up. Very well was the answer to that.
I'm looking forward to testing things harder over the coming days, I think the true quality will show with some more spirited use than today.
So initial thoughts very promising and I'll update further with how it goes. It is early doors with the product but I was very pleased with the service from John and Nick.
R
