Riders in Cardiff emailed me a few weeks ago and invited me to try out the new LC. I pointed out to them that I wasn't in a position to buy one at the moment but was certainly interested for the future. In fairness the guy said it wasn't a problem and they wanted people to try out the new bike.
Well I thought it would be rude not to..............So what was it like?..........
Currently ride a 59 plate GS not the twin cam so I was looking forward to the new generation GS.
The guy went through all the controls, riding modes, ESA modes etc then basically left me to it.
Sitting on the bike it didn't feel too dissimilar to the current bike I have.First thing I noticed on starting the bike was( i think someone else mentioned this) that the engine rattled more than mine, not sure why, just the way it is I suppose, exhaust note sounds good much like the TC and a lot nicer than mine.
When revved the engine no longer moves the bike to the right, it now moves to the left
but less so.I then Set it on road mode and set off.
First thing you will notice on riding this new GS is how quick the motor spins up,it just revs so much quicker than the old one,and pulls so much harder!
Roll it on from 40/45 in top and you will be doing 80 very very quickly. Around town in lower gears found the fuelling pretty smooth very little lumpiness compared to mine, very easy to ride.........
I took the bike on mainly A roads and bumpy B roads with a 10 mile motorway blast too, I did about 80 miles in total.
On the A/B roads it still feels very much like my GS..........only better,Throttle was easy to get use to, clutch is incredibly light, brakes feel as before, excellent. What is very noticeable about it is how much quicker it turns in,the balance of the chassis plus the quicker turn in makes the bike feel lighter than previous despite being a few KG's heavier. The GS has always been an easy bike to ride but it is now even better.
On the bumpy B roads the bike was perfectly planted as always, no hints of a wobble anywhere,or any vagueness in the front end. I tried the dynamic mode which seem to egg me on even more
,I couldn't feel any surging as some have mentioned.
I tried out the cruise on the motorway, easy to use, and I would find it very useful for the few hundred miles I generally have on each side of the channel.
It was fairly windy today, so couldn't really judge the protection of the screen, although it was easy to adjust. On the quieter parts of the ride the screen did seem really good, but I would like to try that out again.
The controls as usual with BM were easy to use, although i couldn't see the top half of the rev counter due to the sat nav, but am guessing this can be adjusted. I have to say I personally don't like the jap indicators, but could surely get used to that.
One thing that was a bit disappointing was the fecking heated grips were crap compared to mine, This I know as I compared them back to back today. Same gloves at 1degree C..
In summery, Great bike, big improvement on my GS but still looks and feels like a GS............just need to get the cash together to get one
Well I thought it would be rude not to..............So what was it like?..........Currently ride a 59 plate GS not the twin cam so I was looking forward to the new generation GS.
The guy went through all the controls, riding modes, ESA modes etc then basically left me to it.
Sitting on the bike it didn't feel too dissimilar to the current bike I have.First thing I noticed on starting the bike was( i think someone else mentioned this) that the engine rattled more than mine, not sure why, just the way it is I suppose, exhaust note sounds good much like the TC and a lot nicer than mine.
When revved the engine no longer moves the bike to the right, it now moves to the left
but less so.I then Set it on road mode and set off.First thing you will notice on riding this new GS is how quick the motor spins up,it just revs so much quicker than the old one,and pulls so much harder!
Roll it on from 40/45 in top and you will be doing 80 very very quickly. Around town in lower gears found the fuelling pretty smooth very little lumpiness compared to mine, very easy to ride.........
I took the bike on mainly A roads and bumpy B roads with a 10 mile motorway blast too, I did about 80 miles in total.
On the A/B roads it still feels very much like my GS..........only better,Throttle was easy to get use to, clutch is incredibly light, brakes feel as before, excellent. What is very noticeable about it is how much quicker it turns in,the balance of the chassis plus the quicker turn in makes the bike feel lighter than previous despite being a few KG's heavier. The GS has always been an easy bike to ride but it is now even better.
On the bumpy B roads the bike was perfectly planted as always, no hints of a wobble anywhere,or any vagueness in the front end. I tried the dynamic mode which seem to egg me on even more
,I couldn't feel any surging as some have mentioned.I tried out the cruise on the motorway, easy to use, and I would find it very useful for the few hundred miles I generally have on each side of the channel.
It was fairly windy today, so couldn't really judge the protection of the screen, although it was easy to adjust. On the quieter parts of the ride the screen did seem really good, but I would like to try that out again.
The controls as usual with BM were easy to use, although i couldn't see the top half of the rev counter due to the sat nav, but am guessing this can be adjusted. I have to say I personally don't like the jap indicators, but could surely get used to that.
One thing that was a bit disappointing was the fecking heated grips were crap compared to mine, This I know as I compared them back to back today. Same gloves at 1degree C.
.In summery, Great bike, big improvement on my GS but still looks and feels like a GS............just need to get the cash together to get one
