Had my 24K service yesterday, I booked it in a week in ago.
I left my house about 6 and was on the road by 10 past, it was dark and it was wet in a Scottish kind of way, someone told me about Hurricane Gordon ? I took it as a sign, it was for me.
About 12 miles down the road I was hit by the first blasts of the day, passing over Ballachulish bridge the wind was gusting, I involuntarily tensed but my bike remained planted, I carried on into Glencoe up through the gorge, the whole glen was in spate with gushing burns replacing normally quiet streams. The sun was coming up, by that I mean it was turning a shade of grey as opposed to black, and I was on towards Rannoch. Over the summit it was gusting strongly, no problem, the gusts were moving me around a bit, but my bike held its line.
I was in Glasgow by 8, rush hour had already started ( how can folk do that everyday
?) I did a little filtering and was in M C by 8:35 hot coffee was waiting for me. I booked the bike in, they said they would do their best to get it back to me early.
I had arranged for a loan of their 650 to get me out and about for a few hours but instead I found myself perched on top of a 1200 GSA shod with a pair of TKC`s
I headed out of the city and on towards Edinburgh. I have ridden a couple of 1200 and enjoyed them, but this was different, whether it was the tyres in the wet, the continual gusty winds or just me being a bit tense ( I signed a form that showed I would have to pay for the first £600 worth of damage, that’s why I would have been tense ) twice on the M8 I felt as though I was about to go into a tankslapper ! the front wobbled violently, that frightened me.
I slowed down. The front end felt light, vague even. The tyres didn’t inspire confidence.
I arrived in Edinburgh and had to abandon my first parking option, the 12 adv had a standard seat on it, my inside leg is “31” that’s not a good combination on a downhill slope, and why does the side stand only extend 90 degrees to the bike ?
So I got parked up on the level, took a walk to HG where I caught my stalker by surprise, I bought a pair of gloves.
Over a coffee I thought about the ride. I have spoken to two 1200 adv riders, one came from an 1150 adv and he told me that it took him a couple of thousand miles to gel with the bike, the other came from a 1200 and took to it immediately, saying “that’s the way the 1200 should have been from the start” so I tried to alter my riding on the return journey.
I took some back roads and started to throw the bike into corners a bit more, the front end turns in really quickly, certainly quicker than my 1150 adv. The steering wobble can be induced very easily, a little knock with either hand can start this. I think that the tyres were over inflated, I could feel the bike going over in stages. By the time I got back to Glasgow I was more comfortable on the bike, it would take many more miles for me to feel anything like the way that I feel when on my 1150 GSA but that’s not the bike, that’s me.
I was told when I booked my own bike in for the service that I would notice a big difference, I had my doubts. I left Glasgow at the back of 3,
after a chat with the mechanic that had carried out the work, getting a head start on the traffic that I so detest. The winds had not let up, the gusts were reported to be up to 75 mph, I doubt that it was that strong but it was certainly blowing a hoolie going over the Erskine Bridge. I headed North out by Loch Lomond, the rain had stayed on all day, there were flood signs all along the road side. My bike felt like a wild stallion wanting to be let loose, it ploughed through all the surface water along the loch side, up past Ardlui and onto Crianlarich the beast was pulling like a dream. I stopped at Tyndrum for a bowl of Cullen Skink, superb, and prepared myself for the climb up to Rannoch and the expected winds. They didn’t disappoint but neither did my bike, the rain was still stoatin down but visibility was good and soon I was passing the cars that were patiently waiting on the south side of the gorge. I didn’t put my foot down, the lights changed and I just pulled away, pausing only to admire the torrent of water at the falls. The next section passed very quickly, it’s a good flowing road and I was having fun. A few hundred yards south of the Ballachulish bridge there is a fast mini roundabout. I picked my line and flicked through it, I applied the power and felt the back end slip out a bit.
15 minutes later, I had my bike parked up in the garage and I was getting out of my soaking kit.
I poured a large dram and hit the shower.
Life is good and my bike is better than your bike.
The end.
I left my house about 6 and was on the road by 10 past, it was dark and it was wet in a Scottish kind of way, someone told me about Hurricane Gordon ? I took it as a sign, it was for me.
About 12 miles down the road I was hit by the first blasts of the day, passing over Ballachulish bridge the wind was gusting, I involuntarily tensed but my bike remained planted, I carried on into Glencoe up through the gorge, the whole glen was in spate with gushing burns replacing normally quiet streams. The sun was coming up, by that I mean it was turning a shade of grey as opposed to black, and I was on towards Rannoch. Over the summit it was gusting strongly, no problem, the gusts were moving me around a bit, but my bike held its line.
I was in Glasgow by 8, rush hour had already started ( how can folk do that everyday
?) I did a little filtering and was in M C by 8:35 hot coffee was waiting for me. I booked the bike in, they said they would do their best to get it back to me early. I had arranged for a loan of their 650 to get me out and about for a few hours but instead I found myself perched on top of a 1200 GSA shod with a pair of TKC`s
I headed out of the city and on towards Edinburgh. I have ridden a couple of 1200 and enjoyed them, but this was different, whether it was the tyres in the wet, the continual gusty winds or just me being a bit tense ( I signed a form that showed I would have to pay for the first £600 worth of damage, that’s why I would have been tense ) twice on the M8 I felt as though I was about to go into a tankslapper ! the front wobbled violently, that frightened me.
I slowed down. The front end felt light, vague even. The tyres didn’t inspire confidence.
I arrived in Edinburgh and had to abandon my first parking option, the 12 adv had a standard seat on it, my inside leg is “31” that’s not a good combination on a downhill slope, and why does the side stand only extend 90 degrees to the bike ?
So I got parked up on the level, took a walk to HG where I caught my stalker by surprise, I bought a pair of gloves.
Over a coffee I thought about the ride. I have spoken to two 1200 adv riders, one came from an 1150 adv and he told me that it took him a couple of thousand miles to gel with the bike, the other came from a 1200 and took to it immediately, saying “that’s the way the 1200 should have been from the start” so I tried to alter my riding on the return journey.
I took some back roads and started to throw the bike into corners a bit more, the front end turns in really quickly, certainly quicker than my 1150 adv. The steering wobble can be induced very easily, a little knock with either hand can start this. I think that the tyres were over inflated, I could feel the bike going over in stages. By the time I got back to Glasgow I was more comfortable on the bike, it would take many more miles for me to feel anything like the way that I feel when on my 1150 GSA but that’s not the bike, that’s me.
I was told when I booked my own bike in for the service that I would notice a big difference, I had my doubts. I left Glasgow at the back of 3,
after a chat with the mechanic that had carried out the work, getting a head start on the traffic that I so detest. The winds had not let up, the gusts were reported to be up to 75 mph, I doubt that it was that strong but it was certainly blowing a hoolie going over the Erskine Bridge. I headed North out by Loch Lomond, the rain had stayed on all day, there were flood signs all along the road side. My bike felt like a wild stallion wanting to be let loose, it ploughed through all the surface water along the loch side, up past Ardlui and onto Crianlarich the beast was pulling like a dream. I stopped at Tyndrum for a bowl of Cullen Skink, superb, and prepared myself for the climb up to Rannoch and the expected winds. They didn’t disappoint but neither did my bike, the rain was still stoatin down but visibility was good and soon I was passing the cars that were patiently waiting on the south side of the gorge. I didn’t put my foot down, the lights changed and I just pulled away, pausing only to admire the torrent of water at the falls. The next section passed very quickly, it’s a good flowing road and I was having fun. A few hundred yards south of the Ballachulish bridge there is a fast mini roundabout. I picked my line and flicked through it, I applied the power and felt the back end slip out a bit. 15 minutes later, I had my bike parked up in the garage and I was getting out of my soaking kit.
I poured a large dram and hit the shower.
Life is good and my bike is better than your bike.
The end.
