Nicky
RMS Regular
- Messages
- 24,582
- Drives
- HiluxSurf
Decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to upgrade the R1150GS I had, and I had considered going for a sports bike with the choices narrowed down to a Fireblade or an Aprilia RSV Mille, but then the notion left me as it just wouldn’t be as comfortable or practical for my riding style, carrying the wife on the back fairly often and for doing the likes of a European run or even touring Ireland when the notion takes me.
After deciding I wanted to stick with a big CC adventure bike and trawling the internet for a week or more looking at everything for sale that KTM had to offer, the Ducati Multistrada 1200, Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200, Honda’s Africa Twin’s in both 1000 & 1100cc guise along with the VFR1200 Cross Tourer (all of the Honda’s being ruled out very quickly for being very dated and lacking in technology), I was set on a newer BMW R1200GS, only this time I was insisting on holding out for an Adventure model which has longer suspension travel and a larger capacity fuel tank over a standard GS.
Plenty of browsing and a few phone calls seen me opting for a bike that Speed Superbikes Ltd (www.speedthrills.co.uk) in Exeter had for sale, a 2016 BMW R1200GS Adventure LC (liquid cooled which was introduced in 2014) Triple Black 90th Anniversary model. They talked me into it over the phone after confirming a very high spec including keyless start, LED headlights with auto-dim function, quick shifter, tyre pressure monitors, nav prep, full BMW service history, selectable dynamic riding modes, dynamic ESA (electronic suspension), cruise control, heated grips, engine crash bars, spot lights etc.
After doing the deal, I had to set about getting it home as I wasn’t really wanting to go through an airport to fly out for it, and the nearest airport was almost 100 miles away from the dealer. As usual, asking on here got the answer I needed which was for transporter to bring the bike home for me, and after a chat with Aidy on Monday morning, he confirmed he’d have the bike home by the weekend, and he did.
After collecting it from Aidy yesterday morning (Saturday), I met @Alan_B so that we could go for a run and see how the new bike performed and handled.
Absolutely blown away with how good it is and how light it feels on the road (surprisingly nimble for a 256kg bike). The quick shifter with auto blip on the downshift is ****ing awesome, as is the ESA which automatically adjusts the dampening depending on which riding mode is selected (there is soft, normal and hard settings in each too). The torque from the big boxer twin is fantastic and really suits rolling round coastal roads at low RPM on and off the throttle, while still providing enough grunt to ensure it keeps up with sportier bikes up to about 125/130mph before looking for another gear.
I’ve already ordered the sat nav for it which should be here in a couple of days, and I’ve fitted my top box to it, but aside from that there isn’t anything I need or want to do to it immediately, as it’s already very well spec’d, other than keep it fuelled up and stick as many miles on it as possible.
After deciding I wanted to stick with a big CC adventure bike and trawling the internet for a week or more looking at everything for sale that KTM had to offer, the Ducati Multistrada 1200, Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200, Honda’s Africa Twin’s in both 1000 & 1100cc guise along with the VFR1200 Cross Tourer (all of the Honda’s being ruled out very quickly for being very dated and lacking in technology), I was set on a newer BMW R1200GS, only this time I was insisting on holding out for an Adventure model which has longer suspension travel and a larger capacity fuel tank over a standard GS.
Plenty of browsing and a few phone calls seen me opting for a bike that Speed Superbikes Ltd (www.speedthrills.co.uk) in Exeter had for sale, a 2016 BMW R1200GS Adventure LC (liquid cooled which was introduced in 2014) Triple Black 90th Anniversary model. They talked me into it over the phone after confirming a very high spec including keyless start, LED headlights with auto-dim function, quick shifter, tyre pressure monitors, nav prep, full BMW service history, selectable dynamic riding modes, dynamic ESA (electronic suspension), cruise control, heated grips, engine crash bars, spot lights etc.
After doing the deal, I had to set about getting it home as I wasn’t really wanting to go through an airport to fly out for it, and the nearest airport was almost 100 miles away from the dealer. As usual, asking on here got the answer I needed which was for transporter to bring the bike home for me, and after a chat with Aidy on Monday morning, he confirmed he’d have the bike home by the weekend, and he did.
After collecting it from Aidy yesterday morning (Saturday), I met @Alan_B so that we could go for a run and see how the new bike performed and handled.
Absolutely blown away with how good it is and how light it feels on the road (surprisingly nimble for a 256kg bike). The quick shifter with auto blip on the downshift is ****ing awesome, as is the ESA which automatically adjusts the dampening depending on which riding mode is selected (there is soft, normal and hard settings in each too). The torque from the big boxer twin is fantastic and really suits rolling round coastal roads at low RPM on and off the throttle, while still providing enough grunt to ensure it keeps up with sportier bikes up to about 125/130mph before looking for another gear.
I’ve already ordered the sat nav for it which should be here in a couple of days, and I’ve fitted my top box to it, but aside from that there isn’t anything I need or want to do to it immediately, as it’s already very well spec’d, other than keep it fuelled up and stick as many miles on it as possible.
