What a Phucking Mortorcycle ! 14 R1200 GSA

[bigjohnsd]

Picked her up today, still working on a name.

The weather really turned to ***** here, it was 66 at 0800, 42, windy and misty when I picked up the bike at 1000.

Still, just had to go for a little ride:

Boulder Canyon, Terry Peak Sumit (a few flakes and 36F, Spearfish Canyon, and home.

Sweet! Sweet! Sweet! May have dented the back of the tank in all my excitement!

Probably won't get to ride for a couple of weeks with our current forecast - Cold, rain and snow on and off for the next week plus.

Let the Farkling Begin!

 

[BkerChuck]

Congrats on the new ride John!

I have several friends on those who absolutely love them.

 

[gregory]

Congrats John!

Beautiful bike!

 

[Pterodactyl]

The FORCE is strong in this one!!!

 

[Blind Squirrel]

The GSA comes pretty well equipped. Shouldn't need too much.

 

[Fred W]

I went a different direction and picked up a new 2017 leftover Africa Twin A model (just like with FJRs, the A denotes a clutch lever. The D model is the DCT auto shifter). Only rode it a few miles today on the way home from the dealership as I had some control adjustments to do, and it was kind of damp out from all the rain the last two days. Still, I managed to take it down a couple of miles of dirt road. Yeah, this is going to be a lot of fun. This is a replacement for my old 04 ManStrom, which was very off-pavement experienced and getting a bit long in the tooth.

Im sure the BMW GS is a hell of a bike, but I could have bought two of the ATs for the same money, and its a hell of a good ADV bike for any price. Good luck with your Beemer, John.

 

[ThwartedEfforts]

The GS is this country's #1 bike and by a colossal margin too: almost twice as many on the road as the next best selling model.

Not ridden one but have always assumed there's good reason for their popularity. Look forward to hearing more.

 

[Fred W]

Based on your location, Im guessing this country you refer to is England? Because the BMW GS is definitely not the #1 motorcycle in the USA. Not that this is particularly significant. Not being a sheeple, Ive never felt that popularity is particularly indicative of desireability.

 

[bigjohnsd]

I'm guessing you paid just a bit less than I did Fred, certainly couldn't buy two new AT's for what I paid for my GSA.

I looked at and rode the AT, chain and lack of cruise control was the two humps I couldn't climb over to get there.

Certainly a fine bike and biased a bit more toward the "Off Road single track" than the GSA.

Life would be dull if all MC were the same wouldn't it?

 

[Fred W]

Yes, it would, John.

I actually like having chain drive vs shaft for an ADV bike. It allows you to fine tune the gearing for the environment. It also keeps the weight down to just 500 lbs, which isnt bad on a bike so big. And Ive got a wonderful cruise control on my FJR. Dont see too many cross country rides in the future of my AT as long as Ive got my Feejer around. Different bikes for different purposes.

Also, I just noticed that your GSA is a 2014. Buying used is probably the way to go on those. The first year depreciation has to be big. I was thinking you bought a new one when I said I could buy two ATs for the same money, and I wasnt exaggerating. New GSAs start at $24k before adding options. I paid less than $11k for my new AT.

 

[ThwartedEfforts]

Based on your location, Im guessing this country you refer to is England? Because the BMW GS is definitely not the #1 motorcycle in the USA. Not that this is particularly significant. Not being a sheeple, Ive never felt that popularity is particularly indicative of desireability.

Talking about the UK. It's our Street Glide.

I agree that you just have to look at Nielsen ratings to understand how popularity and quality are often separate bedfellows. But the fact the GS is the most visible bike in the UK and not even scraping the top 10 in the USA says more about markets rather than machines.

As with John the lack of shaft drive put me off the AT. The only bike that came close to the FJR for me was the VFR1200X CrossTourer, but the lack of cruise killed it. The VFR1200X is a fantastic tourer and I do wonder if Honda deliberately nobbled its options so as not to chew too many sales off the Wing.

 

[Old Michael]

Congrats, John. Nice bike.

 

[owsley]

Congrats John

 

[Pterodactyl]

If HD opens their new plant over on the other side of the pond, then you UK riders are in for a shock. No place to park at the pubs, lengthy rolling and loud road blocks and a huge growth in the pirates union.

 

[gregory]

^^^^LIKE^^^^

 

[08FJR4ME]

Good for you Fred, That's a nice bike and I would like to have one myself but it is not in the cards at this time. Still doing home improvements. Maybe when things are said and done I will take a hard look at one.

John, the GSA's are nice bikes also and I really like the looks of them. I am afraid a BMW will never enter my garage. I am to cheap.

Dave

 

[bigjohnsd]

Good for you Fred, That's a nice bike and I would like to have one myself but it is not in the cards at this time. Still doing home improvements. Maybe when things are said and done I will take a hard look at one.
John, the GSA's are nice bikes also and I really like the looks of them. I am afraid a BMW will never enter my garage. I am to cheap.

Dave

I am still in shock that it is in my garage and on my lift for Farkling

I hadn't really check out what Baby had for Shoes, TKC 70's - front and rear, supposedly have 500 miles on them.

I had been looking at TKC 70's for my Alaska trip on the FJR, looks like they will be just fine.

They felt really good sailing up Spearfish Canyon yesterday, achieved FJR nominal (double the yellow signs) with no feeling of unease.

The front was a bit low in pressure and that may be why there is some odd wear pattern going on.

I've bumped the pressures up to 38F and 42R and we will see how that feels on Saturday, the only half decent day in the next two weeks according to the weather guessers.

Expecting the Brown Truck to start arriving with some regularity now for a while!

The only thing more fun than farkling your own bike is farkling someone else's bike with their money! LOL

 

[Pterodactyl]

The front tire is susceptible to scalloping especially if you run the recommended PSI. I have been running 40 front and rear and have gotten good wear out of the front. My GSA is tough on rear tires. 5,000 miles is about the best I have achieved. I used Anakee 3, Avon Trail Rider, Shinko Raven and now have a TKC 70 mounted. I hope the TKC will be at least a 7,000 mile tire. I may try running a Road Smart 3 on the rear next.

 

[escapefjrtist]

You'll like the TKC70s John. I ran a set on my Tenere for the Bella Coola trip and they did very well. Confidence inspiring in the dirt, brought me back to my dirt-biking days! I got close to 8k miles out of the rear although I did experience cupping on the front tire. Increasing pressure seemed to help but damage was already done. I'll run another set.

~G