Post by johangt on Oct 4, 2007 23:28:28 GMT 2
I was fortunate enough to be called by Shaun when my bike arrived in the crate.
I rushed to Pretoria to video the unpacking. Then the black beast appeared!
To put things in perspective, I last owned a 350 Honda somewhere around 1980. It leaked so much oil that I had to wear plastic bags over my shoes to prevent the oil from saturating them on the way to work.
This K1200GT is a heavy bike - you can feel it when you are off balance. But once you put your feet up, it changes into a mixture of a Lamborgini and an airoplane.
We fitted the GT with the large top box at the back and now it looks like a cruiser. But once you turn the GT's ear, it changes into a sport bike of note. Removing the boxes makes it look even sportier.
But speed is not really the reason Ina and I bought this bike. I laugh at people who attempt to be motorcycle critics and then compares the GT with other "tourers". The first thing they talk about is speed and how they raced one another from one place to another.
Cruising is more than just speed. There are times on a longer trip (especially if you are not used to travelling far) that your right hand needs some rest or when you just want to relax and look at the scenary. The speed control is magnificent! I even use it in town in 4th gear and 60km/hour.
Once you are on the open road and you find yourself in the dark, the xenon headlights changes everything into daylight. The on-board computer works great but I would have liked to see it include the tyre pressure monitor. Temperature, fuel consumption, distance left in the tank are only some of the information obtainable from this computer.
The seat and hand warmers came in very handy this past winter, but the ESA is something special. When you set it for two people, you can feel the seat rise as the suspension is pumped up. Getting on rough terrain is solved by the push of a button and when you get to corners (like on the Natal Spa trip), all you need is another push of the button. You can choose between one person, one person with luggage or with two people. Each of these can then be set to Comfort, Normal and Sport.
The best thing about this bike I have found is the steadiness on the open road. Coming from Brits, a bakkie with a lot of plastic holders for cold drink bottles dropped some empty cases as he came towards me in a corner. My son was riding behind me and he saw the K1200GT ride over the plastic container, breaking it in two - and I hardly felt a thing!
If it is speed you want, the GT is happy to oblidge. The rev limiter kicks in at 230km/hour and reaches it very quickly. It does not take much effort to get the foot pegs down. This happened to me by accident while I was on a training course with BMW at Swartkops. I do not make a habit of doing this, but I know the bike and I can if we really want to.
With a pillion and all bags packed (with a large top box) Ina and I reached 220 km/hour trying to catch the rest of the gang as they reached the pass. The wind gets rough with the bike and you need to cool it a little bit. 200km / hour is a more comfortable speed if you rally have to go that fast - but remember you could spend the night very cold and lonely without your wife or your GT!
By the way, do not put your lip-ice in the "cubby-hole". This handy little lockable compartment gets quite warm from the engine. The same goes for the pannier on the right above the exhaust. If you need to keep things cool, rather use the left pannier.
When Ina first got on the bike we bought her a flip-up system 5 helmet. This is a great helmet, but it is also quite heavy for somebody who has never worn one before. As the speed goes above 100km/hour, she found it difficult to keep her head in one place. As she got used to the bike, her neck got stronger and that was when we did the 220km/hour going to Natal Spa.
We put in a Baehr sound system that works wonderfully. If the wind makes too much noise and I cannot hear what somebody is saying over the Bluetooth connection to my cell-phone, I just drop my head behind the raised windscreen and everything becomes quiet.
I am on 15 000 km now and we will have to replace the front tyre before we leave on our trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town in December. The back tyre was replaced during the 10 000 km service.
In town I get around 5,5 km/liter (sorry - this is 5,5 liter/100km)which comes down to around 5km/liter (sorry - this is 5 l/100km) with Ina and myself on the bike on the open road. I find that the petrol light comes on at around 250km and she then has around 60 km left in the tank.
The mirrors are fantastic! They are situated high and it is very easy to see traffic behind you. The mirrors are also about the same width as the panniers so if the mirrors can go through a gap, so can the rest of the bike.
The GT can take gravel road, but a word of warning: Do not loose your balance, you will need assistance to pick the GT up again. The panniers rattle on gravel as they have not been disigned for these types of roads.
;D Riding the Outeniqua Pass is a pleasure. You can even drop the handles after you have taken off the panniers and really enjoy the power and handling of this machine. I normally do the pass in 4th gear and there is sufficient torque to travel up the pass. I will see next time I get there. I will then be more used to the bile and might even use other gears as well!
Like the petrol attendant told me a while ago when I filled up in Mossel Bay: "Meneer, dit is 'n groot kar hierdie"!
I rushed to Pretoria to video the unpacking. Then the black beast appeared!
To put things in perspective, I last owned a 350 Honda somewhere around 1980. It leaked so much oil that I had to wear plastic bags over my shoes to prevent the oil from saturating them on the way to work.
This K1200GT is a heavy bike - you can feel it when you are off balance. But once you put your feet up, it changes into a mixture of a Lamborgini and an airoplane.
We fitted the GT with the large top box at the back and now it looks like a cruiser. But once you turn the GT's ear, it changes into a sport bike of note. Removing the boxes makes it look even sportier.
But speed is not really the reason Ina and I bought this bike. I laugh at people who attempt to be motorcycle critics and then compares the GT with other "tourers". The first thing they talk about is speed and how they raced one another from one place to another.
Cruising is more than just speed. There are times on a longer trip (especially if you are not used to travelling far) that your right hand needs some rest or when you just want to relax and look at the scenary. The speed control is magnificent! I even use it in town in 4th gear and 60km/hour.
Once you are on the open road and you find yourself in the dark, the xenon headlights changes everything into daylight. The on-board computer works great but I would have liked to see it include the tyre pressure monitor. Temperature, fuel consumption, distance left in the tank are only some of the information obtainable from this computer.
The seat and hand warmers came in very handy this past winter, but the ESA is something special. When you set it for two people, you can feel the seat rise as the suspension is pumped up. Getting on rough terrain is solved by the push of a button and when you get to corners (like on the Natal Spa trip), all you need is another push of the button. You can choose between one person, one person with luggage or with two people. Each of these can then be set to Comfort, Normal and Sport.
The best thing about this bike I have found is the steadiness on the open road. Coming from Brits, a bakkie with a lot of plastic holders for cold drink bottles dropped some empty cases as he came towards me in a corner. My son was riding behind me and he saw the K1200GT ride over the plastic container, breaking it in two - and I hardly felt a thing!
If it is speed you want, the GT is happy to oblidge. The rev limiter kicks in at 230km/hour and reaches it very quickly. It does not take much effort to get the foot pegs down. This happened to me by accident while I was on a training course with BMW at Swartkops. I do not make a habit of doing this, but I know the bike and I can if we really want to.
With a pillion and all bags packed (with a large top box) Ina and I reached 220 km/hour trying to catch the rest of the gang as they reached the pass. The wind gets rough with the bike and you need to cool it a little bit. 200km / hour is a more comfortable speed if you rally have to go that fast - but remember you could spend the night very cold and lonely without your wife or your GT!
By the way, do not put your lip-ice in the "cubby-hole". This handy little lockable compartment gets quite warm from the engine. The same goes for the pannier on the right above the exhaust. If you need to keep things cool, rather use the left pannier.
When Ina first got on the bike we bought her a flip-up system 5 helmet. This is a great helmet, but it is also quite heavy for somebody who has never worn one before. As the speed goes above 100km/hour, she found it difficult to keep her head in one place. As she got used to the bike, her neck got stronger and that was when we did the 220km/hour going to Natal Spa.
We put in a Baehr sound system that works wonderfully. If the wind makes too much noise and I cannot hear what somebody is saying over the Bluetooth connection to my cell-phone, I just drop my head behind the raised windscreen and everything becomes quiet.
I am on 15 000 km now and we will have to replace the front tyre before we leave on our trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town in December. The back tyre was replaced during the 10 000 km service.
In town I get around 5,5 km/liter (sorry - this is 5,5 liter/100km)which comes down to around 5km/liter (sorry - this is 5 l/100km) with Ina and myself on the bike on the open road. I find that the petrol light comes on at around 250km and she then has around 60 km left in the tank.
The mirrors are fantastic! They are situated high and it is very easy to see traffic behind you. The mirrors are also about the same width as the panniers so if the mirrors can go through a gap, so can the rest of the bike.
The GT can take gravel road, but a word of warning: Do not loose your balance, you will need assistance to pick the GT up again. The panniers rattle on gravel as they have not been disigned for these types of roads.
;D Riding the Outeniqua Pass is a pleasure. You can even drop the handles after you have taken off the panniers and really enjoy the power and handling of this machine. I normally do the pass in 4th gear and there is sufficient torque to travel up the pass. I will see next time I get there. I will then be more used to the bile and might even use other gears as well!
Like the petrol attendant told me a while ago when I filled up in Mossel Bay: "Meneer, dit is 'n groot kar hierdie"!