Apologies if I woke you. A big bike tale

**paddy** · 25th December 2009, 19:44

Well, it's been an interesting Christmas for me. My wife and I recently separated and this was the first Christmas where I wasn't there when the kids got up in the morning. A pretty sad morning to be honest. I'm hoping that I can make boxing day "my tradition" for the kids at Christmas. Tomorrow we are driving out to Borders so that they can spend the "book" money I gave them as one of their presents. Yes kids, it will be the biggest book store you have EVER seen!

Anyway, moving on to bikes. Me Da used to ride back home - in fact we never really owned a car until coming to New Zealand (we bought a car just before we left so that Dad could learn to drive). Around the same time Dad did a decent superman impression over the top of a car that pulled out in front of him. The net result: has hasn't ridden in 20 years.

Now, the kids are all grown up, the mortgage is basically gone, and Dad is starting to look at things for himself again. He bought a Jaguar (not a crazy expensive one, but nice enough). He definitely deserved that, he spent enough time in the machine shop in Coventry machining the wooden dashboards for them. Now he's decided it's time to get a bike again. So he's bought a Suzuki GSF1200S (2007). The nutter.

I "escorted" him on his first ride the other day. Just a short 20 minute run along urban roads. I think it's going to take a bit of getting used to. It's a lot of machine. It was great to be able to get out and share that with him though. I'm hoping that we can do some more riding together in the future. I'll be pushing him along to RRRS and NASS. I am very concious of the statistics on returning riders with big bikes.

Getting to the point of my post, given everything, I was sitting alone on Christmas Eve. Dad's bike was sitting in my driveway (his is a 40 degree tee-tree lined slope that he is - rightly - not planning to attempt yet). I am covered by his insurance, and the invitation was there to take the bike for a spin. Incidentally, while I am talking insurance, I pointed Dad at www.kiwibike.co.nz and let him go off and do his own due diligence. He looked at State, AMI, and KiwiBike. KiwiBike were able to produce the best policy and deal. Good on them.

I headed off toward Gulf Harbour/Army Bay. That's a 10 minute ride from my house along pretty much urban roads with a single 70 KM/H section. So apologies if you live in that area and were awakened on Christmas Eve around 2115 hrs by a 1200 CC "burble". I was probably in the area for around 10 or 15 minutes. :-)

Now, you must understand that I ordinarily ride a DR250. The biggest bike I've ever ridden was the BMW F650GS. This thing is essentially twice as big again. It was an interesting experience. I have to be honest though, it didn't really do it for me. It has a relatively upright seating position, although not quite as upright as my DR. I found the steering VERY heavy with a lot of "push" pressure required to hold the bike into corners (whereas the DR tends to flop into corners and require the opposite). I did notice that it tended to feel lighter on tighter radius corners as the speed increased - so perhaps I was just traveling well below the "design speed" of the geometry. (Yes I made that phrase up - but I think you all know what I meant.)

The engine is nuts - although it seems to be capable of safe. I pretty much road everywhere at 2-3K revs. The bike red-lines at 11k, but I can't for the life of me figure out how you would use it. I pulled away in first, accelerated to around 3K RPM, changed up into second and opened the throttle - maybe a quarter turn, perhaps slightly more. The front wheel was definitely not on the ground and, when I glanced down, I was going 80 KM/H. Seriously, how do you use the engine? Seems to me like it's encumbered with three more cylinders than it needs! :-)

There were some speed-bumps along the way. Normally I would clear these quite happily at the speed limit on my DR. In fact I get the impression they could probably be cleared WELL above the speed limit, but I haven't bothered trying - you never know, I could be wrong. The GSF doesn't do speed bumps in quite the same way. It felt very much like 30 KM/H was really the practical limit, perhaps a little more depending on how much throttle you apply to get the front wheel over the bump.

I don't think sports (or sports tourers) are for me. They just don't quite compute in my head. On the plus side, the brakes work a whole lot better and the seat is considerably more comfortable than my DR.

So there we go - verdict: great bike - yes; do I want one: not really; Christmas: could have been better. Now I need to try the 1200GS to get a decent frame of reference.

Don't forget to register for a fun afternoon of medical exploration: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/ca...y=2010-2-6&c=0

**Yow Ling** · 25th December 2009, 20:11

Hey Paddy, I hope tomorrow is better for you

**shrub** · 25th December 2009, 23:09

have fun with your kids tomorrow and good on you for making boxing day your special day. My kids now live with me, and after present opening my son went for a ride on his Street Triple (I would have joined him, but first Xmas with my new partner), so I don't doubt the day will come when you wake with your kids on Xmas day.

I have ridden a heap of big bikes - if you think the 1200 was big, try a 2300cc Rocket 3, and I enjoyed hearing about your experiences of a modern muscle bike. I guess I have forgotten just how quick they really are.

Have fun tomorrow mate.

**paddy** · 25th December 2009, 23:24

Originally Posted by shrub

. . .I have ridden a heap of big bikes - if you think the 1200 was big, try a 2300cc Rocket 3. . ..

Thanks for your encouraging words. A 2.3L bike is just nuts. Really. Totally mad. That's a bigger engine that my 5-series and that weighs 1.3 tonnes!

**Tone165** · 25th December 2009, 23:24

I would reccomend that you check tyre presure..the GSF is quite light handling with correct tyre pressure.

Or perhaps just the normal result of going from light bike to heavy bike.

Your Dad's story is very common among my age group...please encourage him to do some training with BRONZ or anyone else that is available, I read somewhere here about mentoring programmes...that would be great for your Dad.

You are also right about the big power available from modern bikes, considering that the bike your Dad rode last was probably under 50hp...the 1250 is around 140 if memory serves.

Perhaps encourage him to ride with Ulysses Club for a bit..to get back up to speed.

Most of us old farts learned to ride "by the seat of our pants" on small low powered bikes and worked our way up to the big bikes that never even existed in the day...I have done several lessons, and although I would say I am above average in riding skill...I have learned something useful on every course.

Hope the new family situation sorts itself out OK, been there also and feel for you.

Opportunity to get out n about with your Dad is great, you two could do the courses together....I wish I had more in common with my Dad sometimes!

**paddy** · 25th December 2009, 23:29

Originally Posted by Tone165

Opportunity to get out n about with your Dad is great, you two could do the courses together....I wish I had more in common with my Dad sometimes!

Yeah, I was wondering about both doing the RRRS (BRONZ) course together. I've been wanting to do it for a while now. It's good value too - I think around $50 which really isn't much. My Dad and I get along well, but we don't really have any things that we do together - our interests are fairly divergent. That's probably why I really enjoyed riding with him. It's a part of him that I couldn't really share when I was growing up - so it's special to be able to do that now.

**shrub** · 25th December 2009, 23:30

Originally Posted by paddy

Thanks for your encouraging words. A 2.3L bike is just nuts. Really. Totally mad. That's a bigger engine that my 5-series and that weighs 1.3 tonnes!

but you really need to know what you're doing with that much power and weight (320 kgs).

**CookMySock** · 26th December 2009, 07:17

It's just inexperience, bro. My first time on a FJ1200 I was very surprised by its massive sea of torque, but not overwhelmed by it.

There is little to be gained by learners riding such a massive machine, except to prove to themselves that its rediculous. Theres a long way to go before you will be comfy on such an animal, but reassure yourself that thousands of others do ride them every day.

Thanks for the write up. That was quite cool to read.

Steve

**MSTRS:Me** · 26th December 2009, 07:50

First Xmas day apart from your kids is the hardest one. Sorry that you've joined that club. It does get better.

As for the Bandit...excellent, torque-ey comfortable mile-eater. And yes, you can use that engine for what you did

**DEATH_INC.** · 26th December 2009, 07:58

The 'heavy' steering is just the different weight and geometry between a road and trail bike. It took me a bit to get used to it when I first rode roadies.

**p.dath** · 26th December 2009, 10:47

Originally Posted by paddy

Well, it's been an interesting Christmas for me. My wife and I recently separated and this was the first Christmas where I wasn't there when the kids got up in the morning.

It's probably not much consolation, but the first Christmas is by far the worst. The rest are much easier.

Perhaps you two could alternate Christmas day - that's pretty common.

**p.dath** · 26th December 2009, 10:50

Originally Posted by paddy

The engine is nuts - although it seems to be capable of safe. I pretty much road everywhere at 2-3K revs. The bike red-lines at 11k, but I can't for the life of me figure out how you would use it. I pulled away in first, accelerated to around 3K RPM, changed up into second and opened the throttle - maybe a quarter turn, perhaps slightly more. The front wheel was definitely not on the ground and, when I glanced down, I was going 80 KM/H.

I think you'd find you would adjust pretty quickly to how the throttle operates.

I do like sports bikes, but not keen on something like that either.

**yachtie10** · 26th December 2009, 13:35

Originally Posted by p.dath

I think you'd find you would adjust pretty quickly to how the throttle operates.

I do like sports bikes, but not keen on something like that either.

Phillip what is your bikes HP
The bandit 1200 is just under 100 HP and a great bike although a little heavier than I would like.

I thought my previous bandit 1200 was a hand full when I got it (sometimes wish i still had it)

now on the 1250 (which is smother bike to ride) I have a few more HP (98 Stock) but I am starting to see where I could use more HP. I am happy as I am as I value my health. Sometimes I think 100 HP should be a practical limit for road bikes.( I await the comeback)

**p.dath** · 26th December 2009, 15:20

Originally Posted by yachtie10

Phillip what is your bikes HP
The bandit 1200 is just under 100 HP and a great bike although a little heavier than I would like.

I thought my previous bandit 1200 was a hand full when I got it (sometimes wish i still had it)

now on the 1250 (which is smother bike to ride) I have a few more HP (98 Stock) but I am starting to see where I could use more HP. I am happy as I am as I value my health. Sometimes I think 100 HP should be a practical limit for road bikes.( I await the comeback)

I'll say around 90hp. Most tests I have seen gives answers within 5 HP of this.

Its a bit difficult finding an answer I trust. The CBR600F uses a ramjet air intake. So a stationary dyno tests deliver less power than when accelerating on the road, because no air is being forced into the intake.