Haldanes in Mt Eden & GSR 600
Had an unexpected day off and my Bus needed a 12000 Kay warranty service. Rang up the workshop at Haldanes on the off chance they were having a quiet day and could fit it in at short notice. Lots and lots of Kudos to them for fitting me in. Squid (don't know his name), the mechanic there knows his stuff and is a top bloke. I'm an ex bike mechanic and rarely trust others with my baby, seen him in action and he's the man in AKL I reckon. Anyway I had a couple of hours of kicking around as he was fairly busy. They know I'm from out of town so they gave me their Demo GSR 600 as a loaner. Never seen one before and it only had a couple of thousand Kays on the clock. They are a naked in similar style to the Speed triple type thing. I call em "Stark Nakeds" and have never really been attracted to the look. It had a slightly detuned GSXR 600 engine and thats about all I knew about it. Mrs T phoned me worrying that she may have locked the cats out when she went to work so I had an excuse for a bit of a ride back home over familiar roads (Grin).
Swinging my leg over, it felt tall and up right in its seating position, not too disimilar to my old bandit. Squirting off down the Southern motorway, the engine felt busy doing just under 6000 revs at 100 Kay. Noteing that it had a red line at 14,000 and that it already felt quite grunty, I suspected more fun. Off the Motorway at Drury I had a bit of traffic to follow. Follow? This thing was an absolute hooligan in traffic and I easily overtook all the offending cages and had to reel myself in a bit. Jeez that little engine sure can go above 10,000 and it has nimble handling. Through Waiuku, onto the Awhitu road and "whoa there old fella you are having way too much fun and remember its not your bike".. Turned off the main road into my road, some real tight twisties there, and this thing is just killing them with a few little second gear mono's (honest It just did it by itself) to prove it didn't care. Holy shit how can such an ugly little naked put such a big grin on my dial!
With mothers little darlings off the starvation list, I headed back toward Haldanes with the resolve to behave myself. Well I kept my promise right up until Mt Wellington where the traffic had slowed right down. I can't believe my self, I need a kick in the arse for aggressive lane splitting as this little darling goes through traffic like a dose of salts. Its all to do with a good riding stance and good visibility. This naughty little bike and I are just getting on way too well, I've gotta give it back before I get locked up.
Dropped it back to the rightful owners, feeling really guilty for enjoying their cute (I know it grew on me) little bike while they were slaving so hard on my old girl.
As usual with the Haldane workshop, they did a good job for a fair price and I rode home feeling like I'd had a good day out.
My view, the GSR 600 is a good entry level bike for someone who has just got their full licence. It has a great little engine, handles well though not too demanding, has good brakes and a comfortable riding stance. It's just the ducks nuts in the twisties with a healthy aptitude for wheelies.. Try it, I reckon you'll like it.
If you love it, let it go. If it comes back to you, you've just high-sided!
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Originally Posted by terbang
) but found it to simular to the 600 bandit I allready had and felt I wouldnt be gaining anything by buying the GSR
For the record Qkkid was in my bed, not the other way round
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