S1000 RR Test ride....

[David_S_Walker]

All,

Those of you who have met me on one of my very rare club appearances (Be quiet Nadeem!) will know that I am er... amply proportioned so I never really entertained the idea of purchasing let alone bothering to test ride an S1000 RR thinking that a) I would look ridiculous and b) it would be excrcuiatingly uncomfortable like my younger brothers MV Agusta that I tried a while ago.

Anyway I found myself at Vines SLM last Saturday bringing my new K1300S in for it's 600 mile service with the offer of a test ride on the S1000 RR so I accepted as I had about 4 hours to kill. User of this forum, "docnvv" was also there picking up his new K1300S after the fatal expiration of his K1200S and the offer of what I believe was a reasonable deal so we agreed to go on a "bimble". My initial thought were that this was uncomfortable and I should really just have stayed at the dealership and eaten more sandwiches but as soon as I got to the Caterham bypass and opened it up a tad I became more interested. From then on as the confidence increased and road conditions dried out I settled in.

And then I opened the throttle....

.....Remarkable. The turn in was brilliant and the acceleration and braking truly awesome. It has the ability to mask my shortcomings as a 51 year old wanabee MOTO GP rider and I can honestly say that I have never experienced the like of this machine and I have ridden my fair share which I am usually glad to hand back at the end of a test ride. Not so this one.

We arrived at Newlands Corner to stop for a review and a coffee. Then and only because I had agreed to get it back to Vines SLM by midday we left for the return leg and enjoyed a relatively traffic free A25 where for the most part I had the biggest grin on my face. During the journey I began thinking how on earth I could raise the cash to buy one.

Suffice to say that my test ride of about 80 miles had changed my view entirely as to the suitablity for me of this machine but sadly Graham at Vines SLM declined my offer of a kidney which, by that time I would have happily donated.

Then I got back on my K1300S and all was back to normal. You know the K1300S is quite quick as well but what a pair they would make in the garage to choose from depending on your mood.

If you haven't tested one then do so.

Best regards,

David

[K12Rider]

Good review David and yes when will we be seeing the new bike...?