New GT1000

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by Jiffer

Woah! The thought of a GT splashing through building site poop is not a pleasant one - especially when the weather's bad! (See my previous remark about 10 month winters...)

My immediate reaction is a 180 turn and to say get an old hack and keep the GT for weekends, but running two bikes will 'nickel and dime' you to death and you'll never get your Termis!! (Which do change the nature of the bike quite significantly!)

It's a tricky one....

Well, for one, the GT seems to have handled it a lot better than I thought it would. With some fairly conscientious cleaning, it has survived unscathed, more or less (except the rear rack, which now looks ten years old). And for two, the construction work is coming to an end, and by next winter should all be over. So the sensible thing would be to stick it out until then. But I really fancy a small trailie - when I count back, I have had more trail bikes than any other type, over the years, and the thought of having a bike that I can leave out in the weather while the Duke stays polished and safe in tha garage is quite appealing. And there's always the trails to explore round here ...

We'll see! (The XT I was just watching on eBay has gone while I was writing this reply - damn!)

[Jiffer]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

Well, for one, the GT seems to have handled it a lot better than I thought it would. With some fairly conscientious cleaning, it has survived unscathed, more or less (except the rear rack, which now looks ten years old). And for two, the construction work is coming to an end, and by next winter should all be over. So the sensible thing would be to stick it out until then. But I really fancy a small trailie - when I count back, I have had more trail bikes than any other type, over the years, and the thought of having a bike that I can leave out in the weather while the Duke stays polished and safe in tha garage is quite appealing. And there's always the trails to explore round here ...

We'll see! (The XT I was just watching on eBay has gone while I was writing this reply - damn!)

OK, the answer's obvious - you need a trailie and a pair of Termis, don'tcha?

(What I call 'Option C' - ie both Options A and B!!)

You'll just have to get creative!

<Project Runway>

Make it work..!!

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by Jiffer

OK, the answer's obvious - you need a trailie and a pair of Termis, don'tcha?

(What I call 'Option C' - ie both Options A and B!!)

You'll just have to get creative!

<Project Runway>

Make it work..!!

You are absolutely right. No question. Can you lend me a few hundred? I'll pay you back, honest.

[Jiffer]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

You are absolutely right. No question. Can you lend me a few hundred? I'll pay you back, honest.

Sorry, Black Dawg, you're outta luck - I've rummaged everywhere (including down the back of the sofa) and I'm still well short of the price of a pair of Termis!!

Now, intead of a GT and a trailie, you might want to consider doing what I've just done! I've never found the GT truly comfortable under 60 (80?) mph due to scrunched legs and the windblast at, er, other speeds doesn't make for ultra-relaxed riding either! I have recently been running an MTS620 also for comparison and, despite missing various aspects of the GT, I ended up coming down fairly firmly in favour of the 'Strada! (If nothing else, it's got to be just about the most comfortable bike on the planet, but it's also light, zippy/nippy - quite fast, actually and very flickable!)

Anyway, I went down the local dealers the other day and booger me if they didn't have the ideal 'best of both worlds' bike in stock - a full-loaded (Termis, Ohlins, CF everything) MTS1000SDS in mint condition with, would you believe, less than 700 miles on it (then)!! To cut a short story even shorter, I promptly chopped both the GT and MTS620 in for it and now have the best of the GT (punchy 1000DS motor, Termies, fat grippy tyres) and the best of the MTS (comfort, handling, fairing) in what has got to be the best Final Solution I'll ever get - no?

Pix here, if anyone is interested (click the links):

Website

OK, the 'Strada ain't really a traillie but the riding position would enable a fair amount of 'green laning' with complete confidence, if it was firm and dry; on the road it ain't the fastest sports bike ever, but it's definitely no slug, handles probably better than a lot of sports bikes out there and for all-round purposes it has got to be a near ideal bike!! I love it!



Now, as they are now past tense for me, here's my final thoughts of Termis on the GT:

Baffles IN: Don't bother - nothing much more of anything, not worth the outlay; keep your wallet in your pocket.

Baffles OUT: No more top end, but the bike breathes better and pulls better (or seems to). Fells better 'under the hand' - no doubt due to the aural feedback. Downside is the noise - it is unrelenting and can (maybe will) get on your tits at times; it also won't make you too popular with the neighbours, which means you'll be less likely to warm it up nicely before you set off. (This was a real nuisance for me as I'm only 2 minutes from joining the A1 at anything like 85 mph just to slot in the slow lane and then gawd knows what to get clear - which is not the way to treat ya pride and joy!) Factor in also that many/most MOT testers will probably not see the funny side sometime in the future, if not right now, so you'll be putting the baffles in to keep them happy!!

The upshot is if I wuz on a GT again I would actually not fit Termies, despite all I've said in this thread beforehand!!

Hope this isn't messing you about too much!!

[Black Dog]

Interesting thinking, and it seems a good solution. I'm not sure if it would work for me, as the reason I wanted a trail bike was to keep the nice shiny Duke, nice and shiny. Unless the MS was a dog, I would be back to square one, cos I would be wanting to keep that shiny too.

I have taken the plunge and got a trailie off eBay. It's in good working order but scruffy, which is exactly as I want it. It's a Yam XT600E (me and XTs have a long history). Today, I rode it to work in the pouring rain, choosing the back roads where I never get over 50, and it was a hoot. The GT makes no sense on those roads (we're talking about single-track, and potholed and muddy) and I would have taken it on the A road and got it filthy.

The Termis will have to wait, as I am now spent up! Perhaps in the Spring ...

Good luck with the MS, though - it sounds a brilliant buy.

[shivertown1]

The 600 yammie single. bulletproof. I own a TT600R myself and love it on dirt roads and open tracks through the bush where you can use that mountain of torque

[Jiffer]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

Interesting thinking, and it seems a good solution. I'm not sure if it would work for me, as the reason I wanted a trail bike was to keep the nice shiny Duke, nice and shiny. Unless the MS was a dog, I would be back to square one, cos I would be wanting to keep that shiny too.

I have taken the plunge and got a trailie off eBay. It's in good working order but scruffy, which is exactly as I want it. It's a Yam XT600E (me and XTs have a long history). Today, I rode it to work in the pouring rain, choosing the back roads where I never get over 50, and it was a hoot. The GT makes no sense on those roads (we're talking about single-track, and potholed and muddy) and I would have taken it on the A road and got it filthy.

The Termis will have to wait, as I am now spent up! Perhaps in the Spring ...

Good luck with the MS, though - it sounds a brilliant buy.

Seems like you're on your way to a perfect solution! Enjoy!

A reliable but 'well-used' sh1tter for the winter (or even today - it's bucketing down) is very tempting for me also but, having driven myself nuts with two bikes lately, I think I'm going to resist the temptation! (Not hard to do - me bike budget's all banged up atm, anyway! )

This 'crap weather/crap roads' thing isn't to be taken lightly these days - a friend of mine uses a Honda CRM as an all-weather daily hack and has a VFR800 for 'trips'; the downside is that he also has a pristine 748 that hasn't been out of the garage at all this year yet!!