GingerCat

I took a test ride yesterday on one of these. What a super touring bike. Here are my first impressions. Its a big heavy lump at over 300kgs but once the wheels are rolling it doesn't feel heavy and you can throw it about in the corners. Handling is wonderful. My test bike had the regular seat set at it's lowest setting but for me that was still too high and I was pretty scared to put my feet down to balance the bike as I could only just get my feet down. The ride by wire throttle is super light and the least twist of the throttle see's the revs rise. This lightness did have an undesired effect on the cruise control which switched off simply by holding the throttle. Clutch and gearbox were smooth and the shaft drive has none of that awful snatchy play that BMW's have. The screen is superb, even at "naughty" speeds there is little breeze hitting the rider. This makes for relaxing touring, without all the wind noise and buffeting around. The SE model comes with heated grips and radio. In the front compartment is a USB connector so you can listen to your own music. Plenty of space in the panniers too and the top box. Excellent brakes and stopping quickly was no problem. All in all a great bike and superior to the BMW. In fact I liked it so much I've ordered one and pick it up next Saturday. I've ordering the blue one SE model, with Top Box, front fender extender, and Garmin mount and finally the low seat so I can put my feet down

For people used to riding a normal bike the Virago takes some getting used to. Riding along at a reasonable speed and the wind tries to splay your legs apart which is a bit uncomfortable, however that aside it's a relatively comfy bike to ride. The seat is super comfortable, it's like sitting in your favourite armchair and its well sprung. I'd wanted one of these for a while and originally wanted the tiddler of the Viragos the 535cc, but after looking into the performance I ended up with an 1100cc. This sounds like it should be super fast however it is infact about as quick as a 400cc bike and soon runs out of puff at about 130kms/hr. Of course the bike wasn't designed to be raced about and is happier chugging about at more legal speeds which it does does expertly. I picked up my 1997 special edition model (the one with the fancy tank badges and all enclosed rear suspension units) from a chap near the German border a trip of about 90mins from my house. It was in his barn covered in blankets and when he pulled the blankets off I was shocked and surprised to find a bike with 3500kms on the clock and sparkly chrome looking like it had just come off the factory floor. I had to have it. The bloke wouldn't shift much on the price, but I did get a bit knocked off. His wife told us he'd stopped riding because he was scared of it . I collected it the following weekend and drove home at temperatures close to zero. I've never been so cold in my life 90mins of icey winds, proved almost too much and when I got home I had to sit in a hot bath to get warmed up. The bike now has almost 11000kms on the clock. Handling:- weird, because of the sitting position, but once you get used to it, it goes round corners pretty well Brakes - Reasonably good Comfort - Good Engine - not fast but adequate, inspite of 1100cc (glad I didn't get the 535) Shaft drive - wonderful - no chains to adjust and nice clean back wheel and frame (always) Low centre of gravity - The bike is heavy but because of the low centre of gravity it's a synch to move about, even for me Enjoyment Factor - High - there is nothing nicer than chugging around the countryside in the summer with my visor up. it truely is a wonderful bike. Bad bits about ownership. 1. These bikes tend to have a problem with the starters and mine is no exception, sometimes it works and other time there is just a click when you press the starter. This is a fault on these models. If I rock mine in gear if frees off the sticking starter and it will start up. 2. Oil light can come one when the machine is on its side stand. This is another issue with these bikes, even though there is plenty of oil in the engine. 3. Need to own shares in Solvol chrome cleaner. There's so much chrome on this bike its almost a full time job to keep up to it, but it looks glorious all polished up.

Here she is. We were on our way to the GS Treffen in Germany. This is a big Rally for all GS bikes held each year in different parts of Germany. My bike is famous too, she appeared in an article I wrote for the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics magazine a few years back. This was prior to the engine overhaul I had done to the bike and we ended up breaking down en-route, but thats another story. [album]603[/album]

What makes a normally sane person go out and buy a bike built in 1979. Well quite simple really nostalgia. Back in the early 1980's I owned a GS550E a bike I loved and went all over on, including three trips to the old communist regime of East Germany and Italy twice. I'd been on the look out for for either the 550 or 850 at the time and one day came across an advert for a 750. I went to look and basically it was a bit of a wreck and the swing arm wobbled like crazy when I took it for a spin. It felt so weird sitting on and riding a bike like I'd owned so many years previously. I loved it and after a bit of haggling the old girl became mine. Not being so mechanically minded I had no intention of doing any repairs myself, instead I got my local bike dealer to collect the bike and repair it to make it rideable and safe. The swing arm was fixed and the forks renovated. It now felt solid, handled well and was safe. The engine was basically sound, but needed some work doing. I found a motorbike engineer who renovated old bikes and entrusted him to sort out the engine, do, the the tappets, fix an oil leak, replace chain and sprockets. So what is the bike like now, well it's not showroom condition, but it's a bike that can be used, the engine is sweet as a nut and it handles really well inspite of its skinny tyres. It's a heavy bike and it's pure nostagia all the way for me. Over here in Holland we don't have MOT's for bikes so with classic bike insurance it's cheap to own. Back in the day when I had my 550 I loved how good the disk brakes were but in comparison to modern bikes the brakes are just down right scary. The bike is now 34 years old but everything works as it did when new including the gear position indicator. I'll post up some pictures shortly so you can see what she looks like now.

My Beemer has a center stand and thats a new bike. But anyway how do you manage on a very long trip, away from home without a paddock stand. I am just curious. As i said these are minor moans,and don't detract from what is one of the best bikes out there I see you're from Leeds That's where I'm from originally

https://picasaweb.google.com/107012572732572482506/Trumpet?authkey=Gv1sRgCKyHzMrm1L38vwE I took mine on a holiday to Germany with my Suzuki owners club friends and they loved the sound of the engine. I forgot to mention in my review that I hate the fact there's no centre stand. I had to buy a paddock stand just to adjust the chain. This is ok providing you only go on shortish trips. How can you adjust the chain or clean the back wheel without the stand??? Also a minor moan, there's no fuel gauge, just a light. But these are just minor things and I still love my bike. Hopefully you can see the trumpet, thats her above taken just now.

Well what can I say that hasn't already been said about this bike. It just is the most fun on you can have on 2 wheels. I bought my bike new a year or so before the new style squarish headlights came out so mine has the round lights which I actually prefer. It has Arrow cans the bikini screen, belly pan and some carbon bits I bought to improve its good looks. Mine is black and is the basic (none R) model. What I love about the bike is the sound of the engine as you wind it on, the acceleration and the fact it's very torquey. It handles superbly too and stops on a sixpence. A couple of months ago, I had the voltage regulator replaced which was as a result of a recall from Triumph. My old one never actually caused a problem, but I did read about several people where this item had failed so was glad to have it replaced. All my bikes are garaged and never used in the winter so it still looks like new. It's going to need a new back tyre soon as the existing one is starting to be a problem. If you have spare cash, space in your garage and are a fun lover then I recommend this bike. As journalists have said over and over, this bike is light years ahead of its competition and I absolutely agree with them

I bought this bike after trading in a trusty Diversion 900. The old Divvy which I'd owned since new needed some work on the brakes or steering bearing as it was very scary in wet weather. I thought the Beemer would be a good substitute. After having a test ride on an RT1200, just to see what the engine felt like, I was impressed enough to sign on the dotted line. I was very excited to get the bike and I ordered most of the extras BMW panniers and top box Heated hand grips Alarm small screen Electronic suspension adjustment Low seat The ride is wonderful, it just wafts along because of the telelever front suspension and there is no fork dipping like on a regular bike. I like the fact that the suspension can be adjusted from a switch on the bars, this is so convenient compared to my old Divvy, where a C spanner had to be used. It handles extremely well for such a big bike. The motor is very flexible and torquey and pulls well, however it's not the fastest bike out there and not as fast as my Divvy which ate the miles in a smooth and carefree way. But I didn't buy it to ride it like a sports bike, as I have a Street Triple if I want to go out and be silly. The Beemer is happiest cruising at 80-90 miles an hour. It tours well 2 up and fully loaded and feels like it will run forever. The indicator switches take some getting used to. It has one on both sides of the bars then another switch to turn them off. I much prefer one switch like all other bikes. It hasn't been all good however. Two issues have slightly marred ownership. The first was that it had a misfire right from new but this was down to an electrical problem and was fixed at the first 1000kms service. The second issue, which is well known amongst Beemer owners is the famous fuel strip sensor failure. This item causes the fuel gauge to show empty and the fuel low light to remain on. This was fixed under warranty and the replacement has been OK. The other complaint is that the passenger portion of the low seat is extremely uncomfortable, so bad in fact that I had to order the extra comfy seat to replace it (another 500 Euros). The padding and shape of the low seat is bad, but with the other seat its now OK. The comfy seat is higher and I'm on tip toes to reach the floor, whereas the low seat was the perfect height for me. Oh well its all compromises. I like the bike and I do intend to keep it for a while, especially now everything is sorted on it. Hope this review was a bit useful for potential owners of this bike