I bought the magazine last month to find that the video article had made it into print. So, as I'm long overdue a change of bike, I visited a local dealer with a R1200GS in the showroom. Ever helpful the salesman pulled it out and I attempted to get on it. Hmmm.... Well I eventually managed to climb onboard but it is not an exercise I'd like to repeat on a daily basis. The riders seat was in the lowest position and once on the thing I could just get both feet down, allbeit on tippy toes. But getting on in my normal manner was out of the question. No way could I throw my leg over the pillion seat to mount the thing, the pillion seat is a good 4 inches (old money) higher that the rider seat and I'm just a 29" leg. What a shocker? At last year's NEC Motorbike show I got on and off a "low seat model" with no trouble at all.
So I think I'll try a Yamaha 1200 Super Tenere sometime, see if that's any better fit and easier to mount. If it's good enough for Nick Sanders to ride 35,000 miles in a single trip it will easily cope with my more moderate demands. That'll be sometime over the winter (maybe) as I intend to sell the Passat and get a smaller, cheaper car releasing some cash to spend on a replacement for the Deauville.
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