My K1300S is in for its 36k service, so here's the Bike Du Jour:

Pros:
- excellent electric screen. Does the job far better than you might expect considering its diminutive size
- good usable power in 3rd and 4th. 4th is about equivalent beans to 6th on the K, and a nice gear for flowing A/B roads.
- good suspension, better than a K
- looks much neater than the 1250 models
Cons:
- no noticable vibes whilst riding (too busy concentrating?) but I had numb fingers on stopping (45 min ride), and now they're tingling. Hmm.
- quickshifter can be violent in lower gears
- menus, not buttons. It's another one you would get used to as an owner, but trying to find Dynamic suspension mode - who knows - even the service guy struggled. We came to the conclusion it probably doesn't have it, but who knows. And heated grips? You'll spend more time looking at the screen than the road.
- I kicked the engine bars several times when taking my feet off the pegs. It's not too bad - just something you'll remember not to do if you owned it long term.
- I can't put the balls of my feet on the pegs without the back of my boots touching the rear pegs. There's no way round that. Annoying.
- mud was starting to creep up the pillion seat even after a short ride, so a bit rubbish on gunge protection
Overall it doesn't feel like 15 years of engineering advances over a K.
It's defo more modern (clocks, suspension, ride by wire, and so on) but not enough aspects have improved.
I wanted to like it. I didn't.
Ms Cashmere was very pleased to hear that.

