I have had the XR for 9 months but for some reason I have never got on with the handling
. The thing is bloody fast, but whether it was me, the tyres or whatever, I could never get it around corners like I thought I would. The number of times I have run wide on a corner going down country roads is embarrassing. For someone who rides his K16GT like an R6 I thought the XR would be fun, but it just doesn’t suit me.
I toyed with a Multistrada or KTM SDGT, but test rode a 1250GSA and was really surprised. I said on a different post how nice the TFT screen is but the engine now feels just like, well, an engine. Not particularly sporty, but 135hp is getting there and more than my old GSXRs used to have, and it is dead smooth. That coupled with going back to my favourite Telelever/Paralever combination that K bikes have and I felt immediately at home.
I was offered a pretty good deal for a GSA in HP colours (a bit loud for some), but opted for Vario panniers instead of the big metal things, and a standard GS rack rather that the GSA one. Quite looking forward to getting it now: