Taming The Elephant

[owen426]

With my first kid on its way I reckon I'm gonna be spending a lot more time at home, so having recently taken possession of a GSX I figured I'd keep a diary of sorts of my time with the bike. So as much for myself as everyone else, the story of my GSX1400 experience.

TLDR - 》I have a pretty bike that goes vroom vroom!

"The Elephant" – All of my motorbikes have some how received animal nick names, so when I  brought home 1402cc of bike (easily the dwarfing my other bikes) my wife declared it was like an elephant in comparison. The name stuck.

So why a GSX1400? After completing a 2000+km two up journey on a DR650, I decided I'd like a few more ponies to get out of the road trains way. The wife decided she'd like to stop falling off in the middle of the outback. With this in mind a checklist started forming and the search began for a new ride.

I came into the search open minded. I don't have any brand loyalty, I'm not part of any motorcycling sub culture and coming from very off road centred riding I didn't really know what was out there in road bike world. As I researched bikes what I found wasn't meeting my needs.
- Adventure Bikes – too electronic, don't need the suspension travel,
- Litre bikes - 13000rpm? Really?
- Cruisers – Wife hates them. Can't blame her with the experiences she has had. Also too heavy.
- Etc. Etc. Etc...

For a while I wasn't sure I would find something suitable. Surely there were a breed of bikes that suited me? Enter the Muscle Bikes! After stumbling across these I found they had a loyal following, and for good reason. Simple, reliable, comfortable but able to get up go with a twist of the throttle. Just as happy cruising down the highway as they are taking the backroads. After looking at each brands offering I settled on the GSX as it met both our criteria. I especially liked the under seat storage, air cooled engine and huge torque figures. The wife liked the seat and thought it was the prettiest. Win-win.

Without a motorcycle trip planned I was in no rush to get one. I checked the usual selling places every now and then, was mildly tempted by a few but nothing really tugged at the heart strings. I'm normally very picky with my purchases and really wanted a top quality bike so I was prepared to wait for it. Besides, with Christmas coming up and other commitments I was happy enough to let the bike slip down the priority list.

BOOM. THERE IT WAS.

An immaculate 2008 Limited Edition with just 10318km, full service history, complete with panniers and top box. Check, check and bonus check! A quick phone call (to the finance minister) then a quick phone call (to the seller) then a quick phone call (to my dad) and a meeting was arranged for the weekend. Upon arrival everything turned out to be as described, knowledgeable seller and paperwork correct. Test ride time!

It's now at this point I must admit to never having ridden a bike anywhere near as powerful as this. An XR650 side ways on West Australian pea gravel? Sure, no problem. But 1402cc seemed like a whole different proposition. I was, as I informed Dad, "****ing terrified".

Out of the driveway, down the road, round the corner, blah blah blah, back in the driveway, then straight on to the trailer. What a brilliant machine. It was beautiful to ride and I almost felt a bit silly for worrying so much just minutes ago. It does everything when it is told as it is told. No surprises, no delays, no arguments. It turns out there is good reason why everybody who owns one has great things to say about them .

This motorbike is really good at being a motorbike.

[Notty]

Excellent reasoning !! I get a grin very time I ride and have always regretted selling my K2 and like you I was patient until a K5 with 2300 miles and a full 11 stamps in the service book came up last March- the amazing support of everyone on this site has helped me learn so many things about the 14 

[Blubber]

Now that's a introduction 

Welcome and enjoy the ride 

[Globalrider]

 

Stan

[Kiwifruit]

I hear you Owen. The bride said yes to a bike update....... but with some conditions.
Not covered in plastic and it has to look like a motorbike.
GSX1400.......,perfect !!
Enjoy yours 

[KiwiCol]

Cracking intro Owen, welcome to the club!

[grog]

Excellent little story mate. Your quote about 14 the best ive ever seen, totally my thoughts. ( this motorbike is very good at being a motorbike)

[ezza]

gday great looking 14 you have their and really good intro , haven't seen an ugly 14 yet

[owen426]

I recently went for my first long ride and it was a good one.

I had planned a solo blast after work, so I raced home and promptly got distracted with meeting the wife for coffee. I left later than planned but a combination of caffeine and an excellent route had me excited. The loop I had planned contained a bit of everything. Fast and slow, hilly and flat, straight and twisty but with a definite lean towards twisty. The highlight was to be a section of road which I noticed had been newly bitumised on a recent excursion in the car. Turns out I was wrong. At the top of the first hill the black top stopped. Still gravel. Darkness not far away, no phone signal if help needed, absolutely no idea how the bike would handle it. With the only other option going a long way back, I decided there's no time like the present and went for it.

 

The main difference between my XR650 and a GSX1400 on gravel is that the throttle is your friend on one but not the other. There's no powering out of trouble on a '14. Having said that it was surprisingly easy to ride. Certainly no Dakar racer but as long as you respected the fact you had big slick tyres and an extra 100kg pushing it into the corners, it was certainly manageable. I was even cheeky enough by the end of it to deliberately break traction and catch it in a few spots. The confidence this stretch of gravel road gave me was enormous and the bike showed me it was far more capable than I thought.
 

Properly dark by the time I re-joined the bitumen I headed towards home. The lights were good comparative to my dirt bike and the engine was loving the the cool air. Apart from a avoiding a few kangaroos it was an easy cruise home. So far so good.

[Kiwifruit]

Caught out when i got us losť.....20kms of gravel road two up. Management was not happy !!
There are better bikes for gravel.
Pleased you didnt bump into Skippy. 

[owen426]

I don't think i would lf been brave enough to do it if I was with "management"

[grog]

avoid gravel roads, i hate them. thats how we came guts up on aussie day, will never forget and would turn back forever next time. you did well. we always had before also. never again if it can be helped.

[owen426]

Grog, always sorry to hear when riders go down. I certainly don't plan on making a habit out of it, however it is nice to know that if I need to I can.

[VladTepes]

avoid gravel roads, i hate them. thats how we came guts up on aussie day, will never forget and would turn back forever next time. you did well. we always had before also. never again if it can be helped.

Yeah early on in my GSX1400 ownership I went on a  group ride and the trip-leader took us down a gravel road hill on the sunshine coast.   Of course I didn't know it was gravel until it was too late, and the steep-ish downhill grade made it even more "exciting". As did the cars trying to pass / overtake downhill.  I nearly dropped it several times, and was vey lucky to get to the bottom intact albeit puckered....
Luckily the only person to actually drop their bike was the trip-leader - did some damage to the 'blade.

[ARH]

I recall some very provocative discussions on the old org about not being a 'proper' rider if you were not comfortable riding in all conditions including gravel tracks etc.  Can't recall who it was tho.... but I do recall a might falling out of egos.
Me?  I say ride within your limits and if you are caught out by conditions take it slow and easy.... feck everyone else!