New Member

Good evening everyone,

After a break of 30 years to deal with a mortgage and costs associated with raising two daughters, I recently bit the bullet and purchased another bike. (My previous roadbikes were a F1 CB750 Honda and an XS1100 Yamaha). After a good deal of searching and deliberating, I found and purchased an immaculate 2008 model GSF 1250 SA.

I have always liked the look of the big Bandits and this one has made me very happy. The previous owner was 72 years old and claimed that riding kept him young. Judging from his "youthful"appearance, he was absolutely right! I would like to think I will be still riding at the age of 72.

Astonishingly, I have found that I am not as fit as I was 30 years ago! Riding my bike takes it out of me physically at the moment. I am looking forward to the time when I am more used to it. It seems to have so much more poke compared to my previous bikes.

The bike came with a relatively small Givi topbox and I am currently investigating the purchase of some Givi V35 (?) panniers and associated frames. I will probably have to sell a kidney to pay for these panniers but a perusal of these pages makes me believe that they will be a stylish addition to the bike which will make longer distance touring more feasible.

Importantly, my wife loves the bike as well and has been on several rides with me.

I am looking forward to learning a great deal from this forum.

Regards,
 
Graham

Welcome along Graham.
Congratulations on your new bike.
They are a very good bike for the money. I imagine that yours will have been set up by the previous owner with a radiator guard and various bits and bobs.
Do tell us where you ride and reside and a bit more about your bike.

Welcome aboard GSFBlue.  I had a similar riding break for reasons similar to yours, and also found the Bandit had plenty of poke (25 years prior to that I'd had an XS750).  I am also hoping that riding abates the ageing process - time will tell! Cheers and have fun.   

Bosco15, you are correct about the set up of the bike. It came complete with owners manual, service records all complete, and even the second key!

It has a polished radiator guard and a K/N air filter. The Michelin tyres are in good condition with plenty of tread left. It is registered until December. The bike had just 25,000 kays on the odometer when I bought it. I have a service record of the 24,000 km service having been done. The previous owner told me that that particular service is a "biggy" and is priced accordingly. The bike came from Moorland, which is about 20 minutes north of Taree. I am the third owner of the bike which was originally sold to a fellow from Sydney after it was purchased new from Western Motorcycles in Penrith.

I live in the general vicinity of Lake Macquarie in NSW.

I have a couple of questions already so I might head over to another section of the Forum.

Cheers,

Graham

Welcome to the forum Graham  

Welcome GSFBlue, if it's luggage you want you cant go past the Givi (some on here hate it, and all hard luggage with a passion  ) I've got E41 panniers and a E370 top box, love them, if you're going to do 2 up touring think about the bigger panniers

GSFBlue wrote:Bosco15, you are correct about the set up of the bike. It came complete with owners manual, service records all complete, and even the second key!

It has a polished radiator guard and a K/N air filter. The Michelin tyres are in good condition with plenty of tread left. It is registered until December. The bike had just 25,000 kays on the odometer when I bought it. I have a service record of the 24,000 km service having been done. The previous owner told me that that particular service is a "biggy" and is priced accordingly. The bike came from Moorland, which is about 20 minutes north of Taree. I am the third owner of the bike which was originally sold to a fellow from Sydney after it was purchased new from Western Motorcycles in Penrith.

I live in the general vicinity of Lake Macquarie in NSW.

I have a couple of questions already so I might head over to another section of the Forum.

Cheers,

Graham

Nice.  Another Novocastrian.
There are a few of us on here. I live in town. Recycled lives in Charlie.
We should catch up and say hi at some point.
March 2015. Put it in your diary. National Bandit meet at Parkes.   

Hi Graham and welcome aboard.  Enjoy.

Hi Graham, welcome to the forum

Welcome aboard mate.
I hope to be able to hold a bandit upright when stopped at 72.

You'll both enjoy and be frustrated by the bike like we all are from time to time. Full points if the boss approves though

G'day Graham, welcome along

Welcome from the west coast

Welcome Graham, you will get loads of enjoyment out of your new toy