..... Hello Super Tenere :-)

After 4 years and having taken me to Morocco, Orkney and the Shetlands, and countless other trips, I finally decided to upgrade.

I guess I will miss the 660, but so far I am blown away by the comfort, the power and the smooth engine of the 1200.

No more adjusting and oiling the chain. No more replacing cush drive rubbers.

Looks great as is, it will never be this clean again :-)

Let the tweaking and accessory shopping begin .....

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Nice one Nick. I take it the GS has gone now, how do the two compare?

The 1200 GS and 660 Tenere have both gone.

The GS suffered catastrophic oil pump failure a few months back. It would have required an engine rebuild (or a second-hand engine). Either way it was probably not economical to repair.

The design of the GS means any major work means serious labour costs as the bike does not have a conventional frame/engine setup. Replacing a shaft drive oli seal and swapping the clutch 2 years ago cost an arm and a leg. I didn't want to go through this again.

The 660 Tenere was great, but to be honest it always felt like hard work on the motorway. I was always glad to reach the slip-road or services. The seat isn't the comfiest around, gets rather hot in traffic, is hard to move around on and feels like you are sitting in an ice cream scoop!

It is hard to compare the GS and Super Tenere as I have not been able to ride them back to back, but the the Super Tenere definitely feels faster and handles great on the road. From what everyone else says it isn't going to be so good off-road, but to be honest I am not too worried about that.

First impressions of the Super Tenere ...

Very comfortable seat and riding position. The seat height is slightly lower than the 660, but the footpegs are lower and the bars further away. So a lot more room.

It pulls from just above tick-over in any gear. No snatching like the 660 at low revs. It feels well balanced and easy to ride slowly in traffic, then takes off like a bullet when you want to :-)

Doing just over 50 mpg commuting to work. Better than my 1200 GS, not as good as the 660.

The 660 top box fits, I want to try and either adapt my 660 pannier rails or have some made so I can use my old panniers. Yes I know they are symmetric and the right hand side will sit away from the bike, but from initial inspection it looks like it should work. Anyone know a good "fabricator"?

Do you, Woodsie et al still meet up at the Plough in Eynsford?

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Sounds ideal. You've not had much luck with bmw have you. I haven't been to the plough much since it moved to the fourth Wednesday, I always seem to other things to do, but Kev and a few others do including Pete occasionally but nowhere near as many as the good ol' days......