[adrianw]

Hello,

My self and her-in-doors (who is a very experienced pillion as well as having her own ZX636r) headed off on a little 700 mile trip on the R12 due to some little last minute changes of plan.

So with her-in-doors on the back and the panniers packed with 10 kilos each, we headed off, after me stripping all the teeth off the adjuster ring on the Ohlins suspension in an attempt to up the preload.

Firstly, to get on the bike, seems much harder for a pillion, as it’s much higher up. The best technique could only be compared with mounting a horse, with particular difficulty in finding the second foot rest with out tugging on me or kicking the rear section of the bike.

On the move, I noticed that she was shifting her weight around in order to get comfortable, that coupled with the fact I nearly lost her off the back during one steep descent followed by a steep ascent had me thinking, I’m going to have to be more careful than normal.

The first leg was OK at about 100 miles of ‘B’ roads, so no real high speed bits, but a definite feeling that I could control her ‘pitch’ through the throttle.

Most of the rest of the trip was through Irish roads, which if you’re not familiar with, then think GS country, despite copious amounts of EC funding. Pitch control essential.

The real rough part was the trip back through Wales (when you look at England, it’s the beer belly of England above the leg of Cornwall). So lots of mountains and stunning scenery. Trouble was the ferry back from Dublin left us in the far north west of Wales at 16:30, with sunset at about 19:00 and a distance of 260 miles SE to go.

So after it got dark, I was thinking, this is rough, Tractors on the road in the dark are quire a scary thing to approach with any speed on an ‘A’ road, never mind a ‘B’ road, what with one to two feet of agricultural tyre on your side of the road, but with a head light footprint of a tall motorcycle.

So, off to the motorway after three hours of hard concentration.

Now, speed on the R12S, with a pillion and a conscience can only be achieved with an upright stance and a hard grip on the thankfully heated grips. This takes it toll.

So after 4 hours and 30 minutes we arrived back home with sore arses, achy knees for the pillion, tinnitus and a thirst and concluded that the R12S is only for two up touring on timescales not exceeding two hours.

Still, works OK for one though, as this is a route I've done at least four times this year, while having more fun than the local constabulary needs to be aware of.

Regards,


Adrian
PS from the pillion’s point of view it resembles sitting on a bouncy wooden stool with your knees strapped up for 4 hours!
PPS The bike managed to get into the 140's before going to reserve with about 40 miles to go, better than the R11S at about 125.