I'm riding familar roads I used to commute 300 miles a week on and give it some. The tyres feel great (standard Pirellia Diablo somethings) and kick out a surprising amount of heat when I stop. I have a crack at some faster corners and take advantage of the stability. I've yet to work out how to ride it, so stop hanging off and get onto it. Arse stays where it is, I drop my shoulder and lean in to some 90mph sweepers, bars shimmy-ing over the bigger bumps. I'm laughing the entire time. Full throttle is reached quickly, gears snicked in, exhaust is roaring. It bangs and spits as I change down, seeing if I can feel the slipper clutch working, but I can't. It feels like the reciprocating parts of the engine are tiny, and making a disproportionate amount of power. What an engine. What a noise. What a bike. I want it.
I stop in a village I've photographed many bikes in, but I don't want to hang around. I don't care about taking loads of shots, I want to jump on a ride the thing. Never had that on a test ride before...
I'm frustratedly flicking through menus on the dash, trying to find the TC settings and such, but can't work it out. Seems there are four modes, but I can't cycle through them. I'm hoping one of them is a 'makes you ride like Stoner' mode.
I get back, and start talking. I don't ask for discount, he doesn't mention it. He has no prices for parts I'm interested in (the downloadable data USB thing, tail-tidy etc), which is annoying. £200 a month he comes up with. Hmmm...very, very interesting. But he doesn't seem interested. Unlike the fat prick who turned up in some off-road Audi who he couldn't be more helpful too. Git.
I want it. Time to start cleaning up the GS...