!! Holy Cow £1.05 a litre !!

I had the Himalayan for two years previously but decided during "lockdown" there was not enough to polish so got the GT .

I've always liked the look , to me along with the SD of course, it looks how a m/c should look , minimal plastics , a/c etc so thought I'd give one a try . So bought from Hargate m/c in Mitcham - sure they were a Honda dealer back in the day and they kindly delivered it for me FOC so a hassle free purchase - always my favourite .

It is the Euro 3 bike which is the spec I wanted , no ABS , MPH main figures on speedo etc , with a stainless Motad exhaust and 7,343 miles under its wheels .  Easy bike to ride , I usually start it on the kicker , takes 2 or 3 kicks from cold and keep the throttle openings small while I leave the village as the Motad is a bit "distinctive" .

I was pleasantly surprised how well it trundles along , I've had the 350 and 500 pre unit bikes and ridden a 500 unit bike that the GTs engine is based on but pleased to say my GT seems to have a good motor . Probably no faster ultimately than a well set up silver 250 SD really but a very different torque curve and with the gearing giving 18 mph/1000rpm it is actually quite restful and I'm comfy enough with the clip ons atm . When I rode my friends 500 I felt it was a bit small for me , the GT gives me a lot more room to stretch out , I also have the dual seat for it should Mrs B deign to come along .

Running around the torquey long stroke motor pays off giving 80+ mpg which is impressive , it would seem that these motors vary a fair amount in not only their BHP but in the amount of vibes they produce too . There are various theories as to why this is , running in technique and crankshaft build tolerances being a couple of them . Luckily mine appears to be a good one , the vibes are out of the way by 2500 and it seems to rev out happily .

Having bought the bike basically unseen I've been pleased not to have found anything that I would have been unhappy to have found looking at it , rear tyre replaced for the MOT , I've put a new matching front on and done a full service . It had been serviced only 1100 miles ago but that was over a year ago . Simple bike to work on ( excepting the EFI) with plenty of parts both standard and " Hop up" being available .

It's one of those bikes that you need to allow an extra 10 minutes on any journey as it attracts the "average passer by" , didn't know they still made them , did you restore it yourself , I had one of them in my youth, is it a Norton etc .

It does the little I require of a bike nowadays for not much commitment , it gets up to 80 ish quite happily but then loses interest but then so do I by then , not a Motorway cruiser type of bike but one I would happily take down to Spain again should I get the urge and the relevant clearances . A difficult one to suggest to anyone not already attracted by the idea , a bit like an Ancient Brit but with 5 l/h gears , e/s , EFI etc but still with essentially the same type of engine characteristic which makes it pleasant compared to a lot of big singles that won't pull from 2,000 rpm without a lot of chain snatch and general unhappiness .

Well you did ask FB , in summary am pleased with it and intend to keep it .