New green XSR700 owner! Hampshire, England

Hi all, I’ve only recently passed my test having gone through the BMW Rider Training scheme back in December. I managed to pass Mod 1 and 2 first time. The next step was to buy a bike so I test rode a 2013 Yamaha FZ8 first of all. Being 6 foot 2 it became apparent in about 20 yards that I was way too big for the bike. So that was off the list! Having learned and passed on a BMW GS700 (torquey twin) it also felt like the 800cc four’ wanted to kill me at every opportunity. Testing the (green) XSR700 was a breath of fresh air. The bike fits me well and the torque and relaxed manners of the twin were very similar to the GS I learned on. So far I’ve literally only test ridden the XSR and then ridden it the 4 miles back home. The weather’s awful at the moment; freezing cold and roads caked in salt so the bike’s locked up in the garage for now. I can’t wait to get some miles under my belt when the weather turns better. So far I’m satisfying my addiction with buying more stuff for it, crash bungs were the first purchase and I’ll probably get a black rad guard as well at some point.