One of the wonderful joys of owning a GSA is that is can be customised to death and mine certainly has! Companies such as Wunderlich, Touratech, Givi and retailers such as Nippy Normans make the whole thing so terribly easy!

So where to start? Well how about at the top? I bought the bike new from Vines of Guildford and it was not long before I felt the factory fitted windscreen was not providing me with sufficient protection, so I bought the Wunderlich High Wide Marathon screen. For me this was a good step forward taking more air over my helmet and making the ride at speed more agreeable and quieter. Having had an R1200 RT before, I was used to sitting behind that big screen. From a weather protection and warmth point of view the RT is a much better winter bike than the GSA but during the heat of May it was lovely to be on the GSA which flows more air over the arms and sides of the torso, keeping one cooler. One can of course lower the windscreen on the RT but even so in very hot weather in my opinion the GSA trumps the RT.

Just beneath the windscreen I fitted a dual USB socket to allow me to charge my iPhone and a back up battery pack.

Being a tall fellow, I decided to fit the Wunderlich Ergo handlebar risers, which have improved my posture and riding position allowing me to move very slightly further back. On the handlebars I added a pair of Givi hand guard extenders and also a RAM mount to accommodate the Quadlock mount for my iPhone.

On the petrol tank I fitted an SW-Motech Evo tank ring for a neat little SW-Motech Daypack tank bag. It holds between five to eight litres which is plenty for a wallet, phone, passport and other bits and pieces. It has a convenient handle and is a very good man handbag, for taking it around town!

Moving to the front of the bike I added a Wunderlich Clear Foldable headlight protector. Behind this, between the front forks, I installed a Hornig Twin Tone Wolo Bad Boy air horn that puts the factory fitted rubbish to shame and errant motorists do take notice of it.

In the middle of the bike there are several changes. I bought a Sargent seat and covered it with a Cool Cover, making longer journeys much more agreeable in the area of the underpants.

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Just beneath the seat on either side of the bike are two Wunderlich Frame bags (see above right) that hold things like bungee straps or a small camera or other things that one needs to get at quickly rather than having to get off and look in the panniers. In my view they enhance the look of the bike too. Just under the bag on the left hand side I fitted the Wunderlich Foldaway Lifting Handle (which can just be seen under the bag), an essential accessory for helping to get the bike on the centre stand. This is one other downside of the GSA I have found compared with the RT. For me at least, an RT is easier to get on the centre stand.

Moving to the rear, I could not resist spending a fortune on an Akrapovich silencer. It looks gorgeous and puts the standard silencer to shame. It is slightly noisier, which makes me feel rather uncomfortable regarding motorbikes, noise and nuisance.

On the opposite side to the Akrapovich I installed the British built Cymarc Pannier Frame Tool Box. A bit of pig to fit and not entirely waterproof. To go into the tool box I bought the very expensive and beautifully manufactured American CyclePump. Having read various reviews, I decided to buy the best once and not regret later something not as robustly made.

Also at the back but a bit higher up I went for the wonderful Givi Trekker Outback top box. It is cavernous and holds loads of stuff in addition to my BMW System 7 helmet.

Being of an age where parts of the body are complaining due to more than their fare share of wear and tare, my knees are knackered and to allow the angle between femur and shin to be as close as possible to 90 degrees, I lowered the foot pegs with a pair of the Wunderlich Vario rider footpeg system. Of course this meant I had to change the gear and brake levers too!

And then there is the Cymarc Footplate Extension plate, that looks very smart.

I almost forgot to mention the MachineArt Mudsling (far right in picture gallery above) for the front wheel mudguard and the Avant Fender Extender over the back wheel. One would think these are the sort of things that could be fitted as standard from the factory!

When I started on this customisation project, I decided not to keep a running total of the cost for it was going to run into thousands and with a gallic shrug, I thought in for a penny in for a pound!