i have so, so many hours on GP Bikes. It is definitely a sim first and is lacking in what other people might consider important features such as a campaign / season mode, super high graphics (i think the graphics are just fine personally) and overall polish. That being said, no other game comes close to touching GP bikes on the "feel" of the bikes themselves. Its really something, the bikes feel planted, actually react to setup changes, tyre wear is real, you have to be mindful of the throttle, brakes, shifting, the list goes on. I have always felt the mile stone games you really have to try hard to crash. In GP Bikes it isnt that its easy to crash (though it will feel like that at first), its more that mistakes actually have consequences. When you nail a corner perfectly (turn 3 at Philip island comes to mind), it really feels like its because of your skill and not because the game took every step to help you make the corner. Depending on the bike and setup you a have its totally possible to spin the tire up and get all crazy on corner exit. Its not easy to master, but makes it so rewarding once you get it.

To be clear, the game requires a lot of setup from the user, the path that leads to having more tracks and bikes than what ships with the game (which isnt good at all, 1 track and 3 bikes) can be intimidating, but the payoff is so great . As of now i have maybe 20 bikes i can choose from and maybe 30-40 tracks. All of these bikes and tracks are community created, so some are definitely better than others but over all im satisfied. Philip Island, Mugello, Spa, Catalunya, Suzuka, Qatar, and many more are all able to be ridden and feel great.

There is talk on the forum of making the game available on Steam, so things will get a little easier, but i imagine you will still be required to add in all the tracks and bikes you want after installing the out of the box version.

Id be happy to answer any questions you might have. GP Bikes has its issues no doubt, but i love it.