Phoenix area-- wanna ride my Goldwing?

[Flibmeister]

I'm presently riding a '03 Goldwing, thinking about trading for a new FJR-- but I'd really like to put a few miles on an FJR before committing.

Dealer test rides, even when offered, are too short. There are rental FJR's available in Scottsdale, but before I go that route I thought I'd see if there might be somebody here who'd be interested in just trading bikes for a morning run to Globe. I live four miles from Florence Junction, so the run up to Globe is a favorite, since it avoids all city traffic and gets to cooler climes fairly rapidly. If I get a taker, breakfast will be on me!

I'm 63-years-old, a conservative rider, take the curves at reasonable rates of speed, don't ride side-by-side, just enjoy a leisurely stress-free ride. I'd prefer to make the ride early one weekday morning, to lessen the effects of heat and traffic, but can do a Saturday or Sunday if it works best for you.

I just checked the Progressive policy on my Goldwing, and it covers other riders, as long as they're riding with my permission; hopefully, your coverage will have a similar feature.

If interested, drop me a PM and we'll work out the details.

Thanks,

Denny

 

[SkooterG]

Yikes. This is like me asking if anybody will take my 40 year old fat single sister on a date.........

I would do it, but I am not in town very much these days. Will be home for a week the first week in August and then gone for 8 after that. Not sure I'll have time during that week, but I may.

It's all a foregone conclusion. One ride on an FJR and you will be assimilated.

 

[HelzBelz]

I would not recommend the rental route. Case in point:

a few years back I was on a trip with a couple of BMW guys, one of them needed a tire so we stopped in Salt Lake City at the BMW dealer. While we waited we test rode EVERYTHING. and I mean EVERYTHING.

I really loved the the F800ST, so I rented one in Long Beach California while visiting friends. The rental was so far from the test ride I took, it was like they were different bikes. the Rental had 28k miles, so that was probably the biggest problem. The suspension was MUSH, and not fixable no matter what I tried.

I agree with skooter though, most riders will be assimilated in less than 20 minutes. But a few things to think about:

1. The riding position from peg to seat is a bit compressed. which is hard on the knees. If you are going to do Iron Butt style stuff, the knee pain for me can get intense. But a 5-10 minute break every couple of hours should take care of that.

2. I get throttle hand pain often. I have risers and I still have throttle hand pain. I read up on Carpal Tunnel, learned about the anatomy of my hand, and I can manage the pain. If it is the first two fingers and thumb that cause pain, I found that squeezing the throttle with those 3 fingers for 20 seconds fixes the problem for me.

3. You need a full face helmet, especially for the first 2-3 hours on the bike. If you don't wear full face you will catch a LOT of bugs in your teeth from the combination of ShitEating Grin, and constant throttle twisting. (just saying...)

 

[RadioHowie]

Yikes. This is like me asking if anybody will take my 40 year old fat, YOUNGER single sister on a date.........
I would do it, but I am not in town very much these days. Will be home for a week the first week in August and then gone for 8 after that. Not sure I'll have time during that week, but I may.

It's all a foregone conclusion. One ride on an FJR and you will be assimilated.

:finger:

 

[beemerdons]

Yikes. This is like me asking if anybody will take my 40 year old fat, YOUNGER single sister on a date.........
I would do it, but I am not in town very much these days. Will be home for a week the first week in August and then gone for 8 after that. Not sure I'll have time during that week, but I may.

It's all a foregone conclusion. One ride on an FJR and you will be assimilated.

Flibmeister: I would rather have a Brother in the Navy, a Sister in a Whorehouse and a Cousin in the Radio Broadcasting Industry than ride a fecking Hondoo Lead Wing!

However, my AZ Beemers MOA Club #89 is having a breakfast ride on Saturday, 7/26. I'll post up the details as soon as they are available, you can ride my 2013 FJR!

https://www.azbeemers.org/forum/index.php?topic=4816.msg38695;topicseen#msg38695

 

[Flibmeister]

Sheesh, you guys obviously haven't spent much time riding a fat girl-- they may not be as sexy as some of the leaner ladies, but they try so darn hard to make up for it in other ways!

With the Goldwing, while there's no getting around the fact she's a cow, the main draw was the passenger accommodations-- which I still think are at the top of the motorcycle heap. Unfortunately, those accommodations are going to waste on my bike, since my wife has medical problems that keep her from riding with me. Prospects of her ever doing so are slim, so I'm thinking I might like to shed a couple of hundred pounds of motorcycle weight to make my solo riding more enjoyable. I won't miss the intercom, radio, or other fancy amenities, but I've gotten used to the turbine-like smoothness of the Goldwing engine, so I'd like to ride an FJR to see how they compare. Plus, I'm on the short side (5'8", 29" inseam) so I want to see how I fit on an FJR and get an idea of whether I'd need to install handlebar risers, etc.

Anyway, thanks for all the input, and beemerdons, if nobody comes forward to make the Globe run, I may see you in Payson on the 26th!

Denny

 

[beemerdons]

Sheesh, you guys obviously haven't spent much time riding a fat girl-- they may not be as sexy as some of the leaner ladies, but they try so darn hard to make up for it in other ways!

Anyway, thanks for all the input, and beemerdons, if nobody comes forward to make the Globe run, I may see you in Payson on the 26th!

Denny

Denny, I'm an Irishman and have ridden plenty of fat girls - some so damn fat I've had to powder them with flour to find the wet spot aye!

Let's shoot for a Globe ride this Tuesday morn 7/22, but also join us on the 26th for the Payson run. [email protected] 480-440-4666.

 

[bgross]

Denny -

You WILL be assimilated.

I bought my '02 Hondapotamus in 2002 and enjoyed every mile that I've put on her.

Then, 18 months ago, I bought Don's '03 FJR. I flew to PHX and rode her home - and didn't want to get off!

Since then, the Wingabago has spent most of its time on the Battery Tender.

On those rare occasions when my bride wants to ride, we take the Wing. It's comfortable for her.

Enjoy!

 

[Flibmeister]

Let's shoot for a Globe ride this Tuesday morn 7/22, but also join us on the 26th for the Payson run. [email protected] 480-440-4666.

Thanks, Don, Tuesday morning would be great-- I'll give you a call over the weekend!

 

[Flibmeister]

You WILL be assimilated.
I bought my '02 Hondapotamus in 2002 and enjoyed every mile that I've put on her.

Then, 18 months ago, I bought Don's '03 FJR. I flew to PHX and rode her home - and didn't want to get off!

I went the other way when I bought my '03 'Wing. Flew into Burbank, took a shuttle to the seller's home in Thousand Oaks, then rode her home.

The difference is, I couldn't wait to get off of it-- but I don't think the bike had anything to do with it, more the fact that it was 111 degrees in Palm Springs (and not much cooler anyplace else along the route). And, since most of my previous riding was in the Midwest, I'd gone over there totally unprepared-- hey, I had a helmet, gloves, long pants, and boots, what else did I need???

I've learned a lot about hot weather ops since then.

I hope and expect to be ready for assimilation after my Tuesday ride with Don!

 

[Joe]

You will love it!!

 

[Bugnatr]

How's your drivers license? FJR's can be a bit hard on them

 

[beemerdons]

When I ride Denny's Wing this Tuesday morning to Globe, I'm wearing a fake Bustanut joker mustache and a name tag saying I am Doug P. from Peardale!

 

[Flibmeister]

I may start wearing a disguise myself, because apparently, the Wing sometimes attracts the wrong type of attention:

This morning I was getting ready to leave a gas station and this "lady" walks up to me. Really rough looking, probably 50 years old, maybe a meth head, maybe a hooker, maybe both. She tells me what a nice bike I have, says the passenger seat looks SO comfortable-- then she asks if I can give her a ride to Mesa.

"Um, sorry ma'am, I'm heading the other way."

I know you're supposed to meet the nicest people on a Honda, but I don't think this is what they had in mind!

Looking forward to my Tuesday assimilation ride!

 

[Flibmeister]

Gotta give a shoutout to Don Stanley for his VERY generous and appreciated gesture, allowng me to get me some FJR time. We got together this morning and after a short briefing on the FJR's controls, I climbed aboard an FJR for the first time. Meanwhile, Don was regretting the fact that he hadn't brought a false mustache and beard, and he could only hope that his helmet would prevent anyone from recognizing him while he rode my Hondapotamus.

We had a nice ride up the hill to Globe, and I was quickly able to tell that most of my preconceived notions about the bike had been on the mark:

1. Riding position is, of course, VERY different than the GW. I'm no spring chicken, and already have low back problems, so I think I'd be putting on risers to get me a little more vertical.

2. As expected, there's a little more vibration than the GW, and I did have a little buzz going in my hands when we got to the restaurant. But, I actually kinda liked it-- felt more like I was actually riding a motorcycle!

3. Ditto on the wind-- more of it on the FJR, but in a good way.

4. Love the wide powerband, very similar to the GW. I kept it mainly in the lower rpm range, but twisted the throttle hard a couple of times. Very carefully, though-- I still remember what happened when I nonchalantly gave a hard twist to the throttle on a Kawasaki Mach III a few decades ago during a dealer test drive. Don would not have been happy to see his bike with the front wheel four feet in the air and me just doing my best to hang on....

5. Don has Canyon Cages on his bike, and they'd be one of my first purchases. I hate adding the weight, and while the looks of them isn't bad, the bike does look better without them. But it's easy to see that, without them, a relatively insignificant incident could end up breaking a lot of tupperware.

Bottom line, I loved the bike, but I don't think I'm ready at this point to make it my ONLY bike. So, rather than selling or trading the GW (which was my original thought), I'm going with the idea of making it an addition, rather than a replacement. If I were to find the GW never leaves the garage, I could always sell it later.

The idea of a new 2014 FJR has appeal. But, then I think about the fact that, for what I'd pay for a 2014, I could put a nice "slightly used" FJR in the garage, and have enough money left over for a little dual sport or dirt bike, which I've also been wanting to add. Logically, the dirt bike should actually come first, since there's so much overlap in mission between the FJR and the GW-- but, the heart wants what the heart wants.

Anyway, thanks to all here for the input, and thanks to Don especially-- I've got a lot more data to make an informed decision. And don't tell him I said so, but he looked right at home on that big yellow Goldwing!

Denny

 

[Niehart]

I may start wearing a disguise myself, because apparently, the Wing sometimes attracts the wrong type of attention:
This morning I was getting ready to leave a gas station and this "lady" walks up to me. Really rough looking, probably 50 years old, maybe a meth head, maybe a hooker, maybe both. She tells me what a nice bike I have, says the passenger seat looks SO comfortable-- then she asks if I can give her a ride to Mesa.

"Um, sorry ma'am, I'm heading the other way."

I know you're supposed to meet the nicest people on a Honda, but I don't think this is what they had in mind!

Looking forward to my Tuesday assimilation ride!

Now that just make me laugh out loud.

And yes, as much as I hate to admit it, Don is a good guy.

Glad you enjoyed your ride.

 

[jmgrif]

There's an 08 listed here on the forum. I have an 08 and can tell you many of the earlier versions idiosyncrasy's have been worked out! I'm just over 100,000 kms absolutely trouble free miles! Worth a look anyway.

 

[beemerdons]

Papa Chuy Viejo has to confess to a Great Mortal Sin, I rode a Hondoo Lead Wing yesterday. My Buddy Denny is looking at buying an FJR, so we rode to Globe for breakfast and I rode his Barcalounger! I feel so damn dirty and totally ashamed, I went to Mass this morning and said the Rosary a dozen times, lit ten candles! I'm so damn embarrassed, may Blessed Mary and All Saints forgive me! jes' sayin' and nuff said, ese! (I just hope I didn't get any Honda cooties)

 

[RadioHowie]

So Don....wheredya leave the booger??? :rofl: