garyahouse
newbs need the forum
It's been 10 years since I joined this forum and picked up my new (to me) 05 w/ABS. It's been a love/hate relationship ever since. Though I've not posted much the past couple years, I certainly enjoyed contributing around here as much as I could. Feeling very thankful for all the helpful advice that guided me through several farkling projects. I've certainly loved this forum, and have commented many times how much I loved my old FJR. She's got 52k on the clock now and still runs great. Haven't had any problems with it, and as I've often said, I'd take it to California tomorrow: great bike.
However, there's just nothing else I can do to it to fix the two big problems I have: the heat it generates, and the riding position.
The heat: I know, I know, there's a heat fix for the gen 1's. I never bothered to do it. But it's actually nice in the winter. However, as we all know, the gen 1's can really sling some heat. Because I live in Fla, I don't ride much in the summer. From June till almost November, it's miserable outside and I prefer my air conditioned cage. But then again, how can I complain about cruising around town in an SRT Challenger? Anyway, the heat is a problem.
The riding position: I already have bar risers on it and an aftermarket seat. But though I love the power, the handling, the ease of maintenance and the reliability, it's no use kidding myself, the older I get, the more sore I get after extended stints in the saddle. Leaning forward just doesn't work for me any more. I can do a half hour in the saddle, but that's about it. It's no fun to deal with a sore neck and a sore back all the time.
i didn't mention wind buffeting, but after trying several different windshields, I've concluded that there's only so much I can do.
So I decided it was time for a change, or at least time to start looking. I decided that if I intend to keep riding, I'm just going to have to bite the bullet as they say, and try something that is more comfortable for me. A few days ago, I decided to stop in a Honda dealer and take a ride on a new Gold wing. I chose a new 2018 touring model with the DCT 7 spd auto. Apparently Honda still has several new 2018's around, and they're deeply discounted. Needless to say, it's not an FJR. It's not as fast, won't devour the twisties as efficiently, and actually doesn't have the storage my FJR has. My Givi top box is cavernous compared to the wing. I will miss being able to remove my saddle bags and take them into the hotel with me: a wonderful feature of that bike. I will miss the ease of maintenance of the FJR and the cheap cost of ownership. However, I won't miss the power because I rarely ever use all the power that the FJR has. I drive like gramps most of the time. I won't miss the riding position, the buffeting, or the heat either: those have become deal breakers for me.
Back to the Honda dealer. I took a good close look at the Honda. I took it for a ride. The suspension is out of this world. Honda's "plush" has leap-frogged every other bike ever made (that I know of) with that new double wishbone front suspension. The DCT trannie is amazing. Really like the 4 speaker stereo, the apple car play and the NAV system. There was no cruise on my Gen 1, so I'm really enjoying that. Heated seat(s), and grips, and finally, Honda took a page from the FJR playbook and added an electic(ly) adjustable windshield. Then for this old man, something that has turned out to be a real blessing: this new wing has a walking speed feature. It will power along at about 1 mph in forward or reverse. How I would have loved that on my FJR.
Long story short, I fell in love. The riding position is perfect for me so I bought the Honda yesterday. Though it can't be what my FJR was, it checks off all the boxes I complained about above and then some. For this old man, it's going to make riding long distances fun again. Granted, I wish it was cheaper, wish it was lighter, I guess I can wish for a lot of things. But though no one bike is perfect in every way, this one was the right choice for me.
I'll still drop in here from time to time. But that said, I guess I have to decide which Gold wing forum to join. There are a bunch of them.
Any advice?
Ha now that's funny. Here I am asking the guys on an FJR forum which Gold wing forum to join. But hey, I've gotten some great advice on these pages, so maybe I'll get lucky once again.
And last, I'm taking off for the summer. Trailering the wing up north to hang out for a few months and do some remodeling work in Gary, Indiana. When I get back, I'll be putting old blue up for sale along with several of my farkles if the buyer doesn't want them. Gonna make a great bike for somebody.
The farkles? Stain tune pipes, custom stainless bar risers, Givi top box and rack, Clearwater Krista lights, Sergeant seat and a reverse flip (barn door) windshield.
Gary
However, there's just nothing else I can do to it to fix the two big problems I have: the heat it generates, and the riding position.
The heat: I know, I know, there's a heat fix for the gen 1's. I never bothered to do it. But it's actually nice in the winter. However, as we all know, the gen 1's can really sling some heat. Because I live in Fla, I don't ride much in the summer. From June till almost November, it's miserable outside and I prefer my air conditioned cage. But then again, how can I complain about cruising around town in an SRT Challenger? Anyway, the heat is a problem.
The riding position: I already have bar risers on it and an aftermarket seat. But though I love the power, the handling, the ease of maintenance and the reliability, it's no use kidding myself, the older I get, the more sore I get after extended stints in the saddle. Leaning forward just doesn't work for me any more. I can do a half hour in the saddle, but that's about it. It's no fun to deal with a sore neck and a sore back all the time.
i didn't mention wind buffeting, but after trying several different windshields, I've concluded that there's only so much I can do.
So I decided it was time for a change, or at least time to start looking. I decided that if I intend to keep riding, I'm just going to have to bite the bullet as they say, and try something that is more comfortable for me. A few days ago, I decided to stop in a Honda dealer and take a ride on a new Gold wing. I chose a new 2018 touring model with the DCT 7 spd auto. Apparently Honda still has several new 2018's around, and they're deeply discounted. Needless to say, it's not an FJR. It's not as fast, won't devour the twisties as efficiently, and actually doesn't have the storage my FJR has. My Givi top box is cavernous compared to the wing. I will miss being able to remove my saddle bags and take them into the hotel with me: a wonderful feature of that bike. I will miss the ease of maintenance of the FJR and the cheap cost of ownership. However, I won't miss the power because I rarely ever use all the power that the FJR has. I drive like gramps most of the time. I won't miss the riding position, the buffeting, or the heat either: those have become deal breakers for me.
Back to the Honda dealer. I took a good close look at the Honda. I took it for a ride. The suspension is out of this world. Honda's "plush" has leap-frogged every other bike ever made (that I know of) with that new double wishbone front suspension. The DCT trannie is amazing. Really like the 4 speaker stereo, the apple car play and the NAV system. There was no cruise on my Gen 1, so I'm really enjoying that. Heated seat(s), and grips, and finally, Honda took a page from the FJR playbook and added an electic(ly) adjustable windshield. Then for this old man, something that has turned out to be a real blessing: this new wing has a walking speed feature. It will power along at about 1 mph in forward or reverse. How I would have loved that on my FJR.
Long story short, I fell in love. The riding position is perfect for me so I bought the Honda yesterday. Though it can't be what my FJR was, it checks off all the boxes I complained about above and then some. For this old man, it's going to make riding long distances fun again. Granted, I wish it was cheaper, wish it was lighter, I guess I can wish for a lot of things. But though no one bike is perfect in every way, this one was the right choice for me.
I'll still drop in here from time to time. But that said, I guess I have to decide which Gold wing forum to join. There are a bunch of them.
Any advice?
Ha now that's funny. Here I am asking the guys on an FJR forum which Gold wing forum to join. But hey, I've gotten some great advice on these pages, so maybe I'll get lucky once again.
And last, I'm taking off for the summer. Trailering the wing up north to hang out for a few months and do some remodeling work in Gary, Indiana. When I get back, I'll be putting old blue up for sale along with several of my farkles if the buyer doesn't want them. Gonna make a great bike for somebody.
The farkles? Stain tune pipes, custom stainless bar risers, Givi top box and rack, Clearwater Krista lights, Sergeant seat and a reverse flip (barn door) windshield.
Gary
