[nedro]

I ordered a Candy Black Cherry abs a few weeks back. It's been a long wait so I went to the dealer on Saturday to check on the delivery date. When I walk in, I see two Candy Red GLs sitting there. One abs, the other standard. This was the first time I saw the Candy red in person and I felt the unmiskable feeling of my lower jaw dropping to the floor. I almost bought it right there and then. But I told the salesman that I'll take the chance that it doesn't sell over the weekend and I'll let him know on Monday if I want to change my mind and take the Candy red instead of the Candy Black Cherry.
Well, this morning I go back right when they open up because I made up my mind that I like the Candy Red and would take it. I looked through the window before getting to the door and one of them were gone. But which one? Abs or standard?
I walk inside and see the pick-up ring on the front wheel of the remaining GL and am relieved that they still have the ABS model that I want. So, with a smile on my face, I look over at the only other guy (a salesman) in the area and ask if this GL has been sold.
He gets up off his seat and walks over to look at the tag, "Ya, This one's sold."


Well, as you can imagine, I was a bit dissappointed.
Then He says, "I think we have another one in the back."
He checks, and sure enough there's another one that hasn't even been looked at by the mechanics yet.

I now own it!

But I'm still waiting. It should be done by 1 or 2 this afternoon.

[ConqSoft]

So you aren't buying this one where you bought the ST so you can make the same route home and compare/contrast the trip?

[nedro]

Originally Posted by ConqSoft

So you aren't buying this one where you bought the ST so you can make the same route home and compare/contrast the trip?

Nope!
But I'm sure this one will get many more miles than the ST did. I already have 4 trips planned.
1) Gold Country
2) Northern California and the Oregon coast
3) Yosemite and the southern Sierras
4) The Bitter Root Valley in Montana
I figured I'd start out small and work my way up to Iron Butt.

[luvtolean]

How can it be called "Iron Butt" on a Goldwing? Those things are living room's on wheels!

[2OHOH2]

Originally Posted by luvtolean

How can it be called "Iron Butt" on a Goldwing? Those things are living room's on wheels!

Mmm hmm

nedro, start talking about a CCC, and then I'll be impressed



Congrats on the purchase

[deez]

enjoy retirement there old timer

[Chain]

PICS!

I'm excited for ya Ned. That's gonna be some mile muncher!

[Big Kahuna]

Originally Posted by nedro

1) Gold Country

Ah yes, one of my favorite trips. I've taken 49 from Oakhurst and have made it up past Amador City. Lots of historic stuff along the way and I've even stopped at Mark Twain's old cabin once.

Originally Posted by nedro

2) Northern California and the Oregon coast

I road up the california coast on two separate occasions. I haven't ridden up to Oregon yet, as the farthest trip was from Pismo all the way up highway 1 to Legget where it meets 101. Best places on the coast are Big Sur, up through San Franciso for the Golden gate and Lombard street, Jenner, and Medencino areas.

Originally Posted by nedro

Yosemite and the southern Sierras

My backyard!

Yosemite is a nice leisure ride with lots of traffic. Great sites in the valley but plan for a long day. There are some really great roads steaming from Oakhurts. Over to Auberry and up to Shaver and Hunninton lake. Nice riding but does get a little congested near Shaver. Down to Prather and Friant is great to but suffers from the valley heat in the summer time. There a so many great back roads up here it's impossible to name them all.

Let me know when you make it up this way and maybe we can meet up. I'm planning to host a yearly ride weekend up here for sportbikers. There aren't many events held just for sportbikers so I thought it would be fun to start something up. I'm going to do it every year no matter how many people show. I was hoping to get it going this year but I doesn't look like I'll be able to get it ready before the season ends.

[nedro]

Um, ya. This thing is more fun than I thought it would be.
I only had time to take a couple of pics at the house. Then had to go ride. Good night.

[2OHOH2]

Originally Posted by nedro

Um, ya. This thing is more fun than I thought it would be.
I only had time to take a couple of pics at the house. Then had to go ride. Good night.

MORE PICS! NOW! DAMMIT!





Seriously, that thing looks good enough to eat

[TGZ13]

Do you need an engineering degree to operate those controls

Seriously though its a sexy looking machine me thinks

[bwhip]

Very nice! Congrats on picking up the plush new ride.

[dB]

Nice bike, Nedro! I haven't been following this too closely...why do you prefer the GW over the ST?

I'm just off Hwy 49 between Placerville and Auburn...let me know if you'll be in the area.

[freq]

Gonna' tow your track bike with that?

[nedro]

Just a preface, please realize that everything I write about here is in regards to an ST and a GL, not any type of sport bike. Thank you.

Well, I’ve had it for two days now and already have a few comparisons to the ST.
The very first thing I noticed when leaving the dealership was that this bike starts off from a stand still better than any bike I have ever owned period. I mean, when the clutch engages, the engine RPMs don’t move one bit. I’m not sure you even have to give it gas to start going. As an example, we went over the mountain to Santa Cruz for breakfast this morning to a place called Aldo’s. It’s on the harbor at the end of a steep hill. I parked at the bottom with the bike pointed back up the hill. After breakfast we climbed aboard, put it in gear and rode off like we were on level pavement.
Even with all of the torque of the ST, It never could’ve gotten out of there without some fancy clutch work.
The ST would always ping just a bit at the moment the clutch fully engages from a stop. On hills it would be worse. This was with premium gas.
The GL uses regular. It has not pinged once.
The GL feels less top heavy than the ST. That is, until you make a turn. That’s where the ST smokes the hell out of the wing.
The ST allows for mid-turn corrections, the GL does not.
It would be a bad idea to take a fast ride on a mountain road that you have never been on with the GL.
High-speed sweepers were very fun on the ST. On the GL they’re simply unbelievable (in a good way).
You could feel the ST bouncing around under you during high-speed sweepers (like a sport bike). The GL is rock solid. Even when confronted with mid corner bumps.
Since they are both touted as touring bikes, riding position is important. You can not get sore wrists with the GL. On the ST it was a given.
The GL’s front seat is angled upwards from back to front. The ST was angled downwards from back to front. There’ll be hours more of comfortable riding on the GL, no question.
The ST had adjustable seat height, which is a plus for me (6’1” with long legs). The GL is for shorter people but is O.K. The GL’s handlebars are much closer also.
I used the cruise control for the fist time today on Hwy 1 heading north from Santa Cruz. This is an electronic cruise control, not a throttle lock. It Kicks but! Up and down hills, it doesn’t vary one bit.
For those who know the area, I turned off Hwy1 onto Gozos Creek Rd., to Pescadero Rd., to 84 through LaHonda up to Alice’s. I met a couple from Australia who are on a 6-week tour. They bought a Bandit in LA and were on their way to Oregon, Then to some rally across to Billings Montana.
The GL was so fun on those roads I couldn’t believe it. (Note: if you have a GL and don’t know those roads, don’t ride them) There were a few times where I was at the turning limit and that was on turns I knew to slow down on (which I did).
Scraping order somewhat changes from time to time according to how hard you are pushing it or if there are bumps in the turn. But usually it is the peg feeler or center stand (when it’s not my shoe).
The ST has better side bags and the Honda line Top Box for the ST is better also. That’s because the ST’s bags are bigger. They are also easily removable and are carried like bags of luggage. The Top Box is the same. This comes in extremely handy when all of your clothes are in the boxes and you stop for the night. I’m not even sure the GL’s boxes come off, but if they do, I can guaranty that they won’t transport as easily.
The GL’s radio is very nice. You can here it going down the road without earphones. Unfortunately, so can everyone else. I did, however, finally figure out how to turn it off (after a day or so).
The reverse is pretty interesting, but very useful.
It also has a remote control that locks/unlocks the boxes. It also opens the top box. And it has a button to operate the horn incase you loose it in a parking lot (or if you simply want to freak out your friends. The horn sounds like it came off a ‘62 caddy).
The transmission is wide ratio with an overdrive. It’s hard to get used to after riding the 929 for the past few months. You really don’t want to downshift the GL into 1st if you are actually moving. You can do about 3 MPH in second if you had to.
I probably forgot some stuff, but there’s enough reading for now.

[ND4SPD]

Nice bike, cockhole




I'm jealous, it's a sweet ride. I still want one.....

[nedro]

Originally Posted by ND4SPD

Nice bike, cockhole




I'm jealous, it's a sweet ride. I still want one.....

Thanks. I think

One thing about the side bags. Although the Goldwing bags might have more square inches, the ST bags have more useful spaces in them i.e. you can put a helmet in each side bag on the ST. You can't do that with the GL.

[Blorton]

Nice bike! A buddy of mine bought a yellar one last year and I was real impressed with it.

As far as cornering goes, you may want to play with the ride level controls. My buddy worked out seperate optimal settings for solo vs. two-up handling that made a big difference for him.

Enjoy the ride!
Dan