[Newfie TLR]

Originally Posted by colryn

I'm jelous Newfie. I think I am even more jelous that the wife joined you. My wife would not have done it. She hates my bike.

The Triumph was actually Wifey's choice 'cause I was keeping the Tiller. She won't get her own bike to ride, she says she's quite happy sitting and looking around without having to concentrate on what she's doing. She loved the trip we had to PEI last year, she just realizes now it can be done in more comfort.

[ND4SPD]

So how well does it wheelie?

[Newfie TLR]

Originally Posted by ND4SPD

So how well does it wheelie?

Zoltan, the way that thing pulls, I'm sure it can. But I can only imagine how hard it would come down with my fat arse sitting on it.

[ND4SPD]

Originally Posted by Newfie TLR

Zoltan, the way that thing pulls, I'm sure it can. But I can only imagine how hard it would come down with my fat arse sitting on it.

So stand up...If you wanna get really tricky, throw your left leg over to the right side.

[Newfie TLR]

Originally Posted by ND4SPD

So stand up...If you wanna get really tricky, throw your left leg over to the right side.

Talking about that, you should have seen the Bride trying to get on this thing last night. I could only see a little of what was going on, but my daughter was almost pissing her pants laughing, and the futre son-in-law was smart and went in the house so Wifey wouldn't see him laughing. You gotta understand that just about every bike she's ever ridden was sporty in some sort of way, and you just throw your leg over, right? Well, lets just say she's a bit unhandy at mounting this beast. She finally decided it was easier to do it from the right side. She asked me to park on grass when we got home so she could just fall off it!!!

[nedro]

Glad you had a chance to ride one. As to your comment on turning in second gear with the rear brake on; That's exactly how to do it. First gear is for starting and that's about it.
So, wifey likes her new Bark-O-lounger eh? For all you guys thinking about a Goldwing; DO NOT LET YOUR "S.O." SIT ON THE BACK SEAT UNTIL YOU ARE SURE YOU ARE GOING TO BUY IT! Because once she sits down, the deal is done.
For mounting the pillion (onto the bike you perverts);
Place bike on side stand with Handle bars all the way to the left.
stand next to left handlebar face twards back of bike.
Now have your pillion face you and put her left hand on your right shoulder (or hold her right hand if shes not that tall) as she uses her right leg to hoist herself up onto the seat with both legs on the left side of the bike.
now she can swing her right leg forward and around to the right.
Now you can get on.
Sounds like a bunch of work, but this way is the easiest. We tryed different ways and finally ask some Oldwing folks how they do it and this is what they came up with (pun intended).

A couple of words of advice (what ever that's worth). Don't buy the Honda CD changer. You can spend $1500.00 better somewhere else, plus there's all kinds of other ways to listen to music.
Don't buy the Honda Aux lights (fog lights) EC lights are better, look better, and use a relay instead of running the lamp power throught the switch (which burns up the Honda switch). The EC switch looks identical to Honda's.

On the floor boards...Sorry this is an H, not an HD.
In all seriousness, you need the ground clearence. Floor boards would give you less. If you still want them, lots of folks make them.

Some forums for you. See ya there!

http://www.ridersrally.com/forum/

http://www.gl1800riders.com/forums/index.php

[Newfie TLR]

Originally Posted by nedro

snip...For all you guys thinking about a Goldwing; DO NOT LET YOUR "S.O." SIT ON THE BACK SEAT UNTIL YOU ARE SURE YOU ARE GOING TO BUY IT! Because once she sits down, the deal is done....snip

That pretty sums it up!!!


As for the mounting instructions, I don't know if I would trust the side-stand that much............... I just dunno 'bout that.

[nedro]

"Trust the side stand, Luke. The force is with you."

[Newfie TLR]

Originally Posted by nedro

"Trust the side stand, Luke. The force is with you."

Without meaning to offend anyone here, but did you know that "Trust" is the Jewish slang word for "Phuk You"??

[BDA116]

Originally Posted by Newfie TLR

Without meaning to offend anyone here, but did you know that "Trust" is the Jewish slang word for "Phuk You"??

I thought it was french.

[DJ Fire]

[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/DJFIRE%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG]http://www.davesgoldwing.com/wheelie2.jpg

Nuff said about the wheelie issue! Sheesh!

~Fire

[DJ Fire]

[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/DJFIRE%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg[/IMG]


Just in case the first one didn't work -- here's another one.

Enjoy!

~Fire

[nedro]

Very old photochop. But I still contend that there is a pic of Nickey Hayden on a goldwing doing a wheelie. The one with him dragging a knee on one is everywhere.

[ddking]

Originally Posted by Newfie TLR

Hey Nedro, I am curious as to what about it you'd find uncomfortable if you were any taller?? I thought these things were perfect for taller riders!

I'm 6'3" and that statement worries me a little. Would you expand on it a bit?

I'm new here and this is probably the topic on which I am most knowlegeable. [Not more than others necessarily, I just spent a lot of money and time making my 1800 comfortable.] I'm just about 6'3" and have a 33" inseam. After a month of riding my 1800, I hated it and wished I hadn't bought it. As I said, it took a while but now it works. If you want to see what I did, take this link. Lots of us have used many of these ideas to make a go of it and now are very comfortable on our 1800s. GL1800Riders.com :: View topic - Getting Comfortable

[ddking]

Just noticed how old the posts are.

[OSIRIS]

Hell of a write up, ddking. My dad frequents the GL1800 riders board...I'll have to point him to your post

[A.F.T.C.T.T.G.]

Traded my H-D Electa-Glide for one. Best thing I ever did in motorcycling

[6gun]

This is my first post here, but I have lived with a Gold Wing for a while.
I'm 6'3" and if I had ridden one before I bought it, I would not have bought it.
Took me a couple of years to really get it comfortable, but now all day is not a problem at all.
I had to get the Wing Soft seat mod done that sat me up a little and back a little and added MLB bar risers and it fits like a glove. I also added MickO' pegs but found I really don't use them now that I am so comfortable.
The longest day I have had so far is about 18 hrs, don't know the miles but Deal's Gap was several hours of that day.
The Wing was made for some one shorter than 6' IMHO but you can make it fit you.

Steve

[wingnit]

I've got an '06 GL1800 and love it.

[briflight]

Originally Posted by Newfie TLR

I rode a 2001 last night for about 50 KMs (some alone, some with Wifey on the rear throne) and all I can say is Oh My God, this thing is awesome.

Glad to hear you like the wing as much as I do. All your points are right on as far as I can tell. I have owned mine for about 6 months now and do love it alot. I like to freak out the cagers around me when in town by taking the turns without even slowing much, and it drags stuff all day long with ease if I want it to. I do wish for maybe a bigger OD gear somtimes when on the superslab though, imagine the mileage gain with that. Runs about 3k doing 70mph. I like the suspension presets, soft for the highway, stiff for the twisties. My wife calls it here couch on wheels.....which it is, but it doesn't ride like it. The bike feels soo much smaller once you get away from parking lot speeds its amazing. Very happy in my opinion. I could use just a tad taller windsheild for the highway but I'm afraid around town I would lose some of that cooling air around town when the sheild is in it's lowest position. Great bike otherwise IMO.

[wingnit]

I'm on my 7th Gold Wing in 30 years. I wouldn't ride anything else.

[DJ Fire]

The odometer / speedo / trip meter is off. The speedo has roughly an 8.3% error init, but the fix is easy. speedohealer does the trick and allows you to recall your highest speed since last reset of unit which is done via pushing the little button for 3 seconds. Works VERY well and has been "tested" via 3 speed traps so far without an issue!

I do 4,500 miles a month so it was important for me to have an accurate speedo / odometer / trip meters so this is what I had to go with. The other fix is to run a 70 series tires, but you get an instability at 70 mph on the 70 series tire.


I replaced the entire suspension system with an after-market one made by Traxxion Dynamics and OMG what a different machine she is now! Worth it's weight in GOLD!!!! ($2,500 package but fixes the wobble issue, and several other minor little details that add up to a big comfort issue.)


My co-rider was complaining of the lumbar support (or shape of the) passenger's backrest. A replacement backrest made by Diamond was installed to the tune of $250 and now she rides without complaint! she went from tollerating 500 miles at a clip to asking why we stopped after only 1,500 miles! sheesh!

The kickstand likes to sink into things as with most bikes, but due to the weight of the wing, she is worse about it than most. When you go with an after-market kickstand, choose wisely for some will give you clearance issues like the big wing one. (I use the big wing one as it is the biggest and best looking IMHO but I do lose some ground clearance. Not that big of a deal, but I do scrape it at least once every time I get on the bike.

The cruise control will need some adjusting as it takes up to 5 seconds to fully engage. (Pretty easy to adjust, but can be a pain to get to the lower adjustment.)

If you are having armrests installed, make SURE the installer is istalling them so they are flat. Mine angle down as I was not aware I should have been watching my installer. I had NO idea that there was any other way to have them on the bike except perfectly flat as they should be. (I was wrong and I am NOT happy with the end result, so watch the installer to make sure he does it correctly.)

Kuryakan chrome tends not to last very long past its' 1 year warranty if it even makes it that long so be careful what you do in that department.

If you do the turn signals in the mirrors, get the Mutha ones as they are embedded into a chrome trim piece as the ones that are glued/taped to the back of your mirror tend to pop off when you finger(s) hit(s) them as this is almost unavoidable when cleaning the mirrors.


You will need a ground loop isolator if you plan on charging your music playing machine (ipod or other mp3 type device, or any audio device... even a gps) while you listen to it. If you do not use the isolator, you will get that awesome high-pitched whine through your audio system.

If you use the intercom system for you and your passenger, you will want to pick up 2 "mic mutes" and install one on each of your mic systems. (This is installed on the bike and one for each of you will do the trick.) This will almost totally eliminate the wind noise.

Keep an eye on your juice for a wing with less than 10 volts may turn over, but it will either not WANT to start, or WILL not start. Some argue about the ability to push start the wing, but i do not have any experience with this. I can say that it takes a good 10 seconds of running before the alternator starts working. (Think of it as a computer booting up. It ramps itself up slowly, not all of a sudden.)

The motor -- 3 options... it's strong enough to do any of the following so be careful... 1.wheelie till the back of the bike drags the ground. 2. Spin the tire (rolling burnout type thing). 3. accellerate really really fast!

The wing is faster than a Lambourghini from 0 to 60.
The wing can run the 1/4 mile in the 11's.

It's a crotch rocket on steroids. Be careful, but have fun and you will be thrilled at your investment.

As I said, I do over 4,500 miles a MONTH so I am pretty familiar with the wing as a whole and what it will, can, and won't do. That being said, there is always SOMEBODY out there doing something with it that hasn't been seen before. It's fast being viewed as a fun bike, not the Old-man's Bike. I know if you take the "G" outta it's name it's an Oldwing, but that perception is changing.

I hope I gave you some of the info you were looking for and I would be happy to offer any other words you might want.

[azredwinger]

I own a Red '05. Got it with 15k miles in January and now have 35K. People keep talking about the frames cracking. There was a recall and Honda fixed/will fix any frame problems. Check with the dealer at the time of purchase. My '05 wasn't part of the recall. Gold Wings do have a wobble problem that a lot of people talk about. When decelerating through 45 to 35 MPH the front wheel will wobble if you lift your hands off the handle bars. This could also be caused by tires not properly inflated but I had to have the head bearings replaced with tapered bearings. Just got it back and took it on a 600 mile shake down flight. Also you wife will love it...My girlfriend fell asleep on her first long ride. Like any bike it will take a little tweaking to get it like you want it. Add some lights to the front for visibility if you want but it isn't necessary. I do suggest you take an advanced riders course and join an organization like the Gold Wing Road Riders Assn. : : : Welcome To GWRRA.org : : : One other little tweak they need is a speed adjuster. Gold Wings have a 10% error to the low side on the speedometer. Most all bikes have an error in that range. To fix that just install a little device you can buy on the net and set it up using a GPS...Also a nice gadget for a touring bike. Get the CB already installed if you can, when group riding it is great. Take your time and pick out one that fits your needs and wants. Shop around...Check the message board at the site above for some smoken good deals on used bikes sold by members. Most of them have a lot of upgrades already installed. If you need to contact a member before you join just send me an email. The guy who said something about 85mph speed limit is wrong. The speed limit is variable. Day time it can be as high as 80 and at night as low as 60 unless conditions dictate less. I only ran into that in Texas.

[DJ Fire]

It's been a long time since anyone has posted anything.

Welp, I have racked up 35,457 miles so far since January 31st of this year.

Current tally is as follows:
Bike Shows - Five 1st Place, Two 2nd Place
Light Shows - Two 1st Place, One 2nd Place
Skills Course - Three 1st Place
GWRRA Top Gun - 2nd Place
GWRRA Amazing Team Challenge (Individual) - 3rd Place
GWRRA Amazing Team Challenge (Team) - 1st Place
Safety Escort Riders of Florida (SERF) - 4 Bicycle Events Escorted
Patriot Guard - 6 Funeral Escorts & 3 Welcome Home's
River City Motorcycle Escorts - 5 Funerals (6 as of tomorrow)
Plus a few others that I can not remember right now.

Longest trip on the wing was 6 weeks and just over 7,500 miles!
Ran Deal's Gap (Tail of the Dragon - US129) at 29 minutes during the day, and cut that down to 14 & 1/2 minutes at night. (Still didn't push it hard... current speed limit is 30 mph and course record is 7 minutes flat.)

This this is crazy and I am addicted to the wing. I can't wait to find more people who want to learn how to ride better or want to practice together. It's always better to have other people around when you are practicing as they give you a good viewpoint that you just do not have otherwise.

We just finished ripping off one lighting system and installing a newer, better system so I can't wait till the next Light Show.

Yall be safe!

~Doug
firefitr@cxp.com