Goldwing's ain't that bad

[Rhino]

Hi all,

While nosing around the forums. it seems that 'Wings get a bad write up. Just a couple of points in their defence.

1. They were not designed as sports bikes and will never be as nimble thrugh corners (although they can go round many cruisers on the outside if ridden with confidence.)

2. Scorpygirl and I have done Christchurch to Auckland in one day on a 'Wing. Leave Chch in the morning, get the 1:30 pm sailing from Picton and just ride home to Auckland when getting off the boat. We have done that 3 times now without any difficulty.

3. All bikes have their good and bad points. While an R1/GSX/TL1000 is great for a 2-3 hour trip, after 8 hours I would have passed you and still be feeling comfortable. It's horses for courses.

[Brains]

Hi all,

While nosing around the forums. it seems that 'Wings get a bad write up. Just a couple of points in their defence.

1. They were not designed as sports bikes and will never be as nimble thrugh corners (although they can go round many cruisers on the outside if ridden with confidence.)

2. Scorpygirl and I have done Christchurch to Auckland in one day on a 'Wing. Leave Chch in the morning, get the 1:30 pm sailing from Picton and just ride home to Auckland when getting off the boat. We have done that 3 times now without any difficulty.

3. All bikes have their good and bad points. While an R1/GSX/TL1000 is great for a 2-3 hour trip, after 8 hours I would have passed you and still be feeling comfortable. It's horses for courses.

So which noob is slagging wings for not being able to carve up the twisties like the lastest race rep? If money was no object a wing would be in my garage, most bikes are hopeless for two up riding, would be great to have a bike that I could comfortably take my lady for a ride on, the CBR just doesn't cut it in that area.

Take no notice of the noobs that ride to tec everyday, and for whom a long ride is anything over 50ks.

[Waylander]

So which noob is slagging wings for not being able to carve up the twisties like the lastest race rep? If money was no object a wing would be in my garage, most bikes are hopeless for two up riding, would be great to have a bike that I could comfortably take my lady for a ride on, the CBR just doesn't cut it in that area.

Take no notice of the noobs that ride to tec everyday, and for whom a long ride is anything over 50ks.
Most cruisers are great for 2up riding mate. It's just the sporties that are useless for it.

Dad used to have a goldwing back when I was a youngen. He could lean that thing just as far as a few of them fetal bikes. Passed heaps of them in the corners too when they all had to slow down for various reasons. :Police:

[sAsLEX]

Take no notice of the noobs that ride to tec everyday, and for whom a long ride is anything over 50ks.

i ride to tec everyday! and the NC30 is comfortable as on long journeys, easy do 600k in a day and still feel my fingers.....just

[onearmedbandit]

While I find my gixxer very comfortable, and I have no current desire to own a Goldwing, they are IMO still an excellent bike at what they're designed to be. I think you'll find anyone pointing out handling, braking, or power deficencies between a 'wing and a sportsbike is completely ignorant, or trolling.

Anyway, apparently there is a well know 'older' rider who rides 'the dragon' in America on a GL1500 and regularly passes sportbikes, on the outside no less.

[FROSTY]

I owned a yamaha goldwing when Baby bikie was very young -yea I know it aint a wing but most guys dont know what a venture royalle is.
hat was one cool bike -kept me sane

[Brian d marge]

Well I can tell you that a wing can out do a vfr750 around the twistys ...I was following up the rear ,,,( dicks hill in london on the way to the pub ) I ran out of road on a 650 bros ,,it just wouldnt turn in fast enough ...my boss leading on a 1500 se ...won buy a clear mile ...those things handle alright ,,,,,

and another thing ...look how much torque they produce ,,,and if there aint a cc limit in the side car class ,,then an 1800cc flat fuel injected 6 cylinder ,,,,is just perfect in IMHO .....

As I wrote 2 off for insurance ...one had a scatch down the whole fairing ,,,the other the dick fitted after market levers and rode the thing even though the clutch MUSt have been slipping AND the front brake smoking .....he Rooted the bike ,,,clutch and brakes ,,,,,,we just wrote the thing off ,,,,easier than the labour and spares ...

And the earlier one imported from the state you can rechip the radios and maps .....
Oh and you can do a punture without removing all the crap .........

Stephen
Still not an enfield though ,,,,:devil2:

[pritch]

My brother lives in West Australia and uses the BMW equivalent.

I'm old enough now to appreciate the idea of a Wing type bike but not quite old enough to want one. Yet.

When I came back from Christchurch the other day I broke the trip in Wellington. I like the Hornet but eight hours in the saddle with at least two after dark didn't appeal much. Heated grips only do so much.

[Lou Girardin]

Big 'dressers' are great for what they're intended to do. You just have to adopt a cruisy mind-set. Comfortable, 350 - 400 km legs at 110 km/h is going to get you further, faster than a sprotbike doing 150 km/h and having to stop every 150 k's.

[enigma51]

I will most probably get shot down for this but here goes. I dont like gold wings purely cause they are cages with two wheels. I mean any bike that comes with a radio/cd stacker is wrong. Yes they are comfortable but thats not why I ride a bike. If I had to choose between a gold wing and one of the cruiser type bmw's the bmw will win. It comes with the same trimmings (Of course the radio will get taking out first) and has the same comforts. It basicly comes down to personal choice rather than its a crap bike. And hopefully I have still enough years in my bones to ride a sports bike before I have to switch to a tourer.

[T.I.E]

followed a gold wing through the twisties near puhoi. i was impressed. stereo, heater. hell they are a cruiser with a bit of get up and gone in the engine.
they are amazing to look at. and they handle. surprised me.

face it you park up an R1 and a goldwing. what do you think public like to look at.

when i'm older and safer ill own one. just don't wanna drop it in my silly stage in life.

[Biff]

I rode a Wing once - lovely machine, surprisingly nimble and manageable. I'd most definatly own one, one day, maybe, but only if I could have another day to day bike as well.

You won't hear me saying bad things about them. Now the kind of peple that ride them on the other hand..... :psst:

(that's a joke by the way)

[vifferman]

I will most probably get shot down for this but here goes. I dont like gold wings purely cause they are cages with two wheels.
Bang! Bang!!

Nah - just kidding.

I actually agree with you. :yes:

While I wouldn't mind trying one for a long trip, I think it would be a worse choice than taking the car: less luggage room, you're more subject to the weather, less safe, sound system's not as good... etc. etc. Plus I couldn't share driving duties with the wife, there's no airconditioning, I'd have to wear wet-weather gear if it rained, can't eat/drink while travelling.

The day I bought the VFR, we were sat alongside one in the car at the traffic lights. It was a warm day, and the Wing rider and his pillion were obviously sweltering in the heat. Yes, they have airvents, but the big screen shelters you from the wind so much that it's very little like riding a bike at all.

I get why they exist (designed, developed and built in Murka for long distance interstate cruising), but they are at an extreme end of the biking spectrum, where the only thing differentiating them from cars is that they have two less wheels. I've seen them with windscreen wipers, radios, CBs, big aerials, lots of driving lights, cruise control, etc etc. Wings with trailers aren't uncommon, and it seems a lot of time and money has been spent making them as much like a car as possible.

Like guys with cruisers, it's "to each his own", and I'm not knocking those who ride them, but I just don't see the point. Like I said, I'd rather take the car.

[loosebruce]

3. All bikes have their good and bad points. While an R1/GSX/TL1000 is great for a 2-3 hour trip, after 8 hours I would have passed you and still be feeling comfortable. It's horses for courses.

I'll take you up on that challenge :ride: Alkd to Welly and back to Akld, you name the date. I'll use my sports tourer GSXR1000 and me tell you MR Goldwing rider, the only hope you have is that my rear tyre is toast by the return trip (which most prolly will be the case).
And dont worry bout the police i've got them under my thumb (errr maybe).

Nah in all fairness i've got no beef with wings, for what they are, they do the job well, and with enough abuse pull wheelies (sort of) so they're aight by me, can i borrow your one at some stage? I go up and down the country all the time on mine (TL and GSXR) and both are sweet, but yes a wing would be better, but i'd have more fun on the gix, but if i took the missus the wing would be better as she'd still be able to get busy later that night, on the gix not a chance (already found this out), dunno what the feul rane is on em, but i'd imagine it's be better than the gix as well, power wheelies at 150kph the gix has the wing beat there. It's all down to persinal prefance really. At the end of the day though the wing is a hell of a bike to poke fun at, and i think thats all it is, the same way people poke fun at Honda's......... holy shit the Wing is a Honda, no fkin wonder why then, there ya go plain as black and white :Pokey:

[inlinefour]

So which noob is slagging wings for not being able to carve up the twisties like the lastest race rep? If money was no object a wing would be in my garage, most bikes are hopeless for two up riding, would be great to have a bike that I could comfortably take my lady for a ride on, the CBR just doesn't cut it in that area.

Take no notice of the noobs that ride to tec everyday, and for whom a long ride is anything over 50ks.

And is exactly one of the reasons why I want a sports bike, no pillion. :devil2:

[Bonez]

Hi all,

While nosing around the forums. it seems that 'Wings get a bad write up. Just a couple of points in their defence.

1. They were not designed as sports bikes and will never be as nimble thrugh corners (although they can go round many cruisers on the outside if ridden with confidence.)

Seen some riden pretty quickly on th Takas back in the early '90s

2. Scorpygirl and I have done Christchurch to Auckland in one day on a 'Wing. Leave Chch in the morning, get the 1:30 pm sailing from Picton and just ride home to Auckland when getting off the boat. We have done that 3 times now without any difficulty.

Comfy and good for long distance stuff alright.

3. All bikes have their good and bad points. While an R1/GSX/TL1000 is great for a 2-3 hour trip, after 8 hours I would have passed you and still be feeling comfortable. It's horses for courses. Too true. I'm grad you enjoy your "Lead Sled" as we called them way back when. Goldwings set the bench mark for luxury m/c touring and will continue to do so not dought. Oh and welcome to KB. Sould add though I've done a weekend trip from Ohakea to Queenstown and back on my '76 cb550 without to much drama. Down one side and back up the other-nice thick sheep skin and a bikini fairing helped.

[Pwalo]

There's nothing wrong with Goldwings. They're excellent machines for what they were designed for. Just not my sort of bike, in the same way that H-D's and cruiser's aren't.

I use my bike for commuting and the occasional blat in the weekend so a 'Wing isn't what I want. If I wanted to cover some serious distance, perhaps. But probably not. Prefer a Bandit or similar.

[Hitcher]

I some cases its not the bike but the Wingnuts that ride them...

[enigma51]

I some cases its not the bike but the Wingnuts that ride them...
So true! but the same can be said for every type of bike

[idb]

... them fetal bikes.....
Foetal bikes......I've never heard that before....very funny.....

When I bought the 888 I intended to ride from Picton to home without stopping.
I had to stop at Omarama however because I couldn't operate the front brake any more and my buttocks had fallen asleep miles back.
The Darmah however just gives you a sore arse after an hour and a half or so.

Foetal bikes....that's so good.....I like that a lot.....

[geoffm]

Once you have had hard luggage (panniers) it is very hard to go back if you do any miles. Gets you attention when you book into top hotels as well.
It is the one thing I would miss the most if I ever sold the Beemer.
Geoff

[Flyingpony]

Can some please explain why people who ride Goldwings always (at the ones I've seen) wear open face helmets and short sleeved t-shirts? They don't wear any proper protective gear.

I know I don't have the full kit of gear, but these people are riding bikes that costed a mini fortune to buy, so must have spare dosh for gear, not to mention extra-ordinary funds for their petrol consumption.

Horse.

[Rhino]

Can some please explain why people who ride Goldwings always (at the ones I've seen) wear open face helmets and short sleeved t-shirts? They don't wear any proper protective gear.

I know I don't have the full kit of gear, but these people are riding bikes that costed a mini fortune to buy, so must have spare dosh for gear, not to mention extra-ordinary funds for their petrol consumption.

Horse.

That may be so in some cases, but the sensible riders will be wearing just as much protective gear as any sportsbike or cruiser rider. Scorpygirl and I ALWAYS wear full face helmets and good gear. Anyone riding in t-shirts etc is a f**kwit. I learned that lesson the hard way on a Suzuki 50 stepthrough at age 15 (wearing t-shirt and shorts.) I hit thick shingle on a corner of a metal road in the West coast of the South Island. I dumped the bike doing about 35-40 kmh and spent the next week picking bits of gravel out of my elbow.

Fuel consumption is not a major, as I get approx 40 mpg at 100-120 kmh. My Kawasaki 750 is not much cheaper to run. :ride:

[Scorpygirl]

Excuse me, I might be pillion on a Wing but I have seen chicks on a sport bikes with less gear than I will ever ride in. I have seen "biker chicks" with short skirts around their arse!!!. Tank tops with barely any protection and jandles or sandles that would not protect their feet let alone their legs in an accident. I will always wear full protective gear include proper boots, full gear and a full face skid lid no matter what I am on - pillion on the wing, pillion on the GT 750 or my own Virago. I have seen guys on sportsbikes too in very little gear so don't give us that - some of them thin they are God's gift and Rhino and I have often said how much bark do they know they are going to lose in an accident.

Just my thoughts but we don't skimp on our gear. :ride:

[Ninja]

Flesh and bone lose out every time to the superior abrasion of tarmac or gravel (even at 10 kph). If you want to enjoy the freedom for many years to come...don't skimp on decent gear.

Not quite a goldwing rider (St1300 Pan European) but definitely getting there.

How do you get to join the Ulysses club?

p.s. I ride a fireblade too, and always dress for the occasion!

[Lou Girardin]

Excuse me, I might be pillion on a Wing but I have seen chicks on a sport bikes with less gear than I will ever ride in. I have seen "biker chicks" with short skirts around their arse!!!. Tank tops with barely any protection and jandles or sandles that would not protect their feet let alone their legs in an accident. :ride:

Something we dirty old men will always be grateful for. :spudflip:

[Brains]

Something we dirty old men will always be grateful for. :spudflip:

As are us dirty young men.

[pritch]

How do you get to join the Ulysses club?



You could start by checking their website.
Alternatelyyou could ring/fax Peggy at the number in the PM I'm sending...