Suspension chat. Explain shock Pre-Load

All this thread has done is make me want a Goldwing more, lol
I've considered it a few times, and after 6 months and over a thousand miles on a Concours...the Goldwing seemed even better.
The Concours is long gone, I'm building my Gsxr1k hoon bike right now, have been looking at new bikes(Tuono), but think money would be better spent on a 2nd bike that my girlfriend and I can ride comfortably on day trips of a few hundred miles.
A used GW fits that pretty good.
I still have the '18 Gsxr1k to ride too...no way I'de have a GW as my only bike.
I'm becoming one of you old guys, this is terrible.
I Have Always wanted to wheelie a GW though...might as well get one, lol
 
sixpack577 said:
All this thread has done is make me want a Goldwing more, lol
I've considered it a few times, and after 6 months and over a thousand miles on a Concours...the Goldwing seemed even better.
The Concours is long gone, I'm building my Gsxr1k hoon bike right now, have been looking at new bikes(Tuono), but think money would be better spent on a 2nd bike that my girlfriend and I can ride comfortably on day trips of a few hundred miles.
A used GW fits that pretty good.
I still have the '18 Gsxr1k to ride too...no way I'de have a GW as my only bike.
I'm becoming one of you old guys, this is terrible.
I Have Always wanted to wheelie a GW though...might as well get one, lol
Click to expand...
Supposedly they can pull wheelies pretty easily. I've seen videos that look pretty routine.

Not me. That's a lot of bike to repair if I tried it on mine.
 
If you Youtube yellow GW at the Dragon, you'll see a local who challenges sportbike riders on his GW...and he usually wins.
A group of local track heros here apparently met him years back, weren't very nice...and at the end were told to 'get off his mountain' ...as they lost
lmao!
Gives me hope for a GW
 
sixpack577 said:
If you Youtube yellow GW at the Dragon, you'll see a local who challenges sportbike riders on his GW...and he usually wins.
A group of local track heros here apparently met him years back, weren't very nice...and at the end were told to 'get off his mountain' ...as they lost
lmao!
Gives me hope for a GW
Click to expand...
Yep. The Wing has good power. He has about 4K in suspension upgrades. Probably understands pre-load way better than I ever will, and he has the skills to ride it like he stole it.

I scrape my highway peg and get pre-cursor epileptic seizures on the big girl.
 
MonkeyButtRides said:
SAME!!!! I've been thinking more and more lately about getting something like a Gold Wing so my wife can join me on some adventures, but the bike would be more for her then me. It would have to be like my 3rd or 4th bike...LOL
Click to expand...
Look I got mine to go 2-up transcontinental and back. Rear passenger has her own music if she wants, charge ports, a seat bottom and backrest that has been hand-made, armrest, drink holder, a windshield that keeps her from getting buffeted back there.

You gotta know where your priorities are when you get a big slow road sofa like this. Set cruise control on 80, squish back into boobs, crank on tunes, keep the intercom on, and go 8-9 hours a day.
 
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Got any pics of your GW @TallTom ?
I seriously am interested in one.
I think 2005-2017 is basically the same bike...but the 2018+ look cool too
 
sixpack577 said:
Got any pics of your GW @TallTom ?
I seriously am interested in one.
I think 2005-2017 is basically the same bike...but the 2018+ look cool too
Click to expand...
Not very good ones. This is when she first got home after 700 mile maiden trip home.

1000000433.jpg


1000000435.jpg


Took this to show new laminar flow windscreen.

1000000344.jpg



Essentially from 01 to 12 are the same. 06 was a step up in tech for cooling and an ECU upgrade. Knowing what I know now, I'd opt for an 06 or newer.

The latest iteration, and current generation, downsized more than I'd call a full touring bike. It's more a sport touring version. More power, smaller frame.
 
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Yeah, those are the models I've been looking at, I'm.sure it's not the easiest thing to work on either...
 
sixpack577 said:
Yeah, those are the models I've been looking at, I'm.sure it's not the easiest thing to work on either...
Click to expand...
Fluids, plugs, brakes, super easy. The only preventative maintenance item that's a chore is the air filter. Total PITA. Thankfully it has a long lifespan.

The Wing are notoriously super reliable. They essentially built a Civic into a bike frame. Many of it's parts are direct crossover to Honda auto parts. Aside from an A/C system you recognize a lot as a car application.

I doubt you really need to crack into anything for pretty much ever. Except the PITA aforementioned air filter.

I went through all of mine from its barn slumber of 9 years. There is a lot I never want to have to ever see again in there. Lol
 
TallTom said:
Fluids, plugs, brakes, super easy. The only preventative maintenance item that's a chore is the air filter. Total PITA. Thankfully it has a long lifespan.

The Wing are notoriously super reliable. They essentially built a Civic into a bike frame. Many of it's parts are direct crossover to Honda auto parts. Aside from an A/C system you recognize a lot as a car application.

I doubt you really need to crack into anything for pretty much ever. Except the PITA aforementioned air filter.

I went through all of mine from its barn slumber of 9 years. There is a lot I never want to have to ever see again in there. Lol
Click to expand...

Oh, well that's all good news then.
How are tire changes?
Any special stands needed?
Any recomended mods?
And does it really have AC? lol
 
sixpack577 said:
Oh, well that's all good news then.
How are tire changes?
Any special stands needed?
Any recomended mods?
And does it really have AC? lol
Click to expand...
Put it on the center stand and you can change either tire without any further equipment. The rear fender is removable quite easily to get the rear off. I went double darkside so I stuffed more tire in the rear than originally planned by Honda but it was far from difficult to do. The rear comes off almost like a car tire. 4 lugs. No swingarm to deal with.

Mods like anything are an individual thing. The best $$ I spent was a taller geared rear final drive. Took about 2 hours. Changed the whole profile of the bike. It's 20% over driven in all gears. Totally love that mod.

Windscreen as pictured.

Factory seat is fine if you're 5'6-5'9" and not overweight. I had mine completely from scratch remade to make the bike fit me. Honda adopted an upright riding position. You really can't get around it. So I had to move my "upright" back 3" and up 2". Which means the rear had to be re-made to still be comfortable. Bottom line. No big chicks can ever ride back there now. They can't on a Busa either. Lol

Upgraded brakes to EBC HH
Added a CD player and Bluetooth. And Nav. Some came with the Nav and CD package. Mine did not.

Oh yeah. I added trunk and saddlebag lighting. Seems silly until you're digging around in the dark looking for chyt you know is in there somewhere. The storage is pretty good. Bike has a lot of real estate to work with there.

What am I saying? These bikes are huge by any standard you want to measure. But that has its upside. You just point her where you want to go, set the cruise control and just let her run. You can do 500+ miles in a day and go dancing when you stop.

Lighting is excellent. Can be upgraded with LEDs and you can track them from space.

Horns are off a Civic. Lol.

It has linked braking. Which I love.
 
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TallTom said:
Put it on the center stand and you can change either tire without any further equipment. The rear fender is removable quite easily to get the rear off. I went double darkside so I stuffed more tire in the rear than originally planned by Honda but it was far from difficult to do. The rear comes off almost like a car tire. 4 lugs. No swingarm to deal with.

Mods like anything are an individual thing. The best $$ I spent was a taller geared rear final drive. Took about 2 hours. Changed the whole profile of the bike. It's 20% over driven in all gears. Totally love that mod.

Windscreen as pictured.

Factory seat is fine if you're 5'6-5'9" and not overweight. I had mine completely from scratch remade to make the bike fit me. Honda adopted an upright riding position. You really can't get around it. So I had to move my "upright" back 3" and up 2". Which means the rear had to be re-made to still be comfortable. Bottom line. No big chicks can ever ride back there now. They can't on a Busa either. Lol

Upgraded brakes to EBC HH
Added a CD player and Bluetooth. And Nav. Some came with the Nav and CD package. Mine did not.

Oh yeah. I added trunk and saddlebag lighting. Seems silly until you're digging around in the dark looking for chyt you know is in there somewhere. The storage is pretty good. Bike has a lot of real estate to work with there.

What am I saying? These bikes are huge by any standard you want to measure. But that has its upside. You just point her where you want to go, set the cruise control and just let her run. You can do 500+ miles in a day and go dancing when you stop.

Lighting is excellent. Can be upgraded with LEDs and you can track them from space.

Horns are off a Civic. Lol.

It has linked braking. Which I love.
Click to expand...
And no it doesn't have an actual A/C. But what it does do is take outside air, run down a decreasing size tube make it turn some curves, thus compressing it and it exits out at your hand and legs in vents you open and close. And the laminar windscreen in the pics, installed actually has some science there. It splits the wind and accelerates it before rejoining it over your head. Sort of the same idea of an airplane wing. A difference in air pressure brings a cooling effect to the wind rushing to fill in the lower pressure difference.

It's not cooling perse.

When it's 1 hundred frekin 11 and 127% humidity out, it's still hot, but there is some evaporative cooling helping.

I haven't ridden in the cold yet, but the manual does outline how to get heat directed to you off the engine. I doubt I'll be all over wanting to ride below 45ish.
 
TallTom said:
They have a pretty large aftermarket. Lots of chrome if that's your thing.
Click to expand...

Chrome is ok, but I'm more into functional mods, like brakes, suspension, and anything that helps comfort.
I really need to find a black one too, lol
 
TallTom said:
I'm in the same camp there. I didn't get this bike to be cleaning chrome.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I had a '94 Kawasaki zx7 years ago, black with a polished frame and swingarm, and I added chrome wheels and several other chrome bits.
It looked great too...but what a pain in the azz to keep clean and looking good...
 
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