Ottawa, Canada.
After driving extensively driving almost 100 km since getting this machine, I have the following info to report. If you feel like forwarding this to others, please do so. Lots of you have asked about the Wing!! Thanks. Here it is.
This is the very first photo my wife Rhona took of Scott and his machine. In the background you can see the roof that I re-shingled (and fell off of - which hurt like a.....and I hired some help for the rest of the job.)
Bottom line: I am thrilled to have moved to this machine. Technology has apparently leapt forward in the last 17 years. I used to have only 92% fun on the Venture. Now I get 98% fun on the wing.
It took 20.5 litres to fill. Either it gets terrible gas mileage, or it was given to me empty. :-) It felt kind of odd putting in more than 20 litres. When I put 20 litres on the Venture, I knew I had pushed it to the gas station.
The vehicle actually feels small. That is the first impression when getting on it, and before ever having started it. One of "smallness". I dont know how they did it, but even though it weighs 100 pounds more, it is smaller. Definitely smaller than the 1500 wing too. I can put my feet on the ground more easily than I could on the Venture (not that it matters for me really).
The seat is a bit narrow at the front, and really contains you at the back. Seems comfortable enough, although I can only compare it with the aftermarket seat I had on the Venture. (I put the aftermarket one on at around 100,000km, when the original one sagged out)
My heavens, that is a nice motor! It may be slower through the quarter mile than the 84 Venture, but you would never know it while accelerating moderately at 2500rpm. What an engine! I was driving at 100km/h on the freeway, and it will wander up to 130 if you don't pay attention to the speed. Cruise control is necessary to avoid tickets, I think. I can hardly wait to head out to Winnipeg and do some hills north of Lake Superior in top gear at 90km/h. I loved doing that in the Venture. I know I will love it on this Wing. Awesome motor on the highway. Pass all the trucks labouring up the four mile hills. Effortlessly.
There is a tiny background whine. If you listen for it "to report on" you hear it. The Venture had a pronounced area around 3000 rpm where the gears would resonate, and I would always cruise either above 3000 or below 2800. The Wing seems to always be fairly quiet, as if I was on the Venture above 3000 rpm.
I have some trouble controlling the throttle at low speeds in the parking lot. I have taken to spinning the engine at 1500 (it idles at 800), while slipping the clutch continuously whenever I make slow parking lot turns. Can't be good for the machine slipping the clutch in parking lot turns, but I am afraid of giving a tiny amount of gas while turning and instantly high-siding. I actually put my foot down while turning - something I know better and have not done in 20 years - but I was going to fall inside 'cause I had trouble with the throttle.
The clutch is excellent. Easy engagement. Identical to my Venture clutch.
The sound is very different. The Venture has a "leaned on V8" type of sound, while the Honda six only makes noise while accelerating - and that sounds a bit like one of those high revving race cars on the television. Both are nice. Both have obviously been worked on to make beautiful sounds.
The brakes are fine. Every road test raves about them but I have not done anything special except stop. It does have antilock, so that provides some extra confidence.
The headlights are blinding. In full sunlight at noon on the cloudless Monday, the mechanic said to watch while he adjusted the lights up and down (same as on the Venture, but the control looks different). Then he switched on the high beam and even though I was 50 feet in front of the Wing I thought my retinas had been cooked. Good thing he did not do that at night!! There are four headlights, and two more optional ones coming in for me. (and I don't even drive at night!)
The red is gorgeous. No photo can do justice to the colour in blazing sun.
My hands get cold. Not sure if this is because I had the optional Scott handlebar warmers on the Venture, or if it is because the Wing allows the hands to be in the wind a bit more. Maybe it is because it is still winter.
The wrist bend on the Venture is a bit more than on the GoldWing. I would notice the wrist bend after a thousand km day on the Venture, but never adjusted my handlebars to reduce the bend (Venture bars are adjustable - I just never did, but I should have).
The horn is too loud. I am not going to use it. Unless I use that cool remote that honks the horn. Now THAT is hilarious!! I scared two of the children that my wife baby-sits with that little trick - honking the horn when all they did is walk near the Wing.
The self cancelling signals are just like the Venture. They turn off too soon when signalling for a right turn at an intersection, and stay on too long for lane changes on the highway.
And the handling at anything above a walk is very confidence inspiring. I took a ramp that I always "rush through" for personal amusement, but thought - this is a new bike and I will take it easy. Checked the speedo at this very relaxed pace about half way through the turn and was astonished to see I was very near the "sporting" pace on the Venture. Something about the Radial tires, and new frame etc provide absolute confidence.
The radio is too complicated. I dont listen to a radio in the car either, so that is not a real problem. I just wont use it. The intercom/ headsets are on backorder, so I wont know about that for a while.
No voltmeter on the Wing. Seems they fitted something that could run a small country, and dont feel the need to report on the voltage. Still miss it though.
The digital odometer reads up to a million miles. There are three more zeros so it could report if you had gone more than a million, or a hundred million. Now that is confidence!!
And the final thing to report:
I am driving outside, sitting on an outside motorcycle seat, feeling the wind in my face, and I can push a button which will tell me if it is hot or cold outside. Now that is an extra I did not expect! The manual says that if it is colder than about -10C (about +10F), it will refuse to advise you of the temperature. That is even funnier.
Thanks for listening. I am so hyper!!
.Scott 16 April 2001
Additional details on this particular GoldWing can be found here.
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