Riding the goldwing for the first time

[DonBGoldWing]

I have road motocycles since I was 16, seems like a lifetime ago, but most of my bikes have been on the small side 350 to 400 or so.
What is the thangs I need to whach out for with this Big bike, Also I am 5' 7" and short legged.
I am going to try and lower the seat as much as possible, any thought on doing this.
Hows the bike handle in slow speed and parking lots etc. I have never had any problums rideing bikes, just never road one this big before out on the road.

[octane]

Hi Don
..I would say; no problems when riding; slow or fast.

The only 'problem' I had when I started riding these bikes
was the problem of the bikes weight once you come to a stand still,
and you haven't been doing a bit of foreward thinking:

don't park the bike on a decline with no space to maneuver
forewards;
like in; driving into a parking space that 'slopes' down to,
let's say; a wall.

No, there is no reverse-gear

Yes I looked dif'netly un-cool fighting to move the bike
backward out of the spot, sitting on it yanking it back half an inch/
holding brake/half an inck back/holding brake/one quarter inch back..etc
(took me for ages)

Apart from that, it's just a little different from other bikes,
and it's surprisingly agile.

Octane

[CharlieT]

I'm kind of like you. Been riding bikes for, well....41yrs at this point oldies
Mostly they have been off road bikes...MX'ers, Enduro, Dual sport for the most part. Did have a "big Bke" back in the day when a 500cc Triumph Daytona was considered to be a fairly big bike!

SOmewhere around 10 or so years ago, got one of the original Interceptors, which was by far the biggest bike I ever had. Even that thing felt hugh to me at first. I was always kind of leery about getting a garguantuan couch bike. I was quite surprised the first time I rode the Wing. It sits loewr than the Interceptor and its CG is much much lower. Once it is moving, even at a parking lot walking pace, you really don't even notice its weight. It actually feels more stable at loer speed than does the interceptor. It is also much more stable when riding two-up.

Like octane says though, think ahead. Was moving it around in the garage once and and let the front wheel dropp down in the little depression for the floor drain. WHoops, bad mistake. I could not get the thing pushed out of there for the love of me!! Had to put it back on the stand and get the old lady to come out and give me a little bit of a push. Only saving grace was that I was in the garage where no one else could see the big bad 6'1" 200lb biker dude having to have his 5'5" 140lb wife give him and his bike a push to move it.

I also learned to keep the thing out of the soft sand next to the garage ( more embarrassin than the garage because I couldn't even put it on the sidestand, was stuck their like an upside down Galapagos turttle) It most certainly ain't no dirtbike. Just think ahead about the type of bike you are on and what it weighs before hand and you should do fine.

The only area I had to get adjusted to was in the brakes. I've got two interpceptors now and I guess maye I got spoild by there awesome brakes. With the Wing I find it is easy to get going faster than you think you are without even noticing it.....until you got to stop the thing. The brakes work fine, but like i said, they are not sport bike-stoppy brakes.

[Whiskerfish]

Beeing short legged will be a hinderance. I am only 5-5 on a good day and with that dang 32 inch seat I generally just get tip toes to the ground. You can drop the front tubes in the trip trees but it changes the steering geometry significantly. I have spend hours at a time doing the school parking lot thing until I could go lock to lock in slow speed circles and if you move your tubes that changes a lot. Many others have said it before but "there are those that have dropped their goldwing and there are those that will drop their goldwing and no others". I have been unfortunate enough to drop mine 3 times now. All in yards or on grass at extremely slow speeds. With short legs be prepared this will most likely happen to you. Might pratice picking this beast up sometime when you have a friend there to back you up. It takes a bit of work. Good Luck and enjoy!!
WF

[quakeholio]

Just like wiskerfish has said you can drop the fork tubes an inch or so down the tripple tree, and the other thing is putting on some 11" shocks. That should help keep some of your stearing geometry, but I don't know how much.

Even though I don't own a Wing I can agree as to a bit of strategy, the CB900C isn't much less of a bike the the GL1100 in that area. What I would hate is to have one of these bikes in Seattle. As I remember the town is pretty much a hill.

[NiteMare]

I'm only 5'2" (28"inside leg) , never had a problem riding my old wings (1000 +1100) solo or two up either round town or loaded for camping both of them were plain janes, the only real time i had any difficulty was on one holiday where i got caught out on an exceptionally tight hairpin in Cornwall when i stalled it halfway round, I had to reverse it carefully back across the road, fully loaded with passenger, to level ground so I could restart and pull away again, since then I've had numerous holidays wandering around Wales exploring thier single track lanes that go up the side of the mountains, 1 in 6 in places if not steeper...

anyway to sum up Wings will do most things that other bikes will but just not in quite the same manner, they take very little getting used to and are surprisingly relaxing and lazy to ride...

the only thing i struggled with were a pair of aftermarket panniers/saddlebags which i bumped a few times going thru narrow gaps

[octane]

the only thing i struggled with were a pair of aftermarket panniers/saddlebags which i bumped a few times going thru narrow gaps

LOL
been there
done that
forgot that ....surely some sort of mental blocking, as it was SO embarresing...I mean; what did I bump into ?
My own car...hear me?; my own bloody car ! ha ha ha

Feeble excuse;
been riding nimble non-saddlebag bikes for 28 years
and this was my third ride ever with my GL witch is equipped
with this pair of Krauser bags the size of Rhode Island.

Octane
PS: No I never told the insurance company LOL

[Zryder]

Well I have always favoured a cruiser type bike and own my GL so what a great plateform to build from . Well I am 5 ' 7 " with a 28 " inseam . I dropped my forks 1 " cut down my stock frame , put 11 " shocks on the replace the stock air 12-3/4 " and the seat is now at 26 " But as you all know the GL frame is wide . So I am now giving it a more narrow frame , a single back bone if you will from the front frame cross over 3/4 of the way back where it branches off in a Y to each side of the rear frame section . Pics of finish project in album when done .


Zryder

[QUEEENlE]

Just a small tip that might help ...if/when/maybe ...it goes down...straighten the handlebars as best you can while still on the ground ... turn your back to the bike ... squat down ... one hand on the bike at the seat and one closer to the front of the dummy tank .. stand up ..slowly turn around and put the side stand down...<grin> ..take off your helmet ...curse a bit at the cars that went by and didnt stop ..sit on the curb or your front step ..light a smoke... and wonder how many saw you do it.<grin>

Hugs
Q

[NiteMare]

strangely I am keeping my eyes open for another pair of panniers (hopefully i won't wreck these), but the ones i fancy are the old Craig Vetter ones that have sloping sides (they look like a pyramid from the rear when with the top box), i'm not interested in the top box as i want the rack for my camping gear but i like the shape of those boxes and hopefully they'll paint up to match the rest of my panels in a style that won't look like an afterthought...

hopefully a pair will show up on ebay.uk sometime but i'm in no rush for them as it's steadily looking like this bike won't even be seeing tarmac till next year, i keep finding other bits to paint and more ideas that look intreguing (sp).

i haven't even got the motor up and running as yet, just had it cough and splutter so for all i know it could be knocking it's brains out

[DonBGoldWing]

Thanks for all the advise and help, but the proof on the pudding is doing, so sometime soon I will be giving it a try and using the advise that I have been given.

Thanks,

donbgoldwing

[the chef]

hey don, my 80 model was previously owned by a man shorter than me and he had taken the seat to a good upholstery shop where the cover was removed and some of the foam was removed with Ginsu knife, especially on the sides where your legs go down, they did a really good job, it looks great, only some wing nuts would ever be able to tell its been done ,but that really would only give you another inch or inch and a half. do this and get some lifts for your boots, may be the cheapest way to go and not change the handeling in any way .Or replace the seat with something else lower.If you lower the suspension in any way, you will sacrifice your cornering clearences and that could be a bad day in the making . I remember the old fellow said he still beat his shins up pretty bad, I did the same thing when I first got it from him but I wore some shin guards until I got used to the beast .The only other advice I could give you about riding a bike this size is think ahead when you park, make it easy on yourself for when you start back up , and allow yourself enough room to stop, these bikes are heavy. Im sure you are going to love the wing , welcome to wingmanship! Let us know what you decide to do .Have fun and watch out for people in cages. the chef .....from hell... flamer spam

[the chef]

hey don, my 80 model was previously owned by a man shorter than me and he had taken the seat to a good upholstery shop where the cover was removed and some of the foam was removed with Ginsu knife, especially on the sides where your legs go down, they did a really good job, it looks great, only some wing nuts would ever be able to tell its been done ,but that really would only give you another inch or inch and a half. do this and get some lifts for your boots, may be the cheapest way to go and not change the handeling in any way .Or replace the seat with something else lower.If you lower the suspension in any way, you will sacrifice your cornering clearences and that could be a bad day in the making . I remember the old fellow said he still beat his shins up pretty bad, I did the same thing when I first got it from him but I wore some shin guards until I got used to the beast .The only other advice I could give you about riding a bike this size is think ahead when you park, make it easy on yourself for when you start back up , and allow yourself enough room to stop, these bikes are heavy. Im sure you are going to love the wing , welcome to wingmanship! Let us know what you decide to do .Have fun and watch out for people in cages. the chef .....from hell... flamer spam

[octane]

PS: No I never told the insurance company LOL

...ooops; could be misunderstood.
It's not that I didn't tell the insuranse company the truth!
I just that I never told/reported to the insurance company at all.

My fault, my expense!