quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
VQ30DE

Love the VQ series. 330k miles on mine.

Yeah, mine was the older VG, shared with the 300ZX I think.
Fun motor, let down by the 4AT behind it.

90s Infiniti had sticker shock maintenance, moreso than Nissan. Wild what some stuff cost for that car.

2006 Boxster, 2016 Jeep Wrangler

Forgot about this one in the early 80's.

Finally found a pic of my 1979 Honda CBX with the aftermarket Mike Hailwood 6-into-6 megaphone exhaust system with removable (6) baffles! What a sound!!!
(my daughter did NOT drive it, but loved getting a brisk sample of the roar. She’s now 50 and has 2 sons that would have really loved this scooter)

I've had a few that I really liked, two of which were stolen.

This was stolen while I was in class at Brooklyn PolyTech:

---

This one was stolen overnight, while parked outside of my apartment in Chicago:

This thing is SOOOOOOOOO much fun!!

V-Tail, that BMW is fantastic! Wish I could have owned one when I was younger.

When the International Race of Champions series began in 1973, Penske used Porsches, color-coded to the drivers. After a couple years he got tired of maintaining them and switched to Camaro (no-doubt he was pressured by Chevrolet as he owned a Chevy dealership at the time).

When he sold off the Porsches, a friend-of-a-friend bought and campaigned the green one, and your car looked just like it, color-wise. I got to work on it a few times, before races at Road Atlanta and Sebring, IIRC.

As to the BMW, I tried to find a good R-100 RT that I could afford, but they were out of my price range, so I bought a used Gold Wing instead. Absolute PIG!

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:

V-Tail, that BMW is fantastic!
...
I tried to find a good R-100 RT that I could afford, but they were out of my price range, so I bought a used Gold Wing instead. Absolute PIG!

I bought that 1960 R-50 from Butler & Smith (the importer at the time). They had a retail store in NYC. It was my first BMW. Price was $995. It was my commuter, year round (as long as there was no ice on the street). I came out of class at Brooklyn PolyTech one evening and it was gone.

Re the R-100RT, I never had one of those. While working in Spain in 1977, I took a commuter flight to Munich to pick up a "naked" (no fairing) R100 at the BMW delivery center. Rode that in Spain, Andorra, and France for a year or so, brought it back to the U.S. and wound up trading it for a R100RS.

Gold Wing -- I only rode one once, for maybe 1/4 or 1/2 mile. The grounds maintenance guy at the local airport missed a turn on the exit road. I saw this on my way home and stopped. He was waiting for the ambulance, and asked me to secure his Gold Wing, so I rode it to his hangar to lock it up there. My impression agrees with yours -- a pig. Heavy, hard to handle, just the opposite of a nimble BMW.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
...My impression agrees with yours -- a pig. Heavy, hard to handle, just the opposite of a nimble BMW.

Old Man Honda was about 5-foot-nothing, and only approved the GW after riding it. That's the legend about why it's such a tight fit for normal-sized people. I commuted on it for a couple years, including a Chicago winter (mild, luckily) and always felt like I was driving an uncomfortable, underpowered Buick sedan.

I haven't owned a motorcycle since that one and probably never will again, but I sure wish I'd had a BMW.

By the way, that $995 for your bike in 1960, I think the original Cub 50 was about $150, and the 250 Scrambler was about $250. Tough competition!

While still large and heavy, newer 2018+ Geldings are lighter and much sportier than Wings of past. They offer a "Tour" version with trunk and passenger backrest as well as regular Goldwing which does away with the trunk along with a few other items. I had a 2001 Tour that my wife and I traveled on and now a 2022 Goldwing for my heavy weight solo tourer.

Yeah it's still heavy but having the weight so low makes slow speed handling surprisingly easy. Honda really worked on this with aluminum frame, low mounted boxer motor, airbox up where the tank would be and gas tank located under the seat. The Tour version does have the heavy trunk mounted up high and back but chances are with one of these you'll also have a passenger back there and the trunk/backrest makes all the difference for passenger comfort.

While I wouldn't have a Goldwing for an only motorcycle I like it sort of as a hot rod with its big 1,800cc 6 cylinder engine. It's an enjoyable bike for traveling, surprisingly fun to ride through twistys, and even fine on decent gravel roads. The optional 7 speed dual clutch transmission functions in manual where you trigger shift it with your left hand or you can place it in auto and let it shift for you. The windshield goes up and down at the touch of a button and with its A-arm front suspension the bike just glides over small bumps and breaks in pavement yet the front doesn't dive when hard on the brake. The 6-cylinder boxer (a la Porsche) makes a deep, throaty sound w/o being too loud and at 75 mph is just loafing along at 2,500 rpm. Engine, radiator, and exhaust heat is cleverly routed out making it comfortable even in hot weather as I discovered riding into eastern Montana in 107 degree temp (I would have been cooked on my Guzzi Stelvio).





Cruise set at 80 just watching the scenery go by while the big 6 cylinder just loafs along.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
While still large and heavy, newer 2018+ Geldings are lighter and much sportier than Wings of past. They offer a "Tour" version with trunk and passenger backrest as well as regular Goldwing which does away with the trunk along with a few other items. I had a 2001 Tour that my wife and I traveled on and now a 2022 Goldwing for my heavy weight solo tourer.

Yeah it's still heavy but having the weight so low makes slow speed handling surprisingly easy. Honda really worked on this with aluminum frame, low mounted boxer motor, airbox up where the tank would be and gas tank located under the seat. The Tour version does have the heavy trunk mounted up high and back but chances are with one of these you'll also have a passenger back there and the trunk/backrest makes all the difference for passenger comfort.

While I wouldn't have a Goldwing for an only motorcycle I like it sort of as a hot rod with its big 1,800cc 6 cylinder engine. It's an enjoyable bike for traveling, surprisingly fun to ride through twistys, and even fine on decent gravel roads. The optional 7 speed dual clutch transmission functions in manual where you trigger shift it with your left hand or you can place it in auto and let it shift for you. The windshield goes up and down at the touch of a button and with its A-arm front suspension the bike just glides over small bumps and breaks in pavement yet the front doesn't dive when hard on the brake. The 6-cylinder boxer (a la Porsche) makes a deep, throaty sound w/o being too loud and at 75 mph is just loafing along at 2,500 rpm. Engine, radiator, and exhaust heat is cleverly routed out making it comfortable even in hot weather as I discovered riding into eastern Montana in 107 degree temp (I would have been cooked on my Guzzi Stelvio).

Always thought the F6B/Std Wing looked better than the Tour.
Didn't realize they'd dropped the F6B name from it at some point.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

Always thought the F6B/Std Wing looked better than the Tour.
Didn't realize they'd dropped the F6B name from it at some point.

I do as well, not unlike a Street Glide vs an Ultra.

The last redesign was for model year 2018 and at that time they did away with the F6B moniker so now there's Goldwing to replace F6B and Goldwing Tour.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

Always thought the F6B/Std Wing looked better than the Tour.
Didn't realize they'd dropped the F6B name from it at some point.

I do as well, not unlike a Street Glide vs an Ultra.

The last redesign was for model year 2018 and at that time they did away with the F6B moniker so now there's Goldwing to replace F6B and Goldwing Tour.

DCT only would give me a small bit of pause on it, though.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

DCT only would give me a small bit of pause on it, though.

Yeah I thought if only one version was to have the 6-speed manual available it'd be the Goldwing, not the loaded Goldwing Tour. But Honda probably sells many more Tours so let that model have both transmissions available.

Personally in 2021 when I was deciding to buy I kept going back and forth over what transmission, the DCT which I like but was $1,000 more, or 6-speed which I also liked. The top 3 gears in both transmissions are the same ratios. By late 2021 the bikes that showed up at my dealer were 2022's and that made my decision for me because they only came with the DCT. I actually like this transmission for Goldwings, it's my 3rd DCT after a 2016 Africa Twin and 2017 VFR1200X. I generally ride in the "auto" mode and just override to downshift when approaching a corner, but when riding closer to my limit (LOL which isn't very fast anymore) I put it in full manual mode.

I suppose, for a tourer, the DCT would be a good option.
2/3 of my cars are autos, so if I were buying a bike, I'd want to move that number to 50%.

Of course, if I were bike shopping, my mindset isn't in the touring class, at the moment.

Matter of personal preference I suppose. My Ridgeline is auto (with paddle shift) while my Corolla (and Civic Si when it comes in) is manual. All my motorcycles are manual except the Goldwing. I realize the fast cars like BMW, Porsche, Corvette, Ferrari, have gone to DCT or full auto but I just like manuals.

Were I to have only one car/truck it might have to be an automatic simply because that's what 98% of them are now. But were I to have only one motorcycle it'd definitely be a manual and not a Goldwing, something lighter. Having said this, for a second, third, etc., motorcycle where you want something different, a Goldwing with DCT fits that niche and just works as a heavy sports tourer for me.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
2017 VFR1200X

What did you think of the VFR1200X?
I had a VFR800. Loved it.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:

That Goldwing is 'dare I say' SEXY, and I imagine a facilitator of MUCH fun, which is NOT unsurprising considering I've heard Hondas are 'fun to drive ride'!

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

What did you think of the VFR1200X?
I had a VFR800. Loved it.

I would like a VFR 750 or 800. Regarding the VFR1200X; the engine, DCT, and overall build quality were excellent but TBH I just didn't get on with it very well.
For me it was both heavy and quite top heavy, bars a little too far of a reach forward, front suspension punishingly stiff while the rear was too soft, throttle was jerky and abrupt so it was hard to ride smoothly at slow speed especially on rough roads, and not having cruise control was a head scratcher. I traded it on something, I forget what now, after one season.

Thank you nhracecraft! I kinda like the look myself, other than the flat paint.

Always thought the VFR800 was a good looking bike.