demo ride report: 2004 Honda GoldWing

I test drove a 2004 Honda GoldWing on Saturday. Honda of Houston
was kind enough to let test their demo GW with only 248 miles on it.
I rode it about 34 miles in city traffic and highway feeder road (dadgum
I-10 was backed up as usual). The sales manager invited me to come
back and ride it for 2 or 3 hours on a weekday when things were slower.
The sad thing is that they sold the 2003 Valkyrie while I was there ! It
was a very sad feeling when I watched them roll it away.

Clutch: The wing has a hydraulic clutch with almost no friction zone.
It is pretty much a total change from my nighthawk's cable
clutch. Transmission shifted well too.

Engine: One word - Awesome ! I slowed down in 5th gear below 30
mph at one point (1000 rpm) and then rolled the throttle. She
took off like a bat out ... Total power to the 6500 rpm redline
(yes, I hit the rev limiter). Also, no choke with fuel injection !

Manuvering: No question about it, below 10 mph this thing is a boat !
However, above 10 mph, she was very manuverable and
light feeling. The low mounted flat 6 really lowers the center
of gravity for a great feel. Makes me think that the Valkyrie
is the perfect cruiser since I have yet to ride one yet.

Fairing / Windshield: Superb, just superb. The fairing is mounted to the
frame, not the forks. The mirrors were much more usable since
they were not moving with the forks. The fairing totally kept the
38 F wind off me and off my hands. The auto-canceling turn
signals are very nice too !

Reverse gear: OK, I backed it up a slight incline about 15 ft. Worked
great and was about 1 mph, just right.

Truck space: held 2 fullface helmets plus a CD changer (extra cost option)

Saddle Bags: Opened to the side instead of from the top, a little weird.

Radio / CB: radio was OK, turned it off mostly because wanted to
experience the bike

Parking: Both side stand and center stand are standard

Lynn
2000 Nighthawk 750
http://www.mylinuxisp.com/~mmcguire/

 

Do you mean that there was very little feel through the lever, or do you
mean that the clutch was pretty much on/off (grabby)?

thx,
-craigger.
02 Speed Triple

 

Clutch: The wing has a hydraulic clutch with almost no friction zone.

My NH 750 has probably about a 1/4" friction zone, almost at the
beginning of the clutch pull. The Goldwing was very grabby (on or
off) with the clutch mostly pulled all the way in.

Lynn

 

Ah - thanks for the clarification and review.

-craigger.
02 Speed Triple

 

Clutch: The wing has a hydraulic clutch with almost no friction zone.

On my K11LT I refer to it as the "Friction Point"... After riding sloppy
clutches it does take some getting used to but it is still quite possible
to work that very small friction zone while slow maneuvering...

Was there a certain point where there was an increase in the
acceleration? On my K11 that happens right around 4k... Which tells me
where I need the RPM to be for best acceleration rate... to escape a
traffic situation, for example...

My K11 has a quasi-choke... It's actually a throttle advance posing as a
choke. I use it as a left handed throttle... It'll carry me at highway
speeds in 5th gear when fully "closed"...

Is the windscreen electricly adjustable?

That is nice, isn't it?

That makes for being able to get at everything in the bag without having
to unpack the whole bag... Are they removable?

I *MUST* have the radio playing... Otherwise all I have to listen to is
the voices in my head... They can be downright scary...

 

Was there a certain point where there was an increase in the

Nope. Roll the throttle at any rpm was just about more acceleration
than I could handle. In fact, hitting the rev limiter in 1st gear just
about threw me out of the seat. Gotta remember, according to
http://www.mcnews.com/mcnews/depts/Dec03PerfIndexPart1.pdf ,
this is 101 hp and 108 ftlb of torque.

Nope. Has about 4 to 5 inches of mechanical travel (two latches).

Yes !

Did not check that. In fact, I do not think so. I think that that the
fairing and side bags / trunk are frame integrated.

Yup. But I wanted to hear those six sweet pipes on the GW (it has
three pipes on each side with a big pipe surrounding them).

Lynn

 

$128$:

Compared to what? You get used to having a lot of power eventually...
It's nice to have "excess" power on tap for getting out of situations you
shouldn't have let yerself get into to begin with...

1st gear on mine will take me up around 55-60 mph at the rev limiter...
it'll also pull the front tyre off the ground without needing to work the
clutch..

With nearly 900 lbs to carry, too...

I used to have a couple GL1000's... Even back then they were power
monsters... Not many stock bikes on the road could take 'em in a
straight line...

Sometimes I'll give my Valk buddies a hard time by telling them I used to
own a Valk when it was still called a Gold Wing...

 

In a word, save big bucks and get a new or used Triumph Trophy. Ride
one, You'll love it. Much lighter than a wing or BMW bagger but just
as comfy. More poop than a winger too.



Bob Nixon
Phoenix AZ
01 Sprint ST "RED"
03 Suzuki GSXR1000 "SILVER"

 

Well, look at it this way...

the guy falls off, it's just a guy.

But tools falling off?? BLASPHEMY!

 

I am looking forward to riding starting tomorrow. I rode Saturday,
and since then we have had bad weather or threat of bad weather. The
rest of the week is actually supposed to get up to about 60.