Time to say goodbye

[Ace Handler]

Glad to be alive today. Took a buddy for a ride on the wing while traveling (about 900 miles from home). We were having a great time and I pulled to a stop on a side street and waiting for a car to pass so I could make a left turn. All of a sudden I heard it. It was the unmistakable screeching of car tires as a silver Dodge Charger came up behind me doing perhaps 30 miles per hour. Later on we looked at the tire marks: There were two 30 foot stripes on the road. By the time I figured out THAT the noise I was hearing was actually a car trying to stop BEHIND me, I hit the throttle on the Honda. I launched it forward just as the car came to a stop where I had been. It all happened in a split second. The car just sat there for maybe 10 seconds as the driver sat and perhaps tried to get over what she's just done, By buddy turned around in time to see that it was indeed a lady.

I pulled over on the side of the road and waited for her to pass on by. But darked out windows were never rolled down and no words were exchanged as she went her way. It took a minute or two for the adrenaline to dissipate, so I just sat there. That was when 1 of 3 fellas, who'd been standing and talking in their driveway maybe 50 feet away, motioned to us. He held up his two hands in front of his face, about an inch apart, indicating how close we'd come to a trip to the hospital. I'm feeling extremely thankful that I am not writing this from a hospital bed this morning.

I'm also thinking that if the new wing had the flashing LED brake light that I have on my FJR, she might have seen me sooner. Note to self: get SOMETHING done about this ASAP. I'm certainly thanking the Lord for tapping that lady on the shoulder at just the right moment. I walked away from this one, and I am one very fortunate rider. 

I began riding in 1966. This is not my first close call, but this is the first time anything like this has happened. Typically, it's somebody pulling out in front of me, which I have always avoided by driving defensively. This was different. Fine, I could have been watching my rearview mirror, which I often do, but well... not this time. 

We all know the risks. I'm reminded that no matter how careful ya drive, this can happen to any one of us. No wonder we often say to each other, "Ride safe..." Feeling extra happy today to look in the mirror and know I'm fine and all is well. I won't bother to thank my lucky stars. This was not a case of being lucky. I"d rather be blessed than lucky any day: so glad that somebody was looking out for me. 

Wow - what a tale!  You're Spidey senses were working THAT day!

I've been watching hours of videos on FakeTube(!) and this type of accident happens fairly often.  Distraction!  There's even a video circulating recently of a bike embedded in the grill of a car, the rider nowhere to be seen and the driver just bombing along on the slab, looking oblivious while the rain of sparks streams along the undercarriage of his car!

I found some bulbs that might or might not interest (bought them for the car) - good old 1137 dual-filaments with LED and they strobe.  eBay is great for that kinda stuff (if you're willing to wait).

So glad you missed it "by that much" (M. Smart)!

 

[Goodman4]

Interesting note: how does 800 pounds feel like 600? The bike indeed scales at just over 800 pounds. But it's just amazing to me that it just doesn't feel that way. 

It's the lower center of gravity.  I'm a little younger and maybe a little taller than you, but I have dropped the FJR twice and the wing once - all turning around in gravel.  I can get my feet solid on the ground with the wing and just balls my feet with FJR. Glad you're enjoying the wing.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Still clickin' along on the new gold wing: have just under 600 miles now.

Interesting note: how does 800 pounds feel like 600? The bike indeed scales at just over 800 pounds. But it's just amazing to me that it just doesn't feel that way. Everybody will notice that once under way, it flicks back and forth like a much lighter machine. But even at parking lot speeds, or just muscling it around the garage, it feels seriously lighter than it is. While I'm at it, i'm loving the "walking speed" forward and reverse. On my DCT, these are both driven by the engine: so very easy and convenient to use, especially with my short legs (29 inch inseam). Gone is the electrically powered reverse. Makes maneuvering the bike around the parking space sooooo much easier. Don't shoot me for saying this, but backing my FJR out of the shed is a scary experience for me, EVERY time I do it. I can't do so... sitting on the bike: legs are too short to generate enough push power to get it out of the shed and 10 feet back onto the grass so I can hop on board and take off. This always must be done standing beside the bike and muscling it around. Not an easy task. This may be no big deal for many of you, but it is for me. The Honda? Sit on board, hit reverse, and back her up slowly... easy peasy. Little things like this are a real plus for me, especially since this 65 year old body doesn't have the strength it used to have. Don't laugh, your day is coming my friend

I rode Phil and Charlene's 2018 DCT while we were in Red Lodge. Maybe a 15 minute ride. Wow, what a bike. That walking feature is awesome. The bike was just this light nimble thing underneath me. It never felt like it was 800lbs. I was marveling to my wife about how much I liked that bike and my middle daughter asked, "Is this you asking mom to buy a new motorcycle?" Haha...it was not, as I don't think I'm ready for one yet but dang. Maybe one day!

 

[Bugnatr]

Still clickin' along on the new gold wing: have just under 600 miles now.

Interesting note: how does 800 pounds feel like 600? The bike indeed scales at just over 800 pounds. But it's just amazing to me that it just doesn't feel that way. Everybody will notice that once under way, it flicks back and forth like a much lighter machine. But even at parking lot speeds, or just muscling it around the garage, it feels seriously lighter than it is. While I'm at it, i'm loving the "walking speed" forward and reverse. On my DCT, these are both driven by the engine: so very easy and convenient to use, especially with my short legs (29 inch inseam). Gone is the electrically powered reverse. Makes maneuvering the bike around the parking space sooooo much easier. Don't shoot me for saying this, but backing my FJR out of the shed is a scary experience for me, EVERY time I do it. I can't do so... sitting on the bike: legs are too short to generate enough push power to get it out of the shed and 10 feet back onto the grass so I can hop on board and take off. This always must be done standing beside the bike and muscling it around. Not an easy task. This may be no big deal for many of you, but it is for me. The Honda? Sit on board, hit reverse, and back her up slowly... easy peasy. Little things like this are a real plus for me, especially since this 65 year old body doesn't have the strength it used to have. Don't laugh, your day is coming my friend

600 miles in a month and a half?   I've had my 18 DCT (I bought the one that AJ rode) 2 weeks ago and have added over 700 miles on it. J/K  

You should have ridden the previous Hippo to enjoy 909 pounds, I put close to 100 k on my 08.  Actually it wasn't that bad but this new wing is the bees knees. Getting to know the DCT better every ride while using the paddle shifter in the twisties to set up corner speed in tour mode. Fun - smoooooth bike, Honda did a nice job with the new gen Wing.

 

[HyperPete]

Goldwing Docs is a good forum.  Steve Saunders site was the best, in my opinion, but after VerticalScope bought it, it's just a cookie-cutter motorsports site now.

Good luck!

 

[Knifemaker]

The GF says sell it and cut your losses but I feel i'm so close to finding a solution in either fitting  of LSL Superbike kit or finding a machinist who can turn something up in the form of a set of risers I read someone got made for them (Lenker adaptors) I think is what they are called but are no longer available.

I believe the issue stems from the angle of my wrist while I'm sitting on the bike and the possibility of being able to adjust the angle of the bars outwards would put my shoulder arm and wrist in a better more natural position. 

This was the biggest issue I had with my FJR. Luckily it was a 2006 model, and I was able to swing out the “adjustable” bars about 10 degrees after pulling a positioning pin and pushing them out as far as I could. 

  The pain and discomfort went away. As your model lacks the adjustable bars, I would strongly suggest going with the LSL kit as you can then use any bar that gets your wrists straight inline with your forearm, which I think is needed to solve your issues.  

 

[Knifemaker]

The GF says sell it and cut your losses but I feel i'm so close to finding a solution in either fitting  of LSL Superbike kit or finding a machinist who can turn something up in the form of a set of risers I read someone got made for them (Lenker adaptors) I think is what they are called but are no longer available.

I believe the issue stems from the angle of my wrist while I'm sitting on the bike and the possibility of being able to adjust the angle of the bars outwards would put my shoulder arm and wrist in a better more natural position. 

This was the biggest issue I had with my FJR. Luckily it was a 2006 model, and I was able to swing out the “adjustable” bars about 10 degrees after pulling a positioning pin and pushing them out as far as I could. 

  The pain and discomfort went away. As your model lacks the adjustable bars, I would strongly suggest going with the LSL kit as you can then use any bar that gets your wrists straight inline with your forearm, which I think is needed to solve your issues.  

 

[Bounce]

2003 too. I did the Lenkenadapter to add adjustable angles to the rise through bikejohnny.com

https://www.fjr1300.info/mods/lenker.html

 

[garyahouse]

Ha: here it is two weeks later and I haven't driven the Wing since. I'm working every day and just too tired to ride anything when I get home each night. I'm 1200 miles from home, the 'wing is in a friend's garage here in town, and I'm remodeling a "flip" house in Gary, Ind with both working together AND staying with my buddy Matt who lives here in the area. Maybe around October I'll trailer up the 'wing and head back home to Florida. On the way I'll stop off at the Tail of the Dragon and give her a work out. But until then, it likely won't get a lot of miles.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Gary, I am glad to see you are still around.  I am sad that you bought a GoldWing you don't ride.

A couple days ago I met up with Pop for a short FJR ride.  Pop will be 75 this month and he really looks it these days.  I keep wondering when he will retire his FJR but he doesn't seem to be ready just yet.  We were just out of his driveway when his voice in my headset said, "Man this bike feels gooood!"  A couple miles later he said, "We need to get on these things and Go Somewhere."  

Reading through this thread I remember the time we talked Pop into swapping his '07 FJR for my cousin's '08 GoldWing just outside of Taos NM.  After a few miles Pop was fussing into my headset that he didn't like it.  A couple miles later Pop was saying he wanted to swap back.  I was looking for a place to pull over and make the swap when Pop's voice came into my helmet with, "If you don't find a place to pull this thing over I am gonna run it into a ditch and walk back to Louisiana."

After we put him back on his old FJR and got him calmed down Pop hit me with this line:  "By the time I am old enough to want to ride a GoldWing I am going to be too old to ride a Goldwing."   Later he said it felt like sitting on a couch that was strapped to the top of a delivery van.

I know the new GoldWings have come a long way and it's great to see they went smaller instead of bigger.  But the newer FJRs are vastly improved over the old Gen1s as well.

 

[Bounce]

Gen 1? GL1000? Wow! No wonder he wanted back on the FJR.

I had a Gen 2, Gen 3, and Gen 4 before swapping the 1998se for the FJR. Wow!  It took a bit to adapt to the extra power.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Bounce if you are answering me, it was a 2008 GoldWing.  The 1800 Hondapotamous.  I actually like the big Honda pretty well but Pop did not.

We had a 1984 GoldWing Interstate, a Wineberry Red 1200.  We loved that thing and it is still my favorite of all the GoldWings.

 

[SLK50]

After 4 Gold Wings over 14 years I, too,

decided I was too young for them and

bought me an ‘06 FJR. 

Never looked back. Never been happier. 

 

[Bounce]

Bounce if you are answering me, it was a 2008 GoldWing.  The 1800 Hondapotamous.  I actually like the big Honda pretty well but Pop did not.

We had a 1984 GoldWing Interstate, a Wineberry Red 1200.  We loved that thing and it is still my favorite of all the GoldWings.

Gotcha. GL1200 would be gen 3. GL1500 gen 4 and then several iterations of the GL1800. Short of the Gen 1 GL1100, it would seen the FJR is lighter than any.  I can say I looked back because the riding position on the Wing (after so many years), and my neck issues after the fusion,, the lean-forward-and-look-up position of the FJR was killing me during the 03 IBR. Risers helped a bit after installing them when I got home.

 

[garyahouse]

Promised I'd stop in from time to time. Have 19k on the Wing now, averaging about 6k per year just like I did on my FJR. Took it up to Michigan and off to Tail of the Dragon a couple times, we've put in a few miles. My buddy Mark still rides my 05 FJR with about 67k on it now.
The FJR
I sold it to Mark for 3500 w/54k on the clock and some scraped up plastic thanks to a slow speed rear brake lock up on a sharp corner at EOM in '17. Gotta love those crummy ABS blocks on the Gen 1 bikes. Lost my rear anti lock function and it cost me dearly. Anyway, Mark bought a flood damaged bike from this forum last Oct., and though he couldn't resurrect the electrics, he did pirate a number of fairing pieces and the RDL seat from the bike and made his FJR look like new again. It's still a beautiful machine and runs perfectly, of course. Ha, I keep telling him he oughta check the valves some day: it's never been done. He'll keep the other FJR around for parts, or to sell stuff to anyone responding to his add on this forum. Anyway, we ride together often.
The 2018 Gold Wing DCT tour
At first I had some nasty handlebar wobble just like I had on my FJR. A set of Centramatic wheel balancers cured that problem for good. Yay me !!! I installed a Pathfinder rear spoiler/sequential brake light on the trunk: Now I've got some serious brake lights. A set of Gold Strike highway pegs and and "Ultimate" back rest took care of any comfort issues, and other than a couple other minor farkles, she's basically stock. Love, love, love that machine and ride it often. The comfort is exactly what I needed, and came just in time. I likely would have just quit riding if I still had the FJR, as I said, my old body just couldn't handle the riding position any more. I still ride the FJR from time to time, and to be honest it's a better bike now that it has a Russel Day Long seat. But even so, it's not even close to the Gold Wing. It's just a totally different riding position, period. Great for most, but not for me. Wish this were not the case, as I could have saved myself 23,000 dollars, but oh well. Hey, I'm still riding and that is priceless.
The Gold Wing is not as easy to work on as the FJR. It's proving to be just as reliable, and that's saying something. The FJR had a perfect record with the exception of the failed rear ABS, needing to synch the throttle bodies and replace the headlight lenses. They became badly cracked... looked like spider webs... by the time it was 6 years old. But mechanically, she's still running perfectly. Back to the Honda: it's an all day job to change the air filter on the Gold Wing. That's the one Achilles heel of this bike. And since I'm lazy, I just have my favorite mechanic handle it. I'd rather ride.
The ride comfort is second to none, for me at least. All day in the saddle is doable, tho I'm too old to find all day ANYWHERE comfortable. The Honda is much lighter on it's feet than the FJR was, especially at parking lot speeds. The new Honda is light years ahead of the older Gold Wings in this department. The forward and reverse walking speed mode controlled by the paddle shifters is stellar. Wish I'd had that on the FJR. Handling is solid, stable, planted, predictable at any speed. No nose dive during heavy braking. Handlebars don't jar up and down with the forks: the front suspension is amazing. Can it get around the corners as fast as the FJR? Seems like it to me, but I'm sure at the racetrack it would be no match. But it feels like it to me, and that's all that counts: no complaints about handling. Acceleration? No contest... we all know that. But it will get up and go in sport mode: it'll surprise ya. But at really low RPM's, I'm talking just off idle, it's amazing. I've found that I really love cranking up the throttle at 1300 RPM's just to feel that torque. No need to wind it up. I can let the DCT shift, or do so manually. Great feature.
Wind buffeting is non existent: something my FJR didn't have. Love having the 4 speaker stereo on board: it blutooths seamlessly to my helmet and my phone; and the horizontally opposed six cylinder stereo sounds pretty good too.
But for me, one huge plus is the confidence. The Wing is so light on it's feet due to that low center of gravity, it doesn't have that top heavy clumsy feel when I'm backing it out of the garage, the shed, the parking lot, etc. The seat is lower to the ground and makes it easier as well. So many little things that make it a great bike for me.
All that said, I loved that old FJR, we did 50k miles together. It was reliable, quick, and smooth. I couldn't ask for more. Unfortunately, this old body just didn't agree and it was time to make a change. But I'm glad that I'm still riding. So I promised to check back in from time to time.
There ya go. Ride safe fellas.
Gary

 

[BigOgre]

You sure you don't work for Honda? If not, you should. You'd make a heck of a salesman. And your bike looks great in that pic too btw.

Thanks for writing that for us all. Stop back when you can, always enjoyed your posts.

 

[garyahouse]

You sure you don't work for Honda? If not, you should. You'd make a heck of a salesman. And your bike looks great in that pic too btw.

Thanks for writing that for us all. Stop back when you can, always enjoyed your posts.

Good one. I was a pretty good "salesman" for Yamaha WHEN I rode the FJR: loved that machine for so many reasons. Sad that as I aged, by back overruled and I had to sell it. Gotta admit, every time I see it, I'm reminded of what a beautiful machine it is. Even tho my old Yammie is 18 years old, it still looks amazing. Mark's taking good care of it, and I'm glad it went to a good home.

 

[someguy]

how are things... any updates??

 

[art miller]

Gary, I am glad to see you are still around. I am sad that you bought a GoldWing you don't ride.

A couple days ago I met up with Pop for a short FJR ride. Pop will be 75 this month and he really looks it these days. I keep wondering when he will retire his FJR but he doesn't seem to be ready just yet. We were just out of his driveway when his voice in my headset said, "Man this bike feels gooood!" A couple miles later he said, "We need to get on these things and Go Somewhere."

Reading through this thread I remember the time we talked Pop into swapping his '07 FJR for my cousin's '08 GoldWing just outside of Taos NM. After a few miles Pop was fussing into my headset that he didn't like it. A couple miles later Pop was saying he wanted to swap back. I was looking for a place to pull over and make the swap when Pop's voice came into my helmet with, "If you don't find a place to pull this thing over I am gonna run it into a ditch and walk back to Louisiana."

After we put him back on his old FJR and got him calmed down Pop hit me with this line: "By the time I am old enough to want to ride a GoldWing I am going to be too old to ride a Goldwing." Later he said it felt like sitting on a couch that was strapped to the top of a delivery van.

I know the new GoldWings have come a long way and it's great to see they went smaller instead of bigger. But the newer FJRs are vastly improved over the old Gen1s as well.

Tell your Pop to keep riding as long as he feels capable. Age is only a number to a point. I am 82 and enjoy riding just as much now as I did when I was 40 years younger. My riding buddy Gary and I do two multi thousand mile rides every spring and fall. Life is good enjoy it on a FJR!!

 

[tschutter]

Gary, this is really late in coming but when I owned an 84 GW, I jointed this forum and really enjoyed it. GW Owners Forum The meet and greets were great opportunity to get together and ride - and to meet those you'd befriended online.
Good luck with you riding - stay safe

 

[Concourier]

@garyahouse - Nice writeup, and glad you shared such honest sentiments. You're prolly already aware, but there seems to have been a recall for the 2018+ GWs you may want to check into the dealer about, if you haven't already. Otherwise, enjoy that great ride!