A Luxury-Touring Rethink

[12er]

That sounded like my Yosemite ride two weeks ago with the wife on back. Scraaaaaaaaaape, scraaaaaaaaaaape, scrape...

[seruzawa]

Originally Posted by sarnali2

Very impressive, both bike and rider. Cameraman/bike too for that matter.

While I appreciate bikes like the Goldwing, K1600GTL and HD Ultra's it's not something I'd be terribly interested in. I prefer a more minimalist approach which is why I sold the last FLHT I had and bought a GS, with the standard Vario luggage it'll haul quite a bit and my GT with the trunk is even better.

The simple truth is that if I was traveling from here to Florida I'd rather drive anyway. Sacrilege from a long time motorcyclist like myself but there you have it. I'm as much of a gearhead as a biker and to me a trip like that would be more fun in an A6

I can say all that in two words:

Oink oink.

[sarnali2]

Originally Posted by seruzawa

I can say all that in two words:

Oink oink.

well yeah but......

I'm thinking of selling the GT as a matter of fact, it's a fun bike but the GS is so well suited for me that I ride it 9 times out of 10. That extra 120 lbs on the GT and limited turning radius really shows itself in slow going. The GS is no ballerina either but is well balanced which makes it manageable and the almost 90 degree fork lock is handy.

Just a better bike all around for my application.

[Duken4evr]

It is all good until we get to the small matter of the 28.5K price tag. Add insurance license and tax to that and you are well over 30K. I don't spend that much on my cars. 20K is pretty much "entry level" for cages now. In my world, my bike can't cost more than my cage.

Dunno who they are selling these to. Despite propped up stock prices from government stimulus trickling upwards, the "Average Joe" out there is still "deleveraging" which is financial speak for paying down debts, losing homes, etc. The pool of buyers who can afford these outright is pretty small, and if a buyer chooses to finance a bike like this, well, I guess the last 2 years were completely lost on them. Like my spiffy 2010 Husaberg FE450 that I recently bought (cash of course) for over 4K less than MSRP, these expensive bikes will sit, and they will go on sale unless Honda is willing to aggressively finance them. Hopefully Honda is smarter than Harley in this area and they do not carry their own financing. HOG's lend to anyone with a pulse "screw it let's ride" financial arm nearly brought down the whole company.

All that financial stuff aside, for my tastes this is too much motorcycle. The idea of a well set up bagger with a big twin does appeal to me, as does a do it all Beemer GS for that matter. Depends if the wife wants to come along or not I guess.

Whew. Somebody get me my coffee

[sarnali2]

Originally Posted by Duken4evr

It is all good until we get to the small matter of the 28.5K price tag. Add insurance license and tax to that and you are well over 30K. I don't spend that much on my cars. 20K is pretty much "entry level" for cages now. In my world, my bike can't cost more than my cage.

Dunno who they are selling these to. Despite propped up stock prices from government stimulus trickling upwards, the "Average Joe" out there is still "deleveraging" which is financial speak for paying down debts, losing homes, etc. The pool of buyers who can afford these outright is pretty small, and if a buyer chooses to finance a bike like this, well, I guess the last 2 years were completely lost on them. Like my spiffy 2010 Husaberg FE450 that I recently bought (cash of course) for over 4K less than MSRP, these expensive bikes will sit, and they will go on sale.

Always was a contrarian with mercenary financial tendencies. Served me well the last few years and I expect it will continue to as we grind forward. See you Wing Dingers in foreclosure. I will be there, offering 15K in cash to your bank for your new ride...

Whew. Somebody get me my coffee

It's immoral to take advantage of the unfortunate.......I'll give them $15.5 for it.....

[seruzawa]

Originally Posted by sarnali2

well yeah but......

I'm thinking of selling the GT as a matter of fact, it's a fun bike but the GS is so well suited for me that I ride it 9 times out of 10. That extra 120 lbs on the GT and limited turning radius really shows itself in slow going. The GS is no ballerina either but is well balanced which makes it manageable and the almost 90 degree fork lock is handy.

Just a better bike all around for my application.

There's a heckuva bigger difference between 600lbs and 500lbs than most people think. Oh wait, I'm supposed to say the weight "disappears" in motion. Tell me, does the weight of the GT "disappear" in motion? It didn't on any 600+ lb bike I ever rode.

I love the way someone posts a video of some guy hauling @ss on a Goldwing and saying "Gee, doesn't it handle!" Never mind that on a Ducati the same guy would humiliate his time on the Goldwing. It's always about the rider. Some people are just magical on a bike.