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The bad thing about being a GW rider.......

6K views 41 replies 20 participants last post by  budoka 
#1 ·
.......coming from a Harley.

The replacement of riding gear. The bulk of my riding gear is Harley gear. All leather of course....pretty much most has an HD emblem or name on it. I still have a HD so I'll keep most of it.

Although I'm not replacing with Honda/GW gear......just some nice textile gear.
 
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#3 ·
The thing about the Harley gear I have (no FXRG gear) is that none of it breathes. Way too heavy of gear to ride in the wind protected confines of a Goldwing. Too hot with that kind of gear on anything over about 60 degrees. The sun in Colorado at that temp feels at least 10 deg warmer.
 
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#5 ·
Already have gear on order as well as have received some already.

Have the JR Phoenix pants (love em) a Tourmaster Jacket and another armored textile jacket I got on clearance for about 40 bucks. I've had an older Cortech jacket for several years and it still serves me well.

My wife got the JR Cleo pants and jacket and we both have JR riding shoes.

About the biggest reason we got JR outside of it looks, besides being very comfortable and functional is it doesn't have their logo blazoned all over the place.
 
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#6 ·
I just got the Joe Rocket Velocity mesh jacket with waterproof liner, which it appears I'll be testing en route to the Missouri M&G next weekend as well as at it according to Scooter1/Dan. Don't hate riding in rain, but like any sane person I prefer clear and sunny.

And look at it this way: You'll get a lot less crap from Goldwing riders about wearing Harley gear than you'd get from Harley riders about wearing Goldwing gear!:surprise: At least when you move from Harley to Goldwing it shows you're learning....:wink2:
 
#32 ·
And look at it this way: You'll get a lot less crap from Goldwing riders about wearing Harley gear than you'd get from Harley riders about wearing Goldwing gear!:surprise: At least when you move from Harley to Goldwing it shows you're learning....:wink2:
And consider: You also get less crap from Windingers about riding a Harley with Goldwing gear, than you would from Hardly riders who see you riding a Goldwing with Harley gear.

So after you buy your GoldW gear, don't wear you Wing clothes while riding with your HD buddies.

Windingers don't care what you wear. Goldwings I very opened minded: I have even heard of Naked Goldwings!!
 
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#7 ·
DOnt get me wrong, I still love my Harley. Just doesn't suit well for two up twisties climbing mountains. ;)

But you're right....Goldwing riders are much more tolerant of Harley leathers than Harley riders are of Goldwing leathers. ;)
 
#8 ·
Once upon a time we had some T-shirts made that used the Harley logo with " Goldwing " lettered in the middle . Someone snitched to Harley; we believe he was a disgruntled former forum member here. Anyway, Harley needs to lighten up. They take life way too seriously.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I owned 5 Harley's (still have 1). Never had a lick of problems with any of them.

They do seem to be going thru a fair amount of recalls since 2014.

I'll ride my Harley when its just me. I love the ride and I love the 104 ponies under me. ;)
 
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#11 ·
Welcome to the site Don. One thing I enjoy (I should mention that I don't have a HD) about this group is that we welcome HD riders as much as anyone else. Granted we might make a joke but we're just funning - nothing serious. So if you take the HD to one of our rides, no problem - glad to have you along.
 
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#13 ·
This Goldwing is (I think) my 15th motorcycle. I've had Yamaha's, Honda's, Kawasakis and Harley's. I'm not a bike snob. I'm about the right ride for the right ride. And right now for us, thats a Goldwing.

Die hard Harley guys are a tough nut.

A few years back I was walking to my bike after a Toys for Tots rally. I'm walking next to this guy (simply by coincidence) and we walk by a Goldwing with an American Flag sticker on it.

Well my Lord....you woulda thought the flag just hit the ground and was stomped on. This guy goes off that this "Jap bike" shouldn't have an American flag on it. (Ain't that the silliest thing????). I said to him, "dude...that bike is probably made more in America than a HD right now.....I mean....you know Harley's are only ASSEMBLED in the US....don't you?

"Yeah, but the money stays with an American company." (Yeah...he's digging a HUGE hole)

I literally walked behind him, flipped the collar on his very nice Harley leather covering one of his likely DOZENS of Harley shirts and said, "Check your tags lately? yeah, it goes to Milwaukee and they send it off to China and Bangladesh and Taiwan where they pay pennies to produce a jacket you paid $500 buck for.....paid for that $2 t shirt that you paid what for....? $30??? Let me guess....You're a union guy too? And you support that AND continue buying their apparel?? Don't "effing" whine to me about where an American flag should go. Furthermore....last I checked this WAS America."

Arguing about buying a Harley because its "American" worked a few decades ago. I remember when you wanted a Harley you had to wait up to a year to get one. Its what made it special.

Now....its just another motorcycle.

I ride for the ride. Not for the bike. We test drove a BMW GTL1600 as well. Fun bike, but didn't suit OUR purpose.
 
#14 ·
Welcome! I'm also new to the GW and I ride a Harley Limited. Almost every T-Shirt I own says Harley and my club vest has Harley patches all over it. I'm not buying all new gear. Last week I got caught in a rain storm while on the Wing. The only rain jacket I have has a great big Harley emblem on the back. So be it. It is what it is.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I'm not getting rid of my gear any time soon as I too still ride a HD.

I'm replacing (or really....adding to) our gear as we're going more armored gear. The stuff they make today is so much more comfortable and protective. I ride in armored textile riding pants now and I wish I would've started years ago. The most comfortable pants riding a motorcycle I've ever worn.

And this coming from a guy that a few short years ago never wore a helmet. Then my daughter saw a guy on a Harley get pasted buy a left-turner and ended up under his car. Started wearing a helmet all the time every time and as the years have gone on, we've gravitated towards more and more protection for ourselves.

But I'm a lifetime HOG member, have my patch/pin filled member vest as well. :)

And my raingear it the bright orange HD rain gear. Nice set. Keeps me dry as a popcorn fart.
 
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#16 ·
I ride a Harley Ultra when I'm riding solo. I bought a GW trike when Kathy wants to ride. Having Harleys for over 40 years I have a lot of HD t-shirts and clothing items. I do have a couple of Honda GW t-shirts but occasionally wear a HD shirt just to aggravate some of the die hard GW riders, all in good fun. Wear what you've got nobody cares.
Bill
 

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#17 ·
Trust me...I have drawers of Harley shirts....wearing one now. They ain't going anywhere.
 
#18 · (Edited)
If you think buying new riding gear is a pain wait until you find out what a pain in the ass it is to keep gas in the tank. I swear mine has a leak but I can't find it.
 
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#19 ·
To each his own. I bought a GW after 30 years without a motorcycle. My friend bought a HD at the same time. We had a lot of discussion about why each was better but it really came down to personal preference. The ability to buy what you want is really more American than any brand now days.

Steve



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#28 ·
My 09 Ultra puts out a little over 103. I guarentee you it will keep up to a Goldwing.....in fact a Goldwing might have a hard time keeping up to me. ;)
 
#33 ·
The last ride I was on with a group of 12 bikes ........ the only one riding two up was a Harley.... it quit about 30 miles from getting back home...... there were only 3 bikes that had a back seat for them to hitch a ride home on so he could get his "recovery trailer" (don't know a wing rider with a recovery trailer), My Goldwing, George's CanAm Spyder, and JB's Harley trike. His wife ran over and hoped on the trike............ he looked all forlorn..... before opting for the Spyder... felt it would be easier to live that one down.
 
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#37 ·
I never cared much about what brand clothing I wore when changing bikes. Before my Goldwing (my first, last summer) I had two Triumphs, and I liked a lot of the Triumph clothing. So I don't hesitate to put a Triumph shirt or jacket on when getting on my Honda Goldwing.

As to the bragging about horsepower and comparing Goldwings to Harley dressers, I may be in a minority but despite the big engine on the Goldwing, I am not overly impressed with its "power" as expressed through acceleration from a stop. Even pushing the RPM's into the range of 4,500 to 5,000 the Goldwing does not seem to me to be especially quick, and sometimes I have a tough time beating out the four wheel cagers who want to make a race of it. I do appreciate the power when passing on the road. Going from a sedate 60 to a fast 90 to pass one or more cars on a two lane, the Goldwing does a great job. Overall I bought the Goldwing for comfort and features, not speed. If I wanted just speed I would have bought a sportbike and put up with the crazy ergonomics and lack of comfort features.
 
#38 ·
I agree with everything you say here. Its got a nice 2nd gear and a decent 3rd gear for hard accel.

I'm not comparing the bikes....except for riding characteristics.

The horsepower on my custom HD is just out there talking about the fact its a hoot to ride.

I bought my Wing for the same reasons as you....with the big reason we were tired of riding two-up climbing mountain passes on the HD. That is one thing the Wing does much better.
 
#40 ·


I was never big into the whole "gotta have a t-shirt from every dealer" long ago. Hell...I got out of stopping at dealers like everyone like to do. I'd rather ride than stop at another "Hundred Dollar" dealer.

I do have a couple very nice HD leathers that I'll still wear, but they become useless to me for riding above 70 deg. (The Colorado sun bakes you in dark colors.). Not much venting at all.

Add to the the massive wind protection you get on a Goldwing, we really need some breathable riding gear.

Its not so much riding a Goldwing with Harley gear, I have no problem with that. Its more sitting behind the bars on a Goldwing is a much warmer ride. Only the windshield vent to give any breeze unlike the Harley that has upper and lower wind deflectors.

That and we want armored gear. Too many idiots out there and too many unknowns coming around blind mountain switchbacks curves.
 
#41 · (Edited)
Before the Valkyrie Interstate it was an Electraglide and before that was a Heritage Softail. I have owned six Harleys. The only one that never stranded me was a 2001 Sportster. The rest of them stranded me at least once. I probably had 20 metric bikes in my life for a total of probably a half a million miles and, other than a flat tire, never got stranded. I have always been a stickler for preventive maintenance. You can't preventive maint electrical bugs which seems to be the source of every time I ever got stranded on an HD. As for the HD clothes.. I have a whole bunch of it. I still use the rain suit because it doesn't have a huge bar and shield on the back and it works awesome. I have a whole drawer of tee shirts from HD dealers and various rallies. I'm 53. That's not old, except that my second career is at a college and here I'm a dinosaur. But, I think I'm done with HD. My next bike, which is years away, will be a Goldwing or an Indian. I haven't brought myself to the place to toss out the tee shirt collection yet. They represent a lot of road trips.

I bought a trailer because I knew I would need it, and I did. I always had to have a vehicle with a class 3 receiver to tow my broke Harleys home. It sucked.. I still have the trailer but it hasn't been used for a long time. Idling in traffic is much more pleasant on a water cooled bike as well.
 
#42 ·
Don, we rode around Ireland in our JR Honda branded suits on a BMW GS1200. I got way more flack from my riding buddies about the lame Beemer (compared to all their race replica super sports) than we did about our gear with the Honda logos and emblems on it. Both she and I have mothballed the Nirvana logo'd long waist touring jackets in favor of JR DryWear now. Mine the vent zippers were going sideways and hers was bunching up while riding due to her diminutive stature.
I totally get what you say about the leather being too hot for the full coverage of a Wing, we had leather Honda Goldwing riding suits for years and more than once found them unbearable in places like Montana, Idaho and the lower BC interior in mid summer temps. Even my perforated (supposedly breathable) Alpinestars race leathers on the track on a hot day takes more than a few pounds off me from sweating. I have to wear lycra skins underneath so I can get them off after a day's track runs.
 
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