I can hold up an 2006 GL 1800, but I didn’t say ride it well. It’sa very heavy bike and I have trouble with tight turns especially if they’re on any type of incline. I seem to find a pinch zone, next thing I know, I’m bailing out… any who, hola friends
You might find making the slow maneuvers in 2nd gear more controlled. You can actually start from a dead stop in second gear with no difficulties. I've done that more than once LOL.
Thank you Renee, i will tell you that unles you played professional football, american style you did yourself a favor, i know many women got it bad as we age.
May I suggest a good program and hopefully there is a course near you. Other Training Locations
If two wheels don't work well for you, try three. I'm 5'4" tall and you let me have a trike and I'll out run and maneuver on a trike as well as anyone can do on two wheels.
How tall are you? If your the same or more than my 5’10” and shrinking as I age, you just need to practice low speed maneuvers. There are things you can do to the bike to help you manage low speed. My bike, ‘05, has Traxxion suspension throughout and Heli-bars handlebars. These items completely changed the bike. It’s now nimble, maneuverable, and does exactly what I need it to do. much more so than it used to. I also keep my tires at 40psi. And because of the suspension upgrade, I can keep my rear suspension set at 5 or less.
Look up Ride like a pro, Jerry Paladino. Follow his videos and practice , practice practice!! Soon you will be making U turns and doing amazing things with your big heavy clumsy bike, as many think it is!! The GL1800 is slightly more nimble doing parking lot manuevers than previous models except for the 4 cylinder bikes. Have fun!!
Welcome from BC Canada
I also agree with practice
Find a nice flat, clean parking lot and play with the slow speeds
There are some great videos to watch that help
It is good to have an assistant to help with the pick ups
Also wrap heater hose around the engine guards to protect from scratches
Enjoy
every day is a good day....some are just gooder than others
This video explains the Goldwing at low speed handling.
This gentleman is a retired motorcycle officer.
I watched his videos and applied the technique to a trike and asked when he was at the Cotee River Bikefest in New Port Richey if this would work on trikes.
He does know what he's talking about and yes the Goldwing is sensitive with the clutch & throttle. Because once I found the prefect balance between the two I could U-turn a trike in two parking spaces. Even trike riders can benefit from this technique. Rear brakes on a trike can be over powering and thus needed to be feathered especially if they are linked to the front.
At the old Service Merchandise store in Port Richey he had the coarse marked out in the parking lot and I worked with that, as did many other trikers.
There's a lot of practice involved in bike handling skills and a Goldwing is NOT a good starter bike. I knew an individual who was a smart@$$ and bought one and wound up wrecking it a short time later.
The problem with u-turns is if you have finite room to do it (like a driveway or narrow road) and you realize you won’t make it, you instinctively hit the brakes while your bars are turned, sometimes at full lock. You know what happens next!
I have always found when I thought "I wouldn't make it", I looked further over my shoulder in the direction I had to head. I can do a U-turn on a 2 lane backroad. If you're not familiar with Pennsylvania backroads - they do NOT have any swells. The grass comes right up to the white "rain" line (I think that is what I've heard it called). And if you REALLY want to practice U-turns head out to Lancaster and do the U-turn while avoiding the road apples (think HORSE **** LOL).
I have watched and practiced Motormans techniques and am amazed at how slow I can manuever(sometimes)
I also find that using 2nd gear helps with the touchy throttles that we have
Keep practicing and ride smart
Enjoy
every day is a good day.......some are just gooder than others
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