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30 Posts
OK. Been looking at Wings. I have the VTX 1300 R and its great. Super for around town. Super for 1-up on the hiway. I have a windshield, but after about 8 hours on the hiway, it is tiring. Not really comfortable at hiway speeds 2-up on the 1300R. Its a good bike, but 2-up, there are issues of weight, power, comfort. Problem is, I'd like to do more 2-up touring and more 1-up long distance iron butt riding. Right now, for "touring", we trailer the VTX behind the Expedition truck to go somewhere, then "tour" locally (e.g. Key West or the Dragon), then trailer it back. Would really prefer to 2-up all the way there. So, enter thoughts of a Wing.
Motorcycles are still MOL a toy, so I can't see dropping 15-20K on one. That pretty much eliminates the 2005 and newer GL 1800's. I don't like what I read about the 2001-2004 GL 1800 aluminum frame cracking and Honda's (poor) response to fixing that problem. So, I'm thinking GL1500 here. From probably 1994 to 2000, there were not a ton of changes, except some engine mods (from the Valkyrie) in 97. So, I'm thinking Aspencade or SE, 1994 to 2000, GL 1500. There appear to be a number of bikes available at any time in this range, at decent prices and quality, some with high miles, some with virtually none. I've got my eye on one that is available locally from a friend at a decent price, not sure but I believe its a 1995 aspencade, about 80K miles. Perfect condition, beautiful paint, all maintenance done, etc.
Can anyone give me some insight about 1993-5 GL1500 models? Or any year from 1993 to 2000? 80K miles is really a lot of miles--if I put another 40K on it, thats 120K miles!!! On a car, that would be a bunch. On the GL1500 wing, is that a lot of miles? Everything I've read says the bike can handle it, but what do you all think? If the bike proves unreliable on trips, its toast. Should I hold out for a bike with 50K miles on it, or less? The price seems to go up a lot as miles go down, and if I want to keep the VTX while we test the wing, the price of the wing has to be reasonable.
Idea right now is to buy the Wing and keep the VTX. Then, validate the concept of 2-up touring. That is, do we really DO it, or just think its a nice idea? If we actually do it, do I feel comfortable with the additional weight and risk of a passenger, and do we enjoy the 2-up touring? If we do, then we sell the VTX. If not, and the wing just gathers dust, we'll sell the Wing and I'll go back to 1-up riding on the VTX. Possibly we keep both...
I gotta say that each year I do one or two major runs. I take a couple months and do at least 5K miles each, usually 8K-10K+ miles. From Florida to New England along the coast, then back through the Smokies, New Orleans, etc. Would like to run from Florida to Alaska. Would like to do the Coast to Coast 100 ironbutt (solo), etc, etc.... I prefer long distance touring. Also do a lot of local running around on the bike. Is the 1500 wing the bike for that as well?
Thanks.
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Motorcycles are still MOL a toy, so I can't see dropping 15-20K on one. That pretty much eliminates the 2005 and newer GL 1800's. I don't like what I read about the 2001-2004 GL 1800 aluminum frame cracking and Honda's (poor) response to fixing that problem. So, I'm thinking GL1500 here. From probably 1994 to 2000, there were not a ton of changes, except some engine mods (from the Valkyrie) in 97. So, I'm thinking Aspencade or SE, 1994 to 2000, GL 1500. There appear to be a number of bikes available at any time in this range, at decent prices and quality, some with high miles, some with virtually none. I've got my eye on one that is available locally from a friend at a decent price, not sure but I believe its a 1995 aspencade, about 80K miles. Perfect condition, beautiful paint, all maintenance done, etc.
Can anyone give me some insight about 1993-5 GL1500 models? Or any year from 1993 to 2000? 80K miles is really a lot of miles--if I put another 40K on it, thats 120K miles!!! On a car, that would be a bunch. On the GL1500 wing, is that a lot of miles? Everything I've read says the bike can handle it, but what do you all think? If the bike proves unreliable on trips, its toast. Should I hold out for a bike with 50K miles on it, or less? The price seems to go up a lot as miles go down, and if I want to keep the VTX while we test the wing, the price of the wing has to be reasonable.
Idea right now is to buy the Wing and keep the VTX. Then, validate the concept of 2-up touring. That is, do we really DO it, or just think its a nice idea? If we actually do it, do I feel comfortable with the additional weight and risk of a passenger, and do we enjoy the 2-up touring? If we do, then we sell the VTX. If not, and the wing just gathers dust, we'll sell the Wing and I'll go back to 1-up riding on the VTX. Possibly we keep both...
I gotta say that each year I do one or two major runs. I take a couple months and do at least 5K miles each, usually 8K-10K+ miles. From Florida to New England along the coast, then back through the Smokies, New Orleans, etc. Would like to run from Florida to Alaska. Would like to do the Coast to Coast 100 ironbutt (solo), etc, etc.... I prefer long distance touring. Also do a lot of local running around on the bike. Is the 1500 wing the bike for that as well?
Thanks.
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