[Jehu]

Greetings from Reno. I'm not currently a Goldwing owner but I've been shopping for one. When I was a young man, a Honda XL was my primary means of transportation. I gave up riding when I became a father in 1987. I'm now 50 and my kids are grown. My wife and I are celebrating out 25th anniversary. We want to get a bike and spend a week at Havasu. My wife wants a Harley but I don't want to go on an extended road trip with a v-twin nor do I want to pay for the image.

I could use some advise. As near as I can figure, my target bike is a late '80's Aspencade for $2,500-$4,000. I've seen Interstates that look like pretty good deals but I'm not sure what I'd be giving up.

Thanks for any advise.
Jon

 

[WingnutGordo]

Welcome from Maryland

 

[budoka]

Shop carefully, there's lots of options out there, including the 1500 in roughly the same price range. It's the American dream after all, more is better!

 

[Bamaeagle]

Welcome to the forum......

I would look for a good used 1500 in that same price range. As long as it was well taken care of and not sitting for 3-4 years it should be good. Hope you find the right wing for you and your wife. Oh tell your wife she would be more comfortable on long rides on the wing and not a HD (you would need to get a trailer with the HD too.......LOL)

 

[Two Wheel Wing]

Welcome to the forum from Pa. I would lean towards a 1500.

 

[Jehu]

The most likely prospect for me now is a '86 Aspencade with 58k miles for $3k. It's got new tires, battery, brakes, rebuilt carbs and a recent tune-up. Is this a model that could be either 1200cc or 1500cc?

 

[detdrbuzzard]

hello jon, welcome to GWOF. put another grand in the wing acount and look for a 1500

 

[detdrbuzzard]

The most likely prospect for me now is a '86 Aspencade with 58k miles for $3k. It's got new tires, battery, brakes, rebuilt carbs and a recent tune-up. Is this a model that could be either 1200cc or 1500cc?

thats a 1200 wing. 1500 wings were made from '88 - 2000

 

[Jehu]

thats a 1200 wing. 1500 wings were made from '88 - 2000

That explains the rather severe price jump between 87 and 88.

 

[Cantankerous]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Stick with a 1500. They can be purchased in your price range. Don't worry about a higher mileage bike, they are known to get as high as 300,000 miles and still run strong.

 

[W1ngin1t]

Hello & welcome from Va! Good luck with your choice, I have an 1800 with no experience with the other models.

Mark

 

[trike lady]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

 

[Chopin]

Rent a Harley Sportster for the trip. That will change her mind by the time you get there.

 

[Jehu]

Rent a Harley Sportster for the trip. That will change her mind by the time you get there.

That'll make a Goldwing fan out of just about anyone.

 

[Bamaeagle]

Here is a site that will give you the Goldwing history. Maybe this will help some.

http://www.goldwingfacts.com/goldwinghistory.htm

 

[Ron Robertson]

+1 on looking for for a nice 1500.

 

[RAM 54]

Welcome to the forum. Good luck in your serch.

 

[fossil92]

Welcome to the GWOF from another Keystoner. Not much I can add but......

What They Said!

 

[Tatanka]

Welcome to The Forum!

Time is your friend when you're shopping for a Wing (or anything, I suppose.) And this is a good time of year to buy one.

As much as I like riding Tatanka, my '85 GL1200 Aspy, I'm working my way toward a 1500, for the legroom let alone the extra power. You might want to PM with Catankerous (Kerry) about his techniques for finding deals. He just bought a 1500 in my back yard for an incredible price. By PM I basically accused him of taking advantage of a mentally deficient person!

They are out there and yours will "Sing" to you, as the wise ones around here say.

 

[Jehu]

Thanks for all the advise and warm welcomes.

I just made a deal on a GL1500. After I made the deal, the seller remembered a "minor" detail. He notified me that he changed the Craigslist ad accordingly:

http://merced.craigslist.org/mcy/3346745551.html

For $2250, it's worth addressing a minor problem but I don't know enough about these bikes to be certain that it IS a minor issue. Any opinions from the more experienced here?

Best regards,
Jon