[Eric]

I am a new to me wing owner. Yesterday I boarded a plain to Melbourne to buy a 1984 wing. You know thing don't always go to plan but it all works out in the end. That was one of them days. The plane was late taking of from Adelaide and was to arrive late in melbourne and the bus I was to catch was long gone. There was nothing to do but wait an hour for the next bus to take me the other side of Melbourne. I had to now take the gamble that I was going to buy this bike and go to the bank before seeing it and take the cash out. When I seen the bike there was no problems anyway. The bike is a credit to the previous owner was elderly, similiar to some......... on sight here. He said that he had lost confordence with the size of it. To get the ball rolling here it is. Eric

 

[snuffcityrider]

Wow, looks like it's in great shape! How many miles on that sled?

 

[Two Wheel Wing]

Now that's a sweet looking machine. You are going to be comfortable going home. Ride safe and enjoy your new Wing..

 

[Chopin]

I was just about to shut down and head out and I caught this ! Yahoo. I love it. Funny, you have been on here for almost a year now and I never thought of you without a Wing.

 

[snuffcityrider]

I saw that Eric had over 300 post, so that kind of confused me. Thought maybe he had a Wing collection go'n on.

 

[Eric]

It is a old bike and has some small issues. It has a small hole in the exhaust pipe near the head and the fork seals need doing and some of the chrome is in poor codition. Other than that it's in good condition. I have a early start in the morning and so I will have to try to continue the story tomorrow and I had problems with the photos with the last post so it is take two.

 

[Eric]

Scruffcityride: Sssshhh. There has been an imposter in your mist.LOL. It is a 1984 Aspencade with 122000km and rides very well. It seems a little unstable over 150ks [don't know how I know] and returned 6.5lts/100. I have been a bad boy and need to repent for giving into temptation and not waiting until I got to the USA.LOL Must get some sleep. Eric

 

[Cantankerous]

Nice looking machine, but then again I am biased!

 

[DreamWeaver]

Fan-dam tastic Eric. Nice looking bike. Now just get you a cup holder and you can drink that coffee while your sittin on your new rockin chair. Have a safe trip home. Isaac

 

[Ron Robertson]

The 95 I traded on my 93 was the same color, wish I could have kept it so our son and his wife or maybe our daughter and her husband could ride with us.
Good looking Wing.
From the Northwest Corner.
Ron

 

[fossil92]

Eric, looks great I'm sure you & Vanessa will have loads of fun. Enjoy & Ride Safe mate.

 

[detdrbuzzard]

great looking bike eric, it reminds me of mine don't forget to post some pic's in the gallery

 

[Eric]

The ride home

To get home with the wing was a 500 mile ride through country Victoria. Rosebud is at the bottom of the Mornington Peninsula and after all of the paper work was completed, I was going to head home by catching the ferry to Queenscliff. Apon arriving the operater informed me that one of the ferry had broken down and there was just over 1 hour wait. It was 6:30 pm by the time I got to Queenscliff, which made it too late to get to Mt. Gambier to show off my bike to my brother. I needed to get close to home as possible so as I could be home about lunch time. From Geelong it was down hwy.1/ to Terang. At Terang it's a turn right and through to Hamilton. It was dark by the time I was going through here so no photos until after Hamilton.I stayed over night at Hamilton. The first photo is at Coleraine. Coleraine is a small country town and at one time they use to have a rail line and they have restored their rail station. The 2&3 photo is outside Casterton. Eric

 

[fossil92]

Great pictures Eric but here's the big question. What do you think of your Wing so far?

 

[Chopin]

You had 500 miles to get to know your Wing! Did you feel invigorated when you arrived home ? Could you walk to your front door upright and straight with a bounce in your step ? Could you imagine that ride on your other bike and the difference you would feel after those miles ? Are you happy now ?

 

[rigginray6]

Hey awesome ride Eric!!!! Now you can also join the GWOF subculture Called OLDWINGS!!! I am thinking you can be our P.R guy hows that sound??

 

[Eric]

Firstly I can't understate how well the old owner had looked after it. Photos can make thing look better than in the up close and personal but in this case it's as good as it looks. A bike this old you expect a love bite or two and I can't find one. Last night I got into the chrome and was amaze at how well it came up, to the point where I will not need to rechrome for a while. First impresion is. I am surprised at how well behaved it is at low speeds. There is no shaking of the head anywhere as you come down in speed. The handling was so good that I draged the foot peg in a corner within that first 500 miles. I must admit that it startled me with the feeling of grating of the foot peg, that I lifted my foot of the foot peg rapidly. The next thing that surprised me was how high geared it is. 3300 rpms=110km/h and 5000rpms=160km/h. Don't ask me how I know the last one. Handling at 130-140kms is great but it seams to get effected by the wind a bit at the 150-160km with a gentle weeve. Outside Adelaide in the hills at 110km/h I dropped it down a gear because it was loading the motor a bit too much. Remember I am a member of the Candy Ass Tourers {CAT] and I liked my Air Seat. The fuel consumption was 6.5ltrs/100kms. which is not bad for a bike that big at good rate of kms. I am not as impressed with the brakes. I know the front brake leaver operates just one disk and the foot brake operates the back and the other front disk. It has had new pads on the front and may not have fully beded in yet. I have a work shop manual and will learn things as I go along. There are some here that I will sprag [ Rigginray6 ] when I get into trouble.Eric

 

[Matt]

That is a nice looking ride Eric, I always liked that color combo, congrats on being a bonified Wing owner!

 

[rigginray6]

Info

Firstly I can't understate how well the old owner had looked after it. Photos can make thing look better than in the up close and personal but in this case it's as good as it looks. A bike this old you expect a love bite or two and I can't find one. Last night I got into the chrome and was amaze at how well it came up, to the point where I will not need to rechrome for a while. First impresion is. I am surprised at how well behaved it is at low speeds. There is no shaking of the head anywhere as you come down in speed. The handling was so good that I draged the foot peg in a corner within that first 500 miles. I must admit that it startled me with the feeling of grating of the foot peg, that I lifted my foot of the foot peg rapidly. The next thing that surprised me was how high geared it is. 3300 rpms=110km/h and 5000rpms=160km/h. Don't ask me how I know the last one. Handling at 130-140kms is great but it seams to get effected by the wind a bit at the 150-160km with a gentle weeve. Outside Adelaide in the hills at 110km/h I dropped it down a gear because it was loading the motor a bit too much. Remember I am a member of the Candy Ass Tourers {CAT] and I liked my Air Seat. The fuel consumption was 6.5ltrs/100kms. which is not bad for a bike that big at good rate of kms. I am not as impressed with the brakes. I know the front brake leaver operates just one disk and the foot brake operates the back and the other front disk. It has had new pads on the front and may not have fully beded in yet. I have a work shop manual and will learn things as I go along. There are some here that I will sprag [ Rigginray6 ] when I get into trouble.Eric

These have helped me tremendously!
GL1200 GOLD WINGS • Index page
goldwingdocs.com • Index page

 

[Eric]

Vanessa's first wing ride

Today I took Vanessa on her first ride on the 1200 wing. It was not a long ride being 30 miles out and 30 miles back. We left Adelaide heading north to Dublin. It was just a test ride to see what she thought of it. Vanessa liked the comfort of the back rest and the foot boards. So the 1200 is a hit. She thought that I may not want to go to the USA now because I now have a wing. But I wouldn't do that to her. I have photos of our first wing ride together. Eric

I am adding my two cents worth.... yes it was an enjoyable ride. The temps here were beautiful about 24 C... we ended the day with a walk and the beach to a beautiful sunset... aw shucks mate! lol
An observation of riding with Eric which all of you may appreciate should you come to Oz to ride or even if you are from Oz too. It was a sense of community with other riders.... taking a moment to acknowledge each other with a wave, a nod or a 'Hi'. I know Eric has never met a stranger but all bikers are friendly enough and "love' to talk about their bike and their times riding... I am sure you can all relate as to it being one of the reasons you all enjoy riding and I am looking forward to noting the same thing when we ride around the USA. Hope you are all surviving the big freeze. from Vanessa