The wife and I headed to Cherokee Frinday evening to stay in a cabin. (A friend of mine manages the cabins in the area and comps us whenever we head that way...) The original plan was to head to Pigeon Forge Friday evening to pick up the bike, but we had a late departure and decided to go with the Saturday pick up instead.
We headed out Saturday across 441 from Cherokee to Pigeon Forge. This is a very scenic drive, but is a heavily traveled road, so traffic is always heavy. I have only been through Pigeon Forge once before, and discovered that it looks like someone dropped Myrtle Beach in the mountains with all sorts of tourist attractions, and this creates horrendous traffic. Saturday was no exception, but there was a car show going on in the area and there was PLENTY of 60's, 70's, and 80's muscle cars in attendance, so it made the trip slightly more tolerable due to the eye candy everywhere. Either way, Pigeon Forge is a horrible place to try to ride through. I would avoid it like the Swine Flu.
We finally get to the location to get the bike and go through the typical ritual of paperwork and $$ transfer as well as a few pointed questions about the bike itself since I have never owned a Wing before, and then we were off again, with me on the bike and the wife following.
First impressions were excellent. Neutral handling, decent brakes, decent power, and oh-my comfy.....
We got back into traffic, which was stop and go, and I realized that wearing full gear in warm weather, on a bike that blocks most wind, equates to a very warm ride and I was sweating profusely in short order. I finally took the riding pants off until the end of the Foothills Parkway.. We finally got off the main drag and onto 321 to head towards the Foothills Parkway, and things were better quickly.
This particular bike has the MP3 hook up as well, so I brought my player with me and used that with the stereo. There is probably something not quite right with a Gold Wing blasting Tesla and Disturbed while riding through mountians passes, and my wife actually said that the Wing stereo was louder that the one in her truck at one point, so I guess I was cranking it up too much, but I was having a blast! I am probably a bit younger than the average Wing owner at 43 years old.
The weather was overcast, with rain expected at some point, but we went up through the Parkway on to US 129 and on to Deals Gap where I discovered in very short order that those aftermarket Kuryakyn highway pegs had to go. They are very nice, but simply are positioned wrong for tight roads and tried to lever the bike up a couple times, so as soon as I got to the Crossroads of Time store, I broke out the allen wrenches and removed them. At this point I don't know if I will ever put them back on and may just sell them.
After some lunch, I took the wife for a run to the overlook and back. This was her first time riding on a Wing also and she commented that it was more comfortable than her truck! (Chevy Z-71 Silverado) It was raining at this point, so we took things nice and slow.
Afterwards, she got back in the truck and we convoyed to Cherokee for the evening.
I trailered the bike home Sunday, but only due to rainy weather. This bike does NOT belong on a trailer!
1st impressions... The stock tires are terrible. I am getting a shimmying in the front at most speeds. It's not that bad, but it is there and it bothers me. I have read about this issue with stock tires before and suspect that it is due to incorrect tire pressures causing front tire cupping. What pressures do you all find works well?
Comfy! Goes without saying!
I enjoy having a no-kidding cruise control.
Handling is decent. No great, but decent. I am a sport bike guy at heart, so it is not what I am use to, and I have to recalibrate my mind for different entry speeds with this bike. I have already put a serious hurting on the peg feelers and that is with the preload on the shock maxxed out.
I like the controls and the layout. I have not had to complain about any of the controls, which is excellent!
Headlights are the best I have ever seen on a bike.
I need to look into a low cut wind shield to allow more air flow. Recommendations?
I think this bike will be in the stable for a long time, and like it!
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We headed out Saturday across 441 from Cherokee to Pigeon Forge. This is a very scenic drive, but is a heavily traveled road, so traffic is always heavy. I have only been through Pigeon Forge once before, and discovered that it looks like someone dropped Myrtle Beach in the mountains with all sorts of tourist attractions, and this creates horrendous traffic. Saturday was no exception, but there was a car show going on in the area and there was PLENTY of 60's, 70's, and 80's muscle cars in attendance, so it made the trip slightly more tolerable due to the eye candy everywhere. Either way, Pigeon Forge is a horrible place to try to ride through. I would avoid it like the Swine Flu.
We finally get to the location to get the bike and go through the typical ritual of paperwork and $$ transfer as well as a few pointed questions about the bike itself since I have never owned a Wing before, and then we were off again, with me on the bike and the wife following.
First impressions were excellent. Neutral handling, decent brakes, decent power, and oh-my comfy.....
We got back into traffic, which was stop and go, and I realized that wearing full gear in warm weather, on a bike that blocks most wind, equates to a very warm ride and I was sweating profusely in short order. I finally took the riding pants off until the end of the Foothills Parkway.. We finally got off the main drag and onto 321 to head towards the Foothills Parkway, and things were better quickly.
This particular bike has the MP3 hook up as well, so I brought my player with me and used that with the stereo. There is probably something not quite right with a Gold Wing blasting Tesla and Disturbed while riding through mountians passes, and my wife actually said that the Wing stereo was louder that the one in her truck at one point, so I guess I was cranking it up too much, but I was having a blast! I am probably a bit younger than the average Wing owner at 43 years old.
The weather was overcast, with rain expected at some point, but we went up through the Parkway on to US 129 and on to Deals Gap where I discovered in very short order that those aftermarket Kuryakyn highway pegs had to go. They are very nice, but simply are positioned wrong for tight roads and tried to lever the bike up a couple times, so as soon as I got to the Crossroads of Time store, I broke out the allen wrenches and removed them. At this point I don't know if I will ever put them back on and may just sell them.
After some lunch, I took the wife for a run to the overlook and back. This was her first time riding on a Wing also and she commented that it was more comfortable than her truck! (Chevy Z-71 Silverado) It was raining at this point, so we took things nice and slow.
Afterwards, she got back in the truck and we convoyed to Cherokee for the evening.
I trailered the bike home Sunday, but only due to rainy weather. This bike does NOT belong on a trailer!
1st impressions... The stock tires are terrible. I am getting a shimmying in the front at most speeds. It's not that bad, but it is there and it bothers me. I have read about this issue with stock tires before and suspect that it is due to incorrect tire pressures causing front tire cupping. What pressures do you all find works well?
Comfy! Goes without saying!
I enjoy having a no-kidding cruise control.
Handling is decent. No great, but decent. I am a sport bike guy at heart, so it is not what I am use to, and I have to recalibrate my mind for different entry speeds with this bike. I have already put a serious hurting on the peg feelers and that is with the preload on the shock maxxed out.
I like the controls and the layout. I have not had to complain about any of the controls, which is excellent!
Headlights are the best I have ever seen on a bike.
I need to look into a low cut wind shield to allow more air flow. Recommendations?
I think this bike will be in the stable for a long time, and like it!
