12.13.2007 | 12:17 am | Goldwing
Last weekend, with the help of 2 good friends, I installed new front springs on the Wing. It took about 2 hours or so, and we encountered no problems whatsoever. While we were at it, we disabled the Anti Dive Valve.
I have ridden the bike for about 5 days now and it seems to ride much softer, especially when crossing low curbs, like when I pull into my driveway. Before, the whole bike would shake and made a hard crashing sound. Now, the front end dives a little bit when applying the brakes, but not enough to be an issue. I no longer get the crashing sound when going over bumps and it seems to handle a little better in the curves.
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12.7.2007 | 10:42 am | Goldwing
Some folks have commented that they like to be able to leave the key in the ignition but still be able to open the gas door and the right hand storage pocket. Some people have gotten spare keys made, cut them down, and glued a knob on the end so they can leave this spare key in the locks.
I made my own key fobs this same way. I got 2 chrome drawer pulls from Home Depot, and it turned out quite nicely. They look like they belong on the bike. If I don’t want anyone to access either spot, I just remove them and lock them in the right hand pocket.
You can’t start the bike with these keys because they aren’t long enough to work in the ignition. Here is what they look like.
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10.23.2007 | 10:41 pm | Goldwing
I bought a mount at the Daytona Biketoberfest, but no matter how I set it up, the signal was really low and the radio was cutting out. I came up with the following installation:
I moved the antenna all over and just could not get a really decent signal. So, I said “screw it”. (well, I actually said something else, but we are in mixed company)
I opened up the trunk and removed the liner, and mounted the antenna to the liner with velcro tape like so:
I ran the wire down behind the seat and tie wrapped it to the existing cable to make it neat and tidy.
I pulled the left side seat bolts out so I could pull the wire up higher so it wouldn’t sag down.
I ran it up over top of the battery area.
I pulled the left side control panel loose and slid the tupperware back so I could run the wire up into the left pocket area.
I ran the wire along with the rest of the wires coming from the pocket to the handlebars, and tie wrapped them up nice and neat, then buttoned up all the panels. I started up the bike, backed it out of the garage and checked to see what kind of signal I was getting.
A perfect 10! I tested it with different accessories on to see if there was an interference, and there was none. The final test will be with it running down the road.
I love it when a plan comes together!
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10.7.2007 | 4:40 pm | Goldwing
The second annual Wingstock event was just held on September 29th and 30th in Woodstock Georgia. It is a gathering of Honda Goldwing riders, and the event is hosted by Traxxion Dynamics, who makes high performance suspension parts for Goldwings and other bikes. I rode up with a buddy of mine from the Ocala Florida area, and we got there about 11pm on Thursday evening.
We had a dinner get together at Ryan’s Steakhouse on Friday night, and we packed their back room to the gills with riders.
On Saturday morning, there were a few local folks who arranged to lead some fairly long distance rides in the Georgia countryside. I chose a fairly tame ride, with not so many peg dragging turns, though we did negotiate quite a few twisties. Our ride left the Cracker Barrel restaurant at 8am, and we headed up to Helen Georgia, which just happened to be hosting an Octoberfest celebration. This ride was affectionately known as the trip to “Helenback”. We of course, took the long way there and would our way through some national forest roads.
The weather was absolutely beautiful, with not a cloud in the sky the entire weekend, and the temperatures were in the low 80’s. The view from the side of the mountains was stunning!
Once in Helen, which is a little biker friendly tourist community with lots of little boutiques and motorcycle apparel shops, we parked in the free bike parking lot and headed out to find a spot for some lunch.
We found this restaurant that was featuring German food, and they had a handful of menu items that ended in “wurst”.
I went for the bratwurst sandwich with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. Yummy!
On the way back, we rode though a place called Wolfpen Gap, which is similar to the Tail of the Dragon. It has gobs of twisties and switchbacks to negotiate. I don’t have any pictures of it, since I was somewhat busy keeping the bike on the road! There is a gas station called Dale’s at the bottom of the road where all the bikers gather to fuel up and grab a drink.
We wound our way back to the hotel so we could freshen up and head out for the BBQ at Traxxion. They had a wonderful BBQ buffet, lots of Goldwings to look at, and a really great live blues band. It was awesome! Many thanks to Max and his Traxxion crew for hosting this great event. The rough head count was approximately 148 attendees. Rather than post a bunch more pictures, I will just post this link to the thread on GL1800Riders.com and you can see more pictures there.
We left late Sunday morning to ride back home, and except for the occasional shower once we got back into Florida, the ride was uneventful.
Special thanks go out to Dennis and Vanessa for inviting me to ride up and back with them, and for all Dennis’ help with the little odds and ends on my bike that I wanted to do. Dennis, if you read this, you are Da Man!!
I look forward to going again next year.
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10.4.2007 | 5:13 pm | Goldwing
After riding to Georgia and back, I found that the stock grips were just too small for me. My fingers were wrapping around and overlapping, and I found that uncomfortable. I went to Seminole PowerSports and got a pair of Kuryakn grips to go over top of the heated grips currently on the bike. I also added a Throttle Boss end cap that allows me to rest my hand on it and keep the throttle open.
I rode it to work today and I like the feel of the new grips a lot better.
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09.22.2007 | 5:45 pm | Goldwing
Now that it is somewhat cleaned up and has all the goodies on it, I thought I would park it outside and get some better pictures of it. Here are some hi-res ones:
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09.22.2007 | 5:38 pm | Goldwing
OK, this is more dressy than the other stuff was. A guy on the Goldwing forum was selling a use bra, or a “nose mask” as he called it. It was cheap, and I figured it would be worth it during love bug season alone. It is kind of hard to tell what it looks like in this picture since the titanium paint job and the black don’t contrast much.
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09.21.2007 | 6:17 pm | Goldwing
OK, well more funtional than dress up.
We got some Kuryakyn highway pegs for the front and the rear. The front is adjustable in many different directions, so I won’t know what I like and what is comfortable until I go for an extended ride.
The rear pegs just fold up and down.
And, the crown jewel of creature comforts. The pinnacle of biking accomodations…
its the….
Wait for it….
Butler Travel Mug!!! Yipee!! The crowd goes wild!!!
There is nothing like 32 ounces of your favorite chilled refreshment at your fingertips. It doesnt’ get any better than this folks!
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09.9.2007 | 1:05 pm | Goldwing
I picked up some chrome doodads and started upgrading the Goldwing. I got the trim pieces for the trunk and saddlebag areas, and the center shark fin for the front end.
And yes, the chrome project is going to get expensive. As they say, buying the bike is the cheap part. I am looking some extra lighting kits for the front end next.
More to follow…
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09.6.2007 | 6:31 pm | Goldwing
I went to the dealer this morning to have the trim pieces fixed. The bottom trim piece was secure, but the side pieced is only held on my double sided sticky tape, and the new piece they put on did not hold it. As soon as I put my hand on it, the trim piece came loose again.
I mentioned that the cruise control had some lag in it, and needed to be adjusted. They told me that it would take some work to get that taken care of and would need me to leave the bike with them. I decided to just wait on that repair and have it done when they do the 600 mile service.
I broached the topic of giving them this bike back in exchange for another one in the dark red metallic that I wanted in the first place. They didn’t say no, so at least it is still a possibility. If they swapped this one for another one, presuming I have no problems with the new one, that would make me a happy camper.
We shall see…
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