Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like you're happy with your choice. I think it's a great looking bike. Hope you get many years of riding enjoyment from it.
Thanks for the feedback. Do you know if his DCT is a Tour or Basic?
DCT Tour ,and now has me eyeing a 2018 in blue... no room in the stable yet though.
I was able to ride a 2018 DCT for about 1000 miles at 150 to 250 miles each time while riding a 2006 GW, 2015 GW, and my 2005 ST all on alternating weekends. I worked at a Honda dealer at the time and a perk was taking home different bikes every weekend. I was going to buy a Wing and trying to settle on which one. My experience was the 2018 has heavier steering, requiring more bar input to roll into turns, and less ground clearance. Both older Wings had lighter more neutral steering and felt lighter on their wheels when riding winding roads. I preferred riding the older model and my wife preferred the older bikes for passenger room and wind protection. I preferred the new bike’s looks and modern instrumentation but we ended up buying the 06. About 18 months later we rented a DCT Tour in NC for a weekend in the mountains and kind of hoped it would excite us enough to trade up but that was not the case. That was the final comparison between generations for me.
Thank you for your comparative thoughts on the different generations. I read a lot of your posts and appreciate your detail and your overall motorcycle experience when posting, so I'm a tad befuddled at your time on the new GW, especially having tried 2 newer bikes and still having the same thoughts. Maybe the first 2018 ride was a lemon somehow but then riding a 2nd one and feeling the same gives me some cause for pause in my thinking.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience. I found it particularly informative because my initial thinking was to look for a 6sp bagger. Your particular experience is even more dissapointing given that you purchased a 2021, so you would hope that any "new model" issues had been found and resolved since the 2018 introduction.
I'm not attempting to compare the ST to the GL or talk you out of a new bike. Far from it. I only speak of what I experienced but at least a couple of print media (magazine) reviews mentioned the additional bar pressure needed to turn the Newwing compared to the Oldwing. One of the rides I posted about here in ST-O was the day three of us swapped back and forth between the 2018, the 2006, and a 2004 ST1300. Same roads, same pace, three bikes, three riders. We all felt the same way about Wing differences after riding all three bikes at least 50 miles each. Dynamically the new Wing was less nimble and touched down parts sooner. Perhaps ridden in isolation it's not easy to notice the difference but after swapping bikes and then going right back down the same road we just rode up delta was apparent. I could be way off base but I believe Wing owners are a different breed of rider compared to sport touring riders. They appear to me after three years in the fold to be overall less sophisticated about motorcycles and riding them. Flame suit on. Sport touring riders from my observation tend to have a roving eye and have experience on a number of motorcycles while a large number of Wing owners tend to own one bike and go into bike ownership like marriage. A sport touring rider moving onto a Wing may carry a lot of experience with him. The 15 year Wing owner maybe not so much. There are outliers of course and that sentiment is not meant to offend the sporting Wing owner that knows the entire performance envelope of his bike.Thank you for your comparative thoughts on the different generations. I read a lot of your posts and appreciate your detail and your overall motorcycle experience when posting, so I'm a tad befuddled at your time on the new GW, especially having tried 2 newer bikes and still having the same thoughts. Maybe the first 2018 ride was a lemon somehow but then riding a 2nd one and feeling the same gives me some cause for pause in my thinking.
Most of the reviews I've read, both professional and owner, seem to indicate the bike handles better and has more ground clearance than the older models. I've had discussions with a couple of owners here who have gone from the ST1300 to the new GW and really like it (but that's not a new vs old GW comparision like your comments).
On the other hand I also know of a couple of new GW owners who have owned one for a while and decided to go in a different direction similar to Bee in post #26 above. Like other things in life - sometimes the more you research the more confusing it gets
At the end of the day I'm pretty happy with my ST1300ABS. My consideration of a new GW started because I am looking for a bike that is more comfortable for my wife, rides with a lot less heat, has a lower center of gravity and is common enough to easily find parts and service for the next 10 years or so. I'll go do some more digging in the Goldwing forums as Bee suggests.
No doubt.
I understand you're just sharing your experience. I was simply saying that I respect your opinion and if you feel that way about it then there must be something to it. During the day I did look for more info comparing the 2017 and earlier GWs to the 2018+ models. In doing so I did find some articles that mention the same things you did regarding slower steering, questionable ground clearance and as Bee mentioned some suspect finishing and quality issues relative to the high standards the GW is known for.
I too would have been very much down in the dumps if I had waited and saved for a new GW and then had your experience.
They are identical engines other than the transmissions. The loss in power from the DCT is the result of being fluid driven. Cycle World is a reliable source for Dyno Testing. Yes there may be some discrepancy in individual motors built, but not the difference in H.P. and Torque that the Dyno tests read.
That's a good idea - somehow skipped my thinking. I will look around to see what I can find - Thanks
