First Ride Impression

[ski_rush]

I just bought a 2004 St1300 this past Tuesday. I had my first ride today with it, and this was also my first ride on a bike a little more than a year (I had a VTX 1300 back in 2021 that I sold at the end of that season). I rode the ST for an hour today...Wow. I'm very impressed. Here are my general observations:

1. Speed and smoothness of the engine. Now I understand why people often say that you need to watch your speed with this bike. You up to 70 in no time and it feels like you're going 30. I live in the country and we have wide open roads. I made a turn at a stop sign and get going with throttle...I could swear I was a 60+ in 2nd gear...I didn't expect that. The engine just purrs at 65-70mph; like it's hardly working. It was so smooth that I was thinking that I got a European bike that had the speedo in Kilometers. Nope, it's in mph. I had up to a good amount of speed and it had plenty left; way more than I would need.

2. Handles the Wind. I live in the Midwest, so wind is kind of a constant. Today was pretty windy but I took the bike out anyway. I was curious how it would handle the wind. My VTX was also a big bike, but it got pushed around. I had a GS500f a few years ago that had full plastics…small bike and lots of plastic = pushed around quite a bit! I thought this bike would be just as bad because of the plastic. I was wrong. It handled the wind very well. There were a few gusts that moved me a little, but other than that, I was surprised how well it handled the wind.

3. Suspension. Extremely smooth. All of my other bikes were pretty stiff and didn’t handle bumps that well. Arguably, this ST is the nicest bike I’ve ever owned, but still. The VTX was a 2006 and was a very nice bike in it’s own right…but it didn’t handle anywhere near as well as this bike. I distinctly remember hitting a bump on that bike on one ride and feeling like I broke my tailbone. This ST is butter smooth and soaks up the bumps like a Caddy. It’s nuts.

4. Smoothness of the Ride. This relates to #1 above, but it deserves its own mention. This thing is smooth. I felt Zero vibration at all, and at any speed. None on my grips, feet, or seat. Silky smooth…again, which leads to the impression that you’re going slower than you really are.

5. Handlebar Height. I definitely want a handlebar riser. Seems a tad low.

6. Other Add-Ons I want. Driver backrest and Top Case.

Overall Impression - I'm very happy with the purchase and very impressed with the bike!

 

[Larry Fine]

Nice report. I'm impressed with the color.

 

[Chris09]

Along with everything else, I like how the bike holds course in cross winds and dirty winds [passing and being passed] the weight and momentum of the bike, how the centre of gravity moves not only forward but lowers on deceleration, seems to almost straighten the bike, not as dependant on rider movements and position changes as other [lighter] bikes I've riden.

 

[Larry Fine]

And it responds effortlessly to counter-steering input, especially when you have the rear suspension ride height adjusted well to your weight.

 

[Obo]

Glad you like your new to you '04! When I bought mine it was a toss up between an 04 and the 03. I would have went with the 04 as I preferred the blue over the 03's silver, but the 04 I looked at had an oil leak.

 

[Sadlsor]

Nice write-up.
Does yours have the adjustable windscreen? If it does, I would suggest not raising or lowering it at speed, because the wind resistance hastens wear and tear on the cables and mechanism.
New Honda replacement bits are best impossible to find, although they're is an aftermarket replacement by a member here.
It's still a pain to get to and replace the parts.
It is easy to get spoiled on these bikes, isn't it?

 

[core-aggie]

Does yours have the adjustable windscreen?

For the US, the 2003 was the only year that had the "manual" windscreen. from 2004 on, all have electric


EDIT : oooooops - I forgot about the 2003 ABS model with electric windscreen - thanks for the corrections !

 

[Mellow]

For the US, the 2003 was the only year that had the "manual" windscreen. from 2004 on, all have electric

Only 2003 NON-ABS.. the 2003 ABS versions did have the elec windscreen.

 

[ToddC]

For the US, the 2003 was the only year that had the "manual" windscreen. from 2004 on, all have electric

Except for the ABS version of the 03. Those had the adjustable windscreen.

First things to look at if you haven't already. Check your rear suspension preload adjuster. Very common to be low on fluid. Easy to fix.
Also, check the function of your secondary master cylinder on your left front fork. Good articles here, just search it.

Congrats on a nice purchase..!
T

 

[ST_SVK]

Beautiful machine.

 

[motornut]

My 04 is perfect for what I use it for (long haul and short commuting). I put a Harley tour pack on the tail of mine. Almost like it was made for it. It fits to the outside of the mounted edges of the side boxes. I painted it to match and is great for long trips.

 

[ski_rush]

Except for the ABS version of the 03. Those had the adjustable windscreen.

First things to look at if you haven't already. Check your rear suspension preload adjuster. Very common to be low on fluid. Easy to fix.
Also, check the function of your secondary master cylinder on your left front fork. Good articles here, just search it.

Congrats on a nice purchase..!
T

A major reason that I bought this particular bike was that the previous owner had the bike for 12 years...and he kept impeccable service records. He babied the bike, changed all the fluids often and kept every record. He has records of getting the rear suspension refilled with fluid, which is why I felt that it handled the bumps really well. The PO is the type of guy who you want to buy anything from. He even kept the UPC labels from the oil filters and light bulbs, etc.

 

[ski_rush]

My 04 is perfect for what I use it for (long haul and short commuting). I put a Harley tour pack on the tail of mine. Almost like it was made for it. It fits to the outside of the mounted edges of the side boxes. I painted it to match and is great for long trips.

Hey, would you mind posting pics of your set up? What make and model tour pack do you have? How did you mount it?

Thanks.

 

[motornut]

I will as soon as I can figure out how to. It is a Harley Davidson OEM from the 90s off a Road King I believe. Mounted a rod from under rear seat to sides of tourpack with bent plates at the end and bolted the front to the steel part of the frame through front end of luggage rack. did have to glue plate under pack to reinforce base as it is a older fiberglass box.

 

[Willsmotorcycle]

I will as soon as I can figure out how to. It is a Harley Davidson OEM from the 90s off a Road King I believe. Mounted a rod from under rear seat to sides of tourpack with bent plates at the end and bolted the front to the steel part of the frame through front end of luggage rack. did have to glue plate under pack to reinforce base as it is a older fiberglass box.

On the phone it asks where to use from (photo library), on the desktop I just click it and the old drag and drop.

 

[motornut]

Still trying to send pictures. Always comes back as file too large. Trying to find way to reduce for attaching file. Feel like complete BOZO. Am stopping for tonight, have headache, hurt dogs feeling by telling her to go away. I expect to have dreams of computers growing legs and backing me into corner chewing on face and sucking brains out through nostrils. Or worse yet ....... figuring it out in a dream, then of course forgetting what the dream was.
I am going to try a much lower resolution camera tomorrow. Have not resorted to computer launch through window yet, now understand why program is called Windows.

 

[Kevcules]

Still trying to send pictures. Always comes back as file too large. Trying to find way to reduce for attaching file. Feel like complete BOZO. Am stopping for tonight, have headache, hurt dogs feeling by telling her to go away. I expect to have dreams of computers growing legs and backing me into corner chewing on face and sucking brains out through nostrils. Or worse yet ....... figuring it out in a dream, then of course forgetting what the dream was.
I am going to try a much lower resolution camera tomorrow. Have not resorted to computer launch through window yet, now understand why program is called Windows.

Computers can be difficult to use for those of us that already have our human hard drives full of useful information.

If you have a cell phone, take a picture and usually it asks you if you want to resize it when you send an email. Make it smaller, send the email to yourself and then that picture should work when trying to put it on here. Or you can choose a smaller resolution on your phone in settings.
Otherwise, search google and download a "picture resizer" It will make the resolution smaller for you, then post them here.
Good luck

 

[nicksacco]

I just bought a 2004 St1300 this past Tuesday. I had my first ride today with it, and this was also my first ride on a bike a little more than a year (I had a VTX 1300 back in 2021 that I sold at the end of that season). I rode the ST for an hour today...Wow. I'm very impressed. Here are my general observations:

1. Speed and smoothness of the engine. Now I understand why people often say that you need to watch your speed with this bike. You up to 70 in no time and it feels like you're going 30. I live in the country and we have wide open roads. I made a turn at a stop sign and get going with throttle...I could swear I was a 60+ in 2nd gear...I didn't expect that. The engine just purrs at 65-70mph; like it's hardly working. It was so smooth that I was thinking that I got a European bike that had the speedo in Kilometers. Nope, it's in mph. I had up to a good amount of speed and it had plenty left; way more than I would need.

2. Handles the Wind. I live in the Midwest, so wind is kind of a constant. Today was pretty windy but I took the bike out anyway. I was curious how it would handle the wind. My VTX was also a big bike, but it got pushed around. I had a GS500f a few years ago that had full plastics…small bike and lots of plastic = pushed around quite a bit! I thought this bike would be just as bad because of the plastic. I was wrong. It handled the wind very well. There were a few gusts that moved me a little, but other than that, I was surprised how well it handled the wind.

3. Suspension. Extremely smooth. All of my other bikes were pretty stiff and didn’t handle bumps that well. Arguably, this ST is the nicest bike I’ve ever owned, but still. The VTX was a 2006 and was a very nice bike in it’s own right…but it didn’t handle anywhere near as well as this bike. I distinctly remember hitting a bump on that bike on one ride and feeling like I broke my tailbone. This ST is butter smooth and soaks up the bumps like a Caddy. It’s nuts.

4. Smoothness of the Ride. This relates to #1 above, but it deserves its own mention. This thing is smooth. I felt Zero vibration at all, and at any speed. None on my grips, feet, or seat. Silky smooth…again, which leads to the impression that you’re going slower than you really are.

5. Handlebar Height. I definitely want a handlebar riser. Seems a tad low.

6. Other Add-Ons I want. Driver backrest and Top Case.

Overall Impression - I'm very happy with the purchase and very impressed with the bike!

Excellent! Ride it a while before buying anything. Lots of folks either hate the stock seat or love it for example.

I've got the same windscreen and like it. I also am installing the wind deflectors (I managed to get them from a member on this forum).

I have a riser if you're interested. See: https://www.st-owners.com/forums/threads/cleaning-out-workshop-st1300-parts-update-1-21.182686/

If that riser is not tall enough, consider the Helibar system. With my bad back, I opted for it and glad I did.

I also use a Grasshopper backrest (search the forum on that one). Others are using it as well.

The forum has lots of info and the resident expert is @Igofar. Larry has years of experience with this model.

 

[motornut]

 

[motornut]