I've ridden both an ST1300 and a GL1800 and owned a 2007 ST1300 for six years and 50,000 km (about 30,000 miles). They are both superb - well-built with beautiful fairings, well-designed luggage and other features and have dead-nuts reliable electrics and powertrains - in the Honda tradition. I was certainly never too
cold on my ST1300 but I did find it heavy (although the weight magically disappears once you are moving - even at a walking pace) -
until I rode my buddy's Gold Wing.
Now
THAT is a heavy machine (around 150-180 lbs more than the ST1300) and I found the GL1800 very toasty on a hot day due to the much larger fairing and windscreen.
Aside from the weight, (but related to it) is that the ST1300 can be a handful in a parking lot if you have to back up. It is top-heavy - especially with a full 29.7 litres of fuel which weighs about 53 lbs, it is pretty tall and does not have reverse. I am about 6' tall with fairly long legs and yet several times I found that I needed a buddy to push me back out of a parking spot. The GL with its reverse drive would have been really nice - oh, and a 6-speed transmission.
Otherwise, I'd pick the ST1300 every time....until I bought a 1983 BMW R100RS which I call "
Gretel".
The 40-year-old Bimmer does not have linked brakes or ABS, nor does it have EFI - but like the Hondas, it is beautifully built with a fairing that keeps me dry, but not too hot, it is dead-nuts reliable, will do high-speed runs all day, the ergonomics fits me fine, all parts are readily available and it gets about 60 mpg (Imperial), plus it weighs over
200 lbs LESS than the ST1300 and about 300-350 lbs less than a Gold Wing (and is about half the weight of a big H-D) - so backing up is not a problem.
All that, and it has only two of everything (cylinders, valves-per-cylinder, carbs, etc.), it is air cooled so no radiator, thermostat, fans, hoses, or coolant, and it is about as complex as a big lawnmower so I can easily service it myself. In fact, you could sit on your bum beside the road and do a complete top-end job with normal hand tools.
NOTE: the same things cannot be said about "modern" BMWs which seem to suffer from all sorts of electrical and mechanical ailments and require three degrees in engineering to repair.
Don't get me wrong - the newer Bimmers are lovely bikes but the financial outlay to buy one and keep it on the road simply doesn't make sense to me for what is essentially a toy that I can only use about 7-8 months per year. IMO, the BMW company has utterly lost the notion of simple effective design that was embodied in the R-class bikes which are often referred to as
"AirHeads" due to their air-cooled engines. I guess that is what it takes to compete today - but that level of cost and complication, not to mention warranty hassles isn't for me.
BTW - I paid less for my BMW than my Gold Wing buddy had
paid in sales taxes for his GL1800.
The only thing I don't like about the BMW is it's idiotically hard to deploy and fragile OEM sidestand - but like most "AirHead" owners I have bought an aftermarket Brown's Stand which, although it looks like a heavy Harley part, is robust, reliable, and very easy to use.
Pete
The GW is starting to feel like a luxury car: big, heavy, and comfortable....and of course on a 90 degree, 80% humidity afternoon, the GW has too much protection from the breeze.
