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2018 Gold Wing has been announced

  1. #51
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    A thing might have happened.

    2019 DCT Tour. Black over chrome.

    I really lusted after the 2020 DCT Tour white over black, but no one in NH had one, and it saved about $6k.

    Looks just like the stock image.


    I've only ridden about 30 miles so far, only about 5 of which were any sort of decent road.
    Seems really light compared to the previous model. I get that it's only about 100 lbs. Feels like more.
    Grabbed for, and missed the clutch at least a dozen times.
    Honked the horn when looking for the turn signal 3 times.

    I've only used tour mode and only in "automatic" mode so far.

    Lots of electronicals to learn.
    Already ran a red light trying to figure out electronical bits.

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  2. #52
    364 Beers Shy of a Liter Trajiks9's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Congrats Jason! Looking forward to seeing it in person. Let’s plan on a ride soon.

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    🇯🇵 2001 Honda CBR 929RR R.I.P
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  3. #53
    Lifer Chippertheripper's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    That’s pretty sick.
    Ima get one when I retire. Aside from possibly a new dirtbike, it’ll probably be my next new motorcycle.

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  4. #54
    Lifer
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Congratulations! Sweet new motor bike you got there.
    We should go fer a ride sumtime. Assuming you'd associate with a hardly ableson rider.

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  5. #55
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    This was way longer than I expected. Sorry.

    I managed to get out for a few minutes today. Not really much of a ride, but got to try some different things.


    Excuse for getting out was the wifey needed a new helmet. Hers has been ill fitting for too long and we're doing a long weekend in upstate NY and Vermont this weekend, so it was a good excuse to get a new one, and a good excuse to make a trip...

    Yesterday evening I wandered out to the garage and paired my phone and both of our headsets to the bike (I have a Sena 20S and wifey has an SMH5, just for reference). That was actually pretty simple and straightforward.

    I’m a bit curious to understand how it’s going to work when my phone is paired to my headset, my headset is paired to the bike, the bike is paired to my phone, my wife’s headset is paired to the bike, and the communicators are paired with one another. I managed to leave my headset on, so when I went to use it today, of course, it was dead. No review items related to that or how that worked.

    I mentioned the purpose of this trip was to get wifey a new helmet. She was going to ride with me. I mean, why not, I've ridden at least 30 minutes on it, sure, 2 up is obviously the way to go. She also wanted to stop by the grocery store to pick up something she wanted for dinner tonight. Fine. The local MC shop closes at 6:00, it’s only like 4 something, but I head mostly that direction. I took a kinda dumb path there to get some backroads, some “city” (I mean, it’s Concord NH, but there are places with a few stop lights) driving, and managed to do a total of 1ish mile on the interstate on the way there.

    First mistake I made… (well, first mistake I noticed) I was, I dunno about 3 miles from the house. I’m scanning the display and notice that I have it in single rider with bags mode… I don’t know what’s setting I should actually be using here, but if you know me, I have some “built in” bags. On my old bike I always left the suspension preload at the max level. I’m on a “decent” road (not really twisty, but not terrible either) and I’m not positive where that setting is, so fuck it for now.

    I’m in “drive” mode on the transmission.

    There are 2 transmission modes, drive and manual (and neutral, which is just neutral). In drive mode, it’s basically “automatic” the confuser decides when to shift. In manual mode the bike will still downshift for you, but not as “aggressively” at least at higher speeds (but it also won’t leave it in 7 as you roll to a stop sign), but (at least so far) won’t upshift for you. This mimics the way that wifey’s Ford Fusion works when it’s in flappy paddle mode. I haven’t tried bouncing the GL off the rev limiter yet to see what happens. When I bounce the Fusion of the rev limiter I usually get a whap.

    The “book” says for the first 300 miles observe the “break in” rules, which are

    • Avoid full-throttle starts and rapid acceleration.
    • Avoid hard braking and rapid downshifts.
    • Ride conservatively.


    One of the GL gurus on another board has recommended that “ride conservatively” really means try to keep it below 4K RPMs (the redline is 6K RPMs, just for reference). I’m trying to be nice about that, at least for now.

    Being just before the apex of a turn, or getting on the throttle coming out of a turn, and feeling the transmission shift is weird. Right now it is clearly shifting at times that I wouldn’t. I don’t know that this is bad, it’s very different. I haven’t felt that any of the shifts have done anything to “unsettle” the bike, but it clearly shifts, like mid turn, where I would never shift. There are ways to address this (assuming that I can’t deal with it), maybe more than one, but it’s going to require some more experimenting (at least at this point in the ride). “Drive” is the default. It’s what the bike is in when you put it in “gear” (take it out of neutral, which is a thumb button on the right handlebar). Changning between “Drive’ and “manual” is a thumb button on the right handlebar.

    I’m also in “tour” riding mode (also the default). There are 4 modes. Rain, Econ, Tour, and Sport. You can change between them via a trigger (index finger) on the right handlebar. Click it all you want, and you can see it toggle on the dash, but it doesn’t change until you completely roll off the throttle. It will flash until you roll off the throttle and then it gets set. I tried switching to “sport” mode on the bit of “good road” that was on my way to Concord. Things seemed to get way more interesting as far as throttle response and RPM.

    I’m being good. I’m in the break in period. I’m being good. Switch back to tour. This seems like it’s going to be very interesting to explore. Not quite yet.


    I will say that in tour mode, the confuser switches gears WAY earlier than I would (and did) on my previous model. I also completely ignored the “book” speeds / RPM recommendations on the previous model, and shifted higher in the RPM range than is “recommended”.

    I haven’t yet tried just grabbing a handful of throttle in Tour to see how it responds. So far I’ve been a little unimpressed with throttle response in tour mode, mostly based on how I shifted the previous model and the response I expected. (I’m being good).

    OK, so stop and go sort of stop light traffic. I found myself trying to figure out when the “clutch” was disengaged when coming to a stop to know when to I could brake to a stop (like the below 5MPH stuff). I couldn’t really find it. After quite a few of these I decided that I need to say fuck it and quit worrying about the clutch and come to a stop “more aggressively” than trying to coast in.

    It’s also noticeable that the confuser is downshifting as you come to a stop. There have been a lot of complaints about this from many of the GL folks. They call it “abrupt”. I like it. It’s clearly engine braking on the way down and the confuser is so far good about that (at least in my opinion).

    I got on the interstate, in hopes that I could kinda crank the throttle a little and get a feel for how the bike shifted on the way up to speed. Unfortunately I was behind some people that didn’t know what the right pedal in their car was for, so it was a complete failure. Don’t know much about getting up to “highway” speeds quickly.


    At this point I think I’ve remembered where the suspension setting thing is. I’m at a stop light and was able to navigate to it. I pick the “2 up + baggage” and the menu goes away. WTF? I navigate back. I pick the “2 up + baggage”. The menu goes away. Light turns green, fuck it. At some later point the display is updated to show 2 up + baggage.


    Got the the MC dealership. Bought wifey a new hat. Got back on. Headed to Northwood on mostly “straight” roads which gave me some time to experiment with more electronicals and shifting sort of things.


    Fucking GPS locks you out of most everything if you are moving. Dumb. Dumb Dumb as fuck.


    I was zoomed to see like 5 states and couldn’t change it while moving. I’d previously set it to “auto zoom” but didn’t know what that meant. It was awful.


    Route 4 is pretty straight and I’m headed for the Hannaford in Northwood, so I have some time (wifey wanted to stop by the grocery store, and there’s not much better than a grocery store 20 something miles away when there are a half dozen in 5 miles). Boring roads, but time to lean how the “manual” mode (as discussed above) actually works. Not fun, but useful. Shifter is on the left handlebar. There’s a thumb switch, below the blinker for downshifting and a trigger (that you can’t see from the seated position) on the front of the handlebar for upshifts. I find myself “covering” the shift switches so that I’m prepared to shift when I need to (and not waving at people because I feel like I might need to shift). There is a foot shifter as well. It’s like $500. We’ll see.


    Wifey goes into Hannaford. I’m screwing with the GPS. Find some setting that turn “auto zoom” off and take it out of 2D mode and put it in 3D+Heading up mode (like pretty much every other GPS system on earth). That was better.


    As wifey is putting her helmet on some random guy walks up…

    “Is that a goldwing?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Is it a new one?”
    “Yeah, it’s got like well, it has 86 miles on it.”
    “How big is that engine?”
    “Uhhh, it’s an 1833.”
    “Ohh my god! My brother and I rode to Chicago on Goldwings. Mine was an 74 and his was an 76. They were amazing. I can’t imagine how great they are now!”.
    “Yeah, I’m still learning this one, but so far it’s kinda ridiculous.”
    “OK, I’m not going to keep you, but be safe and have fun!”
    “Thank you!”

    Heading home. There’s some more Route 4, but there’s also some nice local roads that I’m familiar with. Put it in manual. (Be nice). OK, this solves a lot of problems.


    Stay under 4k, stay under 4k, stay under 4k… Holy fuck. No under 4k, in 7th gear, in a 35MPH speed zone isn’t what I mean. Nothing over 5th.


    The suspension felt generally great. Perhaps a little soft in places (but I did mention my personal “baggage”). I was still being “gentle” with things, but it was really amazing.


    Biggest issue, and there wasn’t a specific time when this happened, but was a general thing. I felt like when going from engine braking to acceleration there was a slight “blip” where just before getting to “neutral” throttle there was a slight acceleration. I’m currently blaming this on me being ham fisted with the throttle, but I’ve been playing with it and I’m not completely sure. It’s kinda like engine brake… Roll throttle… Less engine brake… Accelerate… Neutral throttle… Roll throttle… Accelerate.


    It’s a weird little nuance at this point. Wasn’t the end of the world. It might be just me, but wasn’t something I experienced in the previous model.


    Wifey said the seat was hard. Not as comfortable as the one she’s been riding for the past 9 years.
    (wifey's review, after reading mine).
    Wifey's review. Comparing this one to the old one, from a pillion standpoint.. The seat was comfier on the old one. The backrest was more arched on the old one, like it should be. Not like a straight jacket.
    Unless you are an prehistoric ape, you can't reach the hand holds.
    There aren't any arm rests (there weren't on the old one either, we had aftermarket ones).
    There wasn't a place for her to put her water bottle (like on the old aftermarket armrests).
    It doesn't feel as "laggy" (to her). More powerful.
    Felt a little jerky. Mostly slowing down.
    She feels very "upright" on this bike. Sitting on a rock with a rock backrest.
    I was used to riding on a couch. (we got the other one with 7k miles on it).
    You can't spradle enough. Your spradle is limited. The feet things are back here, like your feet are behind you, rather than under you.
    It will probably get better.
    I can ride this. Right now she prefers the old one.
    She didn't get on and say "I love this thing".



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    Last edited by jasnmar; 07-21-20 at 10:32 PM.

  6. #56
    Lifer gumby's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Thought I saw you on Rt 4...now I’m sure!

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    Last edited by gumby; 07-21-20 at 10:00 PM.

  7. #57
    Super Adventurer SRTie4k's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    I'm assuming your suspension preload settings (your 2 up + baggage comment) are like what I have on my Super Adventure; you push the button to change the preload and the preload motor automatically adjusts the preload. This takes about 3-5 seconds. On my bike the preload setting flashes until it is complete. Sounds like yours does not indicate it is in process of adjusting, it just does it.

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    2023 KTM 890 Adventure R

  8. #58
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    I'm 99% sure you are correct. When I switched from just rider to rider + bags mode in the garage the other day I could hear the motor whirring for a few seconds. (This was with the bike off).

    The "setting" for this is under "bike settings" in the main (center section) menu.
    The "indicator" for this is in the "right" section of the display. (There are basically 3 sections of the display, or maybe 5...).

    When sitting at the stop light, with the bike running I didn't hear the whirring.
    There wasn't a clear confirmation that the setting had changed.
    It is quite possible that the rider guy started flashing in the right section, but my focus wasn't on the right section, it was on the center section, where the setting is.

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  9. #59
    Lifer 01xj's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Would it kill you to post some pictures of the bike?!

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  10. #60
    ^ It's my bike and my car tls25rs's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Quote Originally Posted by 01xj View Post
    Would it kill you to post some pictures of the bike?!
    Quote Originally Posted by jasnmar View Post
    Looks just like the stock image.

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  11. #61
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Quote Originally Posted by 01xj View Post
    Would it kill you to post some pictures of the bike?!
    Quote Originally Posted by tls25rs View Post
    Lol. Kinda what I was thinking.

    I've mentioned elsewhere that photography isn't really a skill I possess. I'm certainly not going to be better than the people that Honda hires, but with that said...

    Some phone snappies

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  12. #62
    Lifer
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    That's not yours. It is far too clean.

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  13. #63
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    It's new.
    I haven't had time to dirty it up yet...

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  14. #64
    Lifer OneCheekRider's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Great, now I want one of these. In white though.

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  15. #65
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Yeah, the white over black really looked nice to me.

    I just couldn't justify $6k for it.

    That might have been a mistake. It's very "Storm troopery" in white over black.

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  16. #66
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Quote Originally Posted by nhbubba View Post
    That's not yours. It is far too clean.
    Better? https://photos.app.goo.gl/NPRp56J4nPcoToy37

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  17. #67
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    This is going to be ridiculously long. Sorry again.

    Thursday
    So we were planning to leave the house mid afternoon. There was a firmware update released that day. See electronics sidebar if you are interested in that…I’ll try to mostly stay away from that in the “main description”.
    I also took a few minutes to install a RAM mount on the left bar. Take 1 screw loose to remove a cover and there’s room for https://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-B-408-75-1U. It took a few minutes to wedge the proper bits in place, but it looks pretty factory when all said and done. There’s no power on the left bar for the phone, so I’m still evaluating options there. More on that in the electronics sidebar.
    As I was pulling the bike out of the garage it started sprinkling. Wifey had just gotten some new Frog Toggs. (She was likely keen on using her new kit). She recommended we put them on. I understand how hot they are, and really didn’t want to wear them, but agreed to put mine on as well.. It started raining almost immediately. Like less than 5 miles from the house. She was right.
    This bike has a rain mode. It’s raining. Put it in rain mode… I really don’t know what that does....
    There’s a short stretch of road going through town with a quick couple curves separated by a steep uphill that requires significant throttle just to maintain speed. I gave it some throttle and it was kinda “unresponsive” . It seemed weird, but it was raining pretty hard at this point, and fuck it.
    Stopped for fuel near the house. My ritual has been to reset my Trip A at every fuel up. I forgot. While it’s not exact science I tend to start looking for fuel around 200 miles on the Trip A meter. I”ve been as far as 260 on a tank, but I start looking earlier than that. I’ve also always tracked my fuel with fuelly. (This is all old bike rules)... It’s hard to do that if you don’t reset your trip meter. There is a way to do it with miles, but I don’t know how to do that.
    New bike has a “miles until empty” gauge. It could completely replace my current process. (Future me says I’m a complete pussy with miles until empty gauge…)
    A few miles of interstate to get through out of NH on 89, then hopped off on some backroads. Still raining off and on. Either rain or wet roads pretty much all through VT.
    OK, I’ve been in rain mode for a while now… It's really “easy” to ride in. It prevents mistakes with the throttle. I kinda get it now, but I’m still in the rain. I get it more later…
    So we’re middlish VT and the onboard nav finds a better path (according to it). I wasn’t real clear on what the previous path was (I just pretty much entered the destination and picked no toll roads and no freeways options). Sure, I’m getting rained on, whatever.
    The new route involved VT 100 and VT 107, which seemed better than the original route.
    Fine with me.
    Shortly after we crossed into NY the skies lightened up and I pulled over for fuel. According to the little how far do you have o meter I was somewhere just under 100 miles. I only know that I put somewhere less than 4 gallons in. Since the skies were lightening I also recommended rain gear removal. Wifey approved and the rain gear came off.
    Opening the fuel tank requires the fob being in “operating range” then opening the kinda awkward box near the left knee. In that box is the “fuel release” button. Push that and the fuel door pops open. Like many vehicles, under that lid there is a normal “screw off” fuel lid. You twist that off, set it somewhere and start fueling. This time I remembered to reset Trip A. Learning, heh?
    Fuel the bike. Wifey probably bought water in the gas station (she typically does). Finish fuelling and ride off.
    At some point the next step on the nav became “in 3 miles turn left onto T***** road.I was kinda like, “I mean, sure, but that can’t be T***** road”. I had never been. Once I was on it, I was “Yep, I bet it is”. OK. Toss it in manual. Keep it in Tour. Ummm. I’m still riding a band new bike, 2 up, with less than 300 miles (but close to the “wear in” limit). I really hadn’t had the riding conditions to build much confidence yet, so I was reasonably timid in my opinion. After getting off that road Wifey commented on the fact that it was a “fun” road. Noted.
    Much of the rest of the ride to Lake Placid was uneventful. Just typical 55 MPH New England riding. We took a pass through “down town” which was a fun walkable little area. Had to deal with a lot of quick crosswalk stops etc. Down to like 3mph everything was cool. I’m still struggling a bit with extreme slow maneuvers, but just put my feet down early.
    Remember that awkward little door near the knee. I left it open. My temp registration blew out. Awesome.

    Friday
    We did basically the Boldt Castle Run from the New England Riders website. I'd never really spent any time in western NY, but it's much more rolling farmland than twisty sort of roads. I wasn't aware of this before hand, but some of the biggest things to watch for are carriages and horse droppings. I don't want to make this a trip review, but context is important.
    Roads were generally 55mph,with varying warnings from 35 to 50.
    This is where this bike, in tour and Drive really shows what it is built for. It's really ridiculous how easy it is to ride on these roads. Twist the throttle. That's pretty much all you need to do. It's really a "gentleman's tourer". It really allows you to be lazy. I would often find myself beyond the entry of a turn realizing that I had not really set up for the turn. Just push on the inside bar. It's fine. I couldn’t have gotten away with some of these on the old bike without things scraping.
    This wasn't the greatest ride ever, but it gave me some time to gain confidence with the bike.
    This bike has a feature called Hill Start Assist. I know that because every time you start it the HSA indicator lights up in amber on the dash. It stays on until you reach like 3MPH or something. The manual says “To activate the HSA, squeeze the brake lever quickly until the Hill start assist (HSA) indicator comes on in white and hold the brake lever.” I tried that. No light. I tried again. No light. What the manual should say is “To activate the HSA, squeeze the fuck outta the lever until the Hill start assist (HSA) indicator comes on in white and hold the brake lever.” I don’t yet know technically what this does, but it feels kinda like it sets the parking brake temporarily. Giving it throttle will “over power” the brake and allow you to go forward, but it “holds you in place” at least to some degree.
    I did manage to find some sections that were reasonably twisty. I’m past the wear in mileage at this point, lets try sport mode… I was cruising along in 7th. Putting it in sport shifts down to 5th pretty quickly and the RPMs come up. There’s a very awesome sound coming from the engine. I should pay more attention to the gears and the RPM and all that, but fuck that, I’m having fun. The throttle response becomes significantly more “aggressive” (that little blip I talked about when going from engine braking to “neutral throttle”, still there, even more pronounced in sport). The bike is changing gears, but I don’t really care, do your thing, I’ll do my thing. It’s completely fine. The road “loosened up” and I put it back in Tour.
    There were more than a few opportunities to pass other vehicles on the roads in western NY. I started by just grabbing some throttle. That worked fine, but left me feeling like something was missing. Wifey recommended putting it in Sport mode, which certainly would have worked. What I ended up with was as I’m rolling on the throttle a quick left thumb press to the “-” switch, drops a gear and goes. I tried two clicks once and faster than I could have done 2 clicks with my foot was in 5th gear from 7th. Let the bike shift back up as it wants.
    I also put it in Rain, just for some comparison… Ahhh, now that makes sense. The throttle response is, I mean the best way I can describe it is it’s as if you are 2 gears too high for the condition. Not that the engine is lugging at all, but that’s the throttle response. You roll on and the engine starts to increase, but does so very casually. It’s responding, just slowly. Roll off is the same way. Release the throttle and it very softly starts to engine brake. Again, like you are 2 gears too high.

    Saturday
    Goal was to get to Burlington. Wifey also requested a redo of T road if possible.
    I found a little loop on the bone site that would take a couple hours to the north of Lake Placid before heading east.
    Route 18 from Saranac to Lake Clear was a fun little road that led to more playing with Sport mode. I’m continuing to get comfortable with Sport Mode. Then there was Route 30 North. Awful road. Straight, almost like an interstate. It did give me a chance to play with the adjustable windscreen a bit. It basically works just like a car window. There’s a switch on the left handlebar. Push the switch up to raise, down to lower. In its lowest position, which is where I’ve had it set the entire time there’s a decent amount of air coming at the rider. Probably more than the previous bike.
    Background: On my previous bike I had replaced the stock windshield with a bagger shield. It is significantly shorter than the stock one, so I’m not really comparing apples to apples between the old one and the new one as the old one wasn’t stock in this regard.
    Put the shield in its highest position and virtually all of the air is going over the riders helmet. Much less noise, much less airflow. This should be a very useful option for the cold as well as long highway trips.
    In the “low” position the rider is looking significantly over the screen. In the high position the road is probably 2” below the top of the screen for me (so looking through).
    The only reason for that road, is this road. NY 26. I’m running north to south. The first mile or so I almost turned back. It was terribly washboarded. Awful. Finally I said, I have this fancy new suspension, let’s see if I can beat it to death. Fuck it. Shortly after the road smoothed out significantly and I’m really glad I didn’t turn around. Narrow, unmarked, tight. If 2 cars meet on this road one of them is going to need to put wheels in the dirt. It was technical enough that I didn’t really trust Sport mode. Tour and Manual shift was exciting enough for this road. At the end of it I opened the comm channel and said wow! To my surprise she was not impressed with the road. She thought it was too narrow and if a car wasn’t paying attention it would be a head on. We actually passed a couple cars (oncoming) on the road, there wasn’t any problem. The bike did everything I asked of it. No drama. No problems. People were nice as could be and most were waving as we went by. Some more general riding. Back to T road. This time I intentionally gave up control of the gear box, but put it in sport mode. Delicious. Surprisingly so. I mostly didn't notice shifts. Ride the bike. Set your entry speed and ride the bike. It was really brilliant. Don’t get me wrong, I’m never going to set any time records, but the bike behaved amazingly. I’m still struggling with the blip from engine braking to throttle.
    After T road it was primarily about making time to Burlington. I noticed that I had been spoiled by being in Auto shift and Sports mode. I wanted Auto shift and Tour mode to shift a little more aggressively. It didn't. I just wanted it.
    I just relied on the built in nav from here. It took us through a bunch of stop lights and surface traffic to the South of Burlington. It was hot as fuck. By the time we got to the hotel we were exhausted. Tour mode and city driving was just easy as could be. It just sucked due to it being so hot.
    Found some local places to eat / drink and discussed bike comfort. She's clearly not as happy with this bike. Her but hurts. Her knees hurt. The old seat was more like a barcalounger than this one. Her knees are too bent all the time and that makes them hurt. She has to sit up straight all the time, like she doesn’t use the backrest because that just hurts more. There are multiple ideas about how to solve this. Surprisingly she doesn’t think she needs the arm rests, which we thought were going to be the first thing we added. I’m glad that I hadn’t ordered them yet.

    Sunday
    This was an intentionally short day. We were both tired. We did a loop around Jay Peak. Roads were “meh”. Getting out of Burlington sucked.
    There was one little experiment that was interesting. Somewhere in Northern VT I’d be chasing a couple cars on a back road. I’d been behind them for a few miles, not really gaining on them (not really trying to either, just riding). I decided to switch from Tour mode to Sport mode. Within 2 minutes I was riding their ass. It just changes things, way more significantly than I thought it would. It wasn’t like I set out to try to catch them, I just rode “harder”. It wasn’t a conscious decision to do that, it just happened.

    Monday
    Time to head home. The rough plan is to just bomb the freeway out of Burlington. Step to some backroads through central VT. Continue on backroadsish to Plymouth, hop on 93 for 15 miles and jump to 132 for most of the way home from Ashland.
    Get on 89. I got on and off the interstate yesterday a bit as well, but this is really the first “significant” ride there. I actually think this version of the GL1800 is less good than the previous version of just piling up interstate miles. This one gets “pushed around” the road more than the other did by passing other vehicles / being passed by other vehicles. If you got passed by a truck you were certainly aware, but there was very little drama. At least so far it seems that there is more “wind push” on this bike than the old one (could just be due to weight).
    I got to use the cruise control, which the controls are simplified over the previous version. An “enable / disable” button and an up / down switch. Once enabled down is set / - and up is resume / +. Simple. There’s also the option to display the “set speed” on the far left display, but if you want to see that you have to not see the current temperature. That’s kindof a dumb tradeoff, but whatever.
    I also used this opportunity to put it in Econ mode. I mean, I don’t know when else I’m going to use Econ mode.
    Anecdotal: The speed, even with cruise set seemed to vary within about a 5mph window. This, I’m guessing was econ. At one point I was going faster than the car in front of me, but needed to get around them to make the next exit (or, just park in this lane, which wasn’t exciting). I changed lanes and twisted the throttle and … wow. That’s not a great response. I mean, I’ll make the exit, but fuck. I’m not sure if the Cruise Control isn’t very “tight” or if it’s the fact that I had it in econ that allowed it to range, but throttle response in econ was abysmal. If I’m correct in assuming that Cruise respects ride mode, that would explain the variance. It’ll need more study. I don’t feel like I’m going to be spending a lot of time in Econ mode in the future.
    Adjustable windscreen. Still surprisingly good. I used it a couple days ago. I’m now doing 75ish on the interstate. Pop it tall. Reduces wind noise significantly. Don’t get me wrong, I actually like some wind, and I really thought one of the first things I was going to do was replace the stock windshield with a shorter one. The stock screen is easy to look over and gives some good flow across your head. Putting it in “tall” mode doesn't just move it up, but also changes the angle so that it’s more upright and pushing more air over. My biggest bitch is that it isn’t simple to “micro adjust”. There’s a “delay” between pushing the switch and it moving. I’d really prefer it to be a very quick “bump” switch. It seems to stop when you stop, but it doesn’t start for like ½ second. I’d prefer a bump, bump… Bump, bump sort of option. It’s not a switch I’m going to hit accidentally a lot. I’m not sure why there’s that much “caution” in adjusting it. Also, it always goes back to “home” (lowest position) when you turn off the bike. Upon restart it returns to its previous position. I’m sure there’s a reason for this. I don’t know what it is.

    In no specific order: Problems...
    Suspension is still a little soft. You really can’t fix spring rate problems with preload.
    Struggling with throttle control between engine braking and throttle.
    Wifey comfort issues.

    Overall I’m extraordinarily happy. It’s like being able to take a touring bike to some great roads and then having a sport bike there waiting for you to ride the great roads, you just don’t have to get off to change bikes.
    There’ll be another post about electronics / nav / challenges / other stuff, but some people don’t care about that so It’ll be separate. This is long enough as it is.

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    Last edited by jasnmar; 07-28-20 at 01:02 PM.

  18. #68
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    OK. I’m still learning the entire radio / routing / electronics system on the bike.
    Background stuff: I have a Sena 20S and a Google Pixel 3.
    Wifey has a Sena SMH-5 and a Google Pixel 4XL.

    I had previously paired my phone with the bike as well as both of our headsets.
    Until very recently the bike had supported Apple Car Play, but not Android Auto.

    The Android Auto update was to be released in June. It actually got released the morning that we were leaving for the trip. The update said it would take about an hour. I don’t have time to install it before we are leaving. Whatever, it’ll be fine.
    This is my 3rd ride on the bike. First ride with any electronics paired. I’m going 200+ miles to a place I’ve never been before. In the rain. What could go wrong?
    There’s a Female USB cable in the “cubby”, which is a glove box sort of thing where a tank bag might most likely go on a normal motorcycle. I’ve installed a RAM ball mount on the left handlebar and have my XGrip mounted there, but there’s no power there yet. I plug my phone in and toss it in the cubby.
    Rumor has it there’s also a USB port in one of the saddle bags. I haven’t found that as of this writing.

    I enter the “final” destination into the Nav so that I can use it in the future, then cancel that. I go back into the “destination” menu and click previous destinations, just to make sure. It’s not there. Evidently it doesn’t save it unless you click go. I enter it again.
    (This is all from memory, so I could have some minor details wrong).

    OK. Navigating the menu system. There are kinda 2 ways to do this. There’s a 4 way button on the left bar with a center “enter” button on the left bar. There’s also a “BMW” style (I don’t know that BMW invented this, it’s just where I saw it first) joystick on the “dash” under the on/off acc / lock switch. There are (at least) 4 directions you can push the button in, as well as a jog dial around it and an “OK” button in the center.
    There’s also a “central” panel with some buttons that include a picture of a house (home), back, SEL and SET (which are carryovers from the old wing), probably a control to turn on the heated grips and one for the heated seats. Maybe 2-3 more blanks (at least some of which often get used for fog lights).

    On the left bar there’s also a House and back button, as well as a source button (for the audio source).
    I don’t have concrete evidence of this, but I really feel like there are times when the left / right button on the handlebar don’t do the same thing as pushing the joystick left / right.
    It’s just ridiculously illogical in some cases as well. (With the current version of the firmware) For example if you hit home there are 5 options. The “default” option is Audio Source (I think). Under that is Navigation. Under that is Phone Settings. 3 things, in a column. To the right of Audio Source is Vehicles Settings. Under that is Audio Settings (to the right of Navigation settings). It would be perfectly logical that if Audio Source was currently selected that you could use the “right” button on the left bar or push the joystick to the right to get to Vehicle Settings. You can’t. Even though it’s displayed as a grid you can only access things as if it were a single column. To get from Audio Source to Vehicle settings you need to scroll down 4 times, or up 2 times, or roll the joystick knob the same number of times. (I just checked with a new firmware update, this isn’t true on the home screen, but is true in the Nav menu, which looks exactly like the home screen).

    A more rediculouser example is in the Navigation App. After you have entered an address it shows the point on the map, with a menu on the right part of the screen. The “top” item is the address, under that the “GO” button is the default. Under that there are options for edit route and route settings (or something like that). At that point clicking “down” on the joystick pans the map. To get to Edit Route, which is directly below the active button you have to click to the right on the joystick (I think you can also turn the wheel, but you can’t click “down” to get to the button below).

    The reason this comes up here is because I now have to enter the address for the Hotel in Lake Placid for a second time. To “type” things an onscreen keyboard comes up. You have to use either the joystick or the left handlebar controls to navigate the keyboard. Left / Right / Up / Down on one isn’t the same as Left / Right / Up / Down on the other (I think). The inconsistencies between the joystick and the controls on the left handlebar are kinda just dumb.

    I’ve already identified a “point” on the map which will get me off I-89 to some point mid-NHish and enter that address into the Nav. I used Google maps on my phone to pick the point. Enter that as an address to go to.

    OK, Finally ready to start. I’m leaving the house and I’m hearing a weird “buzzing” sort of sound. Turn the volume down, it goes away (there’s a volume control also on the left handlebar). I also notice that I can barely hear the nav directions. Turn the volume up. The buzzing gets louder. The nav volume doesn’t. Turns out I’m listening to the radio, tuned to some random frequency where there isn’t a station and that’s the static / buzzing I’m hearing. OK, change the source to USB (I don’t have any USB things plugged it, so that should make it quit). It does, for like a minute. The system figures out that there are no USB devices, and switches back to FM. I still can’t hear the nav directions. Also the NAV is configured so that North is always “forward” (or up) and the map is viewed from directly above.

    Eventually I figure out that in the GPS menus, somewhere, there is also a GPS Volume (that is different than the “normal” (actually audio) volume) that controls the level of the directions. There’s also a single button in the “array of buttons” that switches the audio (both GPS and other audio) between the speakers and the bluetooth connection.

    As normal, wifey and I can hit the big button on the side of the Sena to turn “intercom” on / off (purley a function of the Sena units, nothing to do with the bike).
    I eventually manage to get the audio source switched over to Bluetooth, and just don’t play anything on bluetooth on my phone, which gets rid of the static, and now that I’ve figured out the gps volume, we’re making progress.

    After I get to the random place in NH, in the rain, I have to stop to pick the “final destination” even though it’s already in the previous destinations list. It won’t let me pick it while I’m riding. I have to stop to pick the previous destination. Great.
    I feel like at this point I also figured out that there is a setting the the GPS which switches things from “2D” “North up” to “3D” “Direction up”. Like, you know, the way you drive?
    Midway through VT the built in GPS prompts for a new route. I wasn’t sure what the old one was, so I accepted (this was previously discussed).

    Rest of the “electronics” was uneventful until we arrive in Lake Placid.

    I didn’t bring a computer. I do have a cell phone. I’ve used my cell phone as a “drive” for my computer in the past, like a USB drive. Why not try it. I download the 8.5GB file to my phone. I try some different things for about an hour and never get it to work.
    A side note on stupid… The instructions for the update make you format the “disk” you are going to use (a thumb drive) as NTFS or “Mac Extended”. They do that for a specific reason, which is because the file used to update the bike is 8.5GB. The bike can read from a FAT32 drive just fine. The 8.5GB file is and ISO image (like the type that is used to write a DVD). You can browse into the ISO images and look at all of the data, install scripts etc, but for the bike to read it, it must be named swdl.iso. No other option.
    OK, so I’m not using Google maps for trip planning, and need to use the built in Nav. I have some of the NER routes saved to my phone. I spend some time adding “waypoints” (just addresses that will most likely route me the way I want to go) to a “saved places” list. Mostly they are in the correct order.

    OK, to the bike the next day. I actually want to listen to some music today. Start playing my music on my phone (Google Play Music) and nothing happen. I figure out that I again need to change my source to be BlueTooth. Fine.

    I just enter the first “waypoint” address. Ride there. Stop there. Enter the next address. Ride there. Stop there.

    Somehow, between yesterday and today my map settings have gone back to “2D” “North up”. Fuck!

    Before the first waypoint, however, wifey opens the intercom and says “this is going to sound weird, but I think I hear your music (she typically listens to her own music being played
    via her phone). I say I don’t think this is that weird… I stop and “turn off” the passenger headset “setting”. It’s still “paired” with the bike, just not active.I confirm that she doesn’t hear my music, but can listen to hers again. Good to go. Now I know how that works.

    While I’m dinking around in the Nav I notice some options to add more waypoints to a route, but I’m not sure how to use it yet. Everytime I stop wifey asks me why we’ve stopped, which isn’t at all unreasonable. Sometimes the places I’ve entered are things like Fire stations. I don’t really care what they are, just as long as they are “along my path”.

    At some point today, as we are driving I drive up to a bridge that is closed. Just all of a sudden closed. No warning signs, not detour signs. Just closed. Uhhh, OK. I feel like I’ve seen a “detour” function. Go to the menu, sure enough there’s a function for detour. I click it, and it gives me a list of roads. I pick the one that I’m on (and is closed). The bike gives me an error something like “this road is required”. I mean, it may be required, but it’s also closed. Like I can’t take it. I try again. Nope, required. I turn around. Go maybe ¾ of a mile and turn on some random road. The GPS then figures out a completely new path that doesn’t take me through the closed bridge.

    I haven’t talked about this, but the voice commands from the “on bike” system aren’t awful. Generally it gives you pretty good warning about upcoming events. It’s a bit too repetitive with things, but I generally think telling me more is better than not telling me enough. The “turn now” prompt is always a bit earlier than I would like, but once you get it figured out, it’s fine.

    Also, as you get close to a turn, the right half of the screen turns into some “schematic” or “wireframe” sort of view that is “trying” to be clear about where you should turn. So far I’ve only found that view to be distracting from the “normal” map view.
    OK, so I need fuel at this point, but I’m in a “downtown” area (I’m not great a low speed stuff on this yet). I find a parkingish place. The built in GPS is actually pretty useful at finding a local place to get gas.

    At the gas station I decide to try entering a destination as well as a “waypoint”. Of course my first try I get the destination and the waypoint backwards. There’s an option to swap them, and not re-enter them from the beginning. That’s useful (I still don’t know the correct order for them yet). I get directions to the first waypoint, I drive right by it and it starts directing me to the 2nd waypoint. Nice.

    The next day, before departing I enter like 5 points into the nav that will do the loop that I’m planning and get me through T road. I’ll stop and enter the “new” hotel after that, all of which mostly works fine. The map options have reset to “2D” “North up” again, but I notice it before leaving.

    The other thing that I’ve learned is when you stop for temporary stops don’t turn the bike off. The engine stops when yrou put the kick stand down and are in drive. After that happens just switch the bike to accessory mod. That keeps all of the bluetoothyness paired. Keeps the map routing. Keeps all of the audio settings. You don’t have to redo anything on start up. Switch from Accessory to “run”, hit the switch. Go.

    Another “change” related to electronics is the way the starter works. The old bike had a key, a run / kill switch and a “starter” switch. The starter switch worked in the same way that “old school” car keys worked. You could do things like “bump” the starter by bumping the starter switch. The new start button is “integrated” into the run switch. Just hitting the “start” button runs the starter until the bike starts (like a push button start).

    I mentioned the bike shuts itself off when you put the stand down in D. At some point after the bike shuts itself off, the bike also puts itself in neutral. Every time you start the bike it is in N. I’ve been so so on setting the parking brake so far. I need to get better at it.

    That’s at least the “highlights” of what I learned on the first trip.

    Now, for the update.

    I get home. I download the update. I reformat my thumb drive as NTFS. I move the update to the drive. Plug the drive into the USB port and after about 30 seconds the bike prompts me with a “do you want to update from (some time stamp) to (some newer timestamp)? Yes.

    This process takes about 25 minutes. After the update all of the “settings” on the bike are forgotten. Radio stations, bluetooth pairing, routes / destinations / everything. For Android Auto to work you have to have a bluetooth headset paired, so that’s step 1. Works. Plug in the phone and wait. Nothing happens. Grab another USB cable and try again. Nope. Grab a 3rd USB cable. Nothing. Restart the bike (that sounds weird). Make sure I can hear things over bluetooth. Pair the phone. Try all 3 cables again. Nothing. I screw with this for the rest of the evening off and on. No fix.

    Turns out, for some short amount of time Honda pointed the “update” to the 2019 version of the firmware. While I did update the version on my bike, I didn’t update to the “latest” version. Get the new version. Put it on the drive. Go through the update again. Pair the headset again. Plug in the phone and it prompts me for Android Auto. That was easy…

    I know that there were a number of changes to the built in nav app.

    Android Auto adds a whole new dimension to the electronics and how it works, so it’s possible that all of the above is useless. We’ll see.

    There might be another post with using Kurviger for route planning with the built in nav app in the future, but this is plenty long for now.

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  19. #69
    Lifer Not Sure's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Quote Originally Posted by jasnmar View Post
    but this is plenty long for now.
    Nah .........

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  20. #70
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Some "accessories" showed up today.

    I'm guessing about 6 hours of labor and 2 hours of machining to install them.

    2018 Gold Wing has been announced-img_20200805_162639-jpg

    I list the machining part separately, because I could have thrown money at that part of it (which is modifying some of the existing subframe on the bike), but actually haven't used the Mill in a while so elected to do that rather than pay for it.

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  21. #71
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Interesting.
    Someone on the Goldwing forum asked how to set the bike back from 2D North up to 3D. Since I've done it a bunch of times, I gave him directions.
    After my post someone else said that you can get to it from the "map" screen as well. You press Enter, then use the directional controls to highlight a small "button" at the top of the nav. Pressing enter again will switch you between 2D North up, 2D Follow and 3D Follow. That's probably how I kept resetting my map view, without knowing it was happening.
    I also found out you can change the map zoom level by pressing the up / down arrows on the left handlebar while in the nav today.

    First ride with AA today.
    I"m a little frustrated with how hard it is to get AA launched. The first time I turned on my headset first and then the bike. My headset paired with my phone, but hadn't paired with the bike yet. I plugged in my phone and it complained that AA can't launch without a paired headset. Turn headset off. Turn headset on. Pairs with phone. Pairs with bike. Unplug phone. AA lauches.
    Riding home, I'm not going to make the same mistake. Turn bike on first. Wait for that to come online. Turn on headset. Headset pairs with phone... Wait... Doesn't announce that it's paired with bike. Plug in phone. AA won't launch, no headset. Restart headset. Pairs with phone, pairs with bike. Unplug phone, plug phone back in. AA launches.
    AAs "default" screen is Google maps. If you want to get to other AA apps you have to click the back button. The first ride I started Youtube music and picked a downloaded playlist I had. The second ride, it remembered that and started it after being connected for a minute or so (could be speed related, not sure).

    Unrelated to electronicals... Last time I parked the bike I "pulled in" to the garage. That's atypical. I usually turn around a back in. Because I pulled in I must now back out. I start walking the bike backwards, and eventually need to crank the bars to the left, so I can turn the bike around. The bike stops (it's running, and in Neutral at this point). Like it doesn't quit running, I just can't push it any more. I straighten out the bars and I can push again. I crank the bars and it stops. The fuck? Straighten the bars, fine. Crank the bars, stopped.
    I don't remember doing this, so I suspect my son might have, but the mirrors on the bike "fold back" like many modern cars. Turns out if you fold back the right mirror and crank the handlebars "very" left the mirror and the brake lever "interfere" with one another causing the brakes to actuate and the bike to not go anywhere.
    Now I know that.

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  22. #72
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    I took a few bits apart today to install some upgrades.

    Saddle and trunk are obviously removed.
    Both saddle bags are "lose" (a couple electrical connectors and a cable from removed).
    At this point I kinda feel like I should just replace the rear shock, but I didn't order one of those.

    With reasonable luck things should go back together tomorrow.
    2018 Gold Wing has been announced-img_20200808_201703-jpg

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  23. #73
    Lifer gumby's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Why the hell did you tear it apart today when you have the chance to join an epic ride tomorrow???

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  24. #74
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Sometimes sacrifices must be made to the gods.
    And by gods I mean wifey's comfort.

    Almost all of this is to move the trunk back 1.5".
    I'll likey need to throw more money at a saddle after this, but this is a reasonable start.
    Maybe I'll get it back together enough for us to do a short ride tomorrow evening.

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  25. #75
    Lifer jasnmar's Avatar
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    Re: 2018 Gold Wing has been announced

    Back togethersies...
    2018 Gold Wing has been announced-img_20200809_171117-jpg

    My labor estimate was low. (of course it took me 1/2 hour just to get the trunk emergency release cable back in the the plastic capture it sits in. Had I known that I would have to relo the cable anyway I wouldn't have ever removed that bit to start with... Now I know).
    My machining estimate was high.

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