Hello. Like my ingenious title says, I've decided to sell off my Honda ST1300.  I have had it for 3 years and put 51,000 miles on it.  It's starting to nickel and dime me to death. I also have a 'slightly modified' Gen. 2 Hayabusa so I have time to find the right bike.  I've been looking at a Concours, 2012 model.
I live near Orlando, FL so I get to ride all year and for 3 or 4 months even fairly comfortably. Winter is about 6 weeks long and I have a pair of glove liners I can put on if necessary.
I'm retired and I've been riding for over 40 years.
Thanks

Welcome! Jump away

Interesting- I have always thought of Hondas generally being the flagship of reliability. In fact, I cannot think of any other motorcycle that will get anywhere near an Oldwing (a Hondapotamus) regarding pure longevity, by which I mean outright reliability coupled with an absolutely huge service and parts base almost anywhere in the US.

The C-14 is a great bike IMO but like everything else, overall they do have a failure rate which is not high but again is not zero either, and a handful have had catastrophic failures. Not sure how 1,000  C-14's would compare with 1,000 ST1300's regarding overall reliability or even the incidence of service. I will say that the C-14 has an outstanding warranty, and an even more outstanding warranty extension plan; my C-14 is an '08 model year purchased in July '07, is under full warranty (extended for three years, two times now) and passing 100K miles.

I would suggest while looking at a C-14, also look at a Yamaha FJR; they are direct competitors and some people like FJRs better for various reasons. They are more similar than they are different IMO but still, absolutely worth your time taking a look and hopefully a ride on both bikes before buying anything if possible.

Whatever you buy, best of luck with it.

Brian

Hello. Like my ingenious title says, I've decided to sell off my Honda ST1300.  I have had it for 3 years and put 51,000 miles on it.  It's starting to nickel and dime me to death. I also have a 'slightly modified' Gen. 2 Hayabusa so I have time to find the right bike.  I've been looking at a Concours, 2012 model.
I live near Orlando, FL so I get to ride all year and for 3 or 4 months even fairly comfortably. Winter is about 6 weeks long and I have a pair of glove liners I can put on if necessary.
I'm retired and I've been riding for over 40 years.
Thanks

Interesting- I have always thought of Hondas generally being the flagship of reliability. In fact, I cannot think of any other motorcycle that will get anywhere near an Oldwing (a Hondapotamus) regarding pure longevity, by which I mean outright reliability coupled with an absolutely huge service and parts base almost anywhere in the US.

Brian

It had almost 50,000 miles on it when I bought it. The PO had passed away and I bought it from his heir, I have no idea about the maintenance and care it received before I got it.

Welcome to the forum, Superzuki.

Welcome. I am a convert from an ST1100 that I owned for in the neighborhood of 10 years. Nice ride and I loved the seat (so did my wife). It is still the only thing I like better than the one on the C14.

I ride with BMW HPs, Speed Triples and assorted other fast scooters. There was no keeping up on the ST. I still can't keep up but I am now only respectably far behind. Have fun.

Welcome.  Well played on your avatar, but I prefer stronger metal.

I would suggest while looking at a C-14, also look at a Yamaha FJR; they are direct competitors and some people like FJRs better for various reasons. They are more similar than they are different IMO but still, absolutely worth your time taking a look and hopefully a ride on both bikes before buying anything if possible.

Whatever you buy, best of luck with it.

Brian

Really? 

Yep, really. The FJR is as direct a competitor as there could be between manufacturer's models of motorcycle IMO. About the same cost, and overall, the same size, performance, style, etc. There is also the Triumph and of course BMW's but both of those are somewhat more different than the C-14 / FJR are.

I prefer the C-14 but that has no bearing on anyone else and what he / she may like, what fits better, etc. Even things like which model has a better dealer available should factor in on buying a motorcycle IMO.

And while there are a handful of known problems and quirks with the FJR, just like every other model, they have really made a standing in the long distance riding community. Go to any long distance rally and there will be quite a few FJR's there, as well as a LOT of Oldwings and BMW's of course. But by comparison, fairly few C-14's. So that alone indicates to me that they are a solid bike capable of long and pretty hard (Easy Boys!) use reliably.... BMW riders and their final drives excepted of course. 

Brian

<snip>

Really? 

Me too. But I owned a Honda Valkyrie which is basically a naked GL1500 Goldwing. At 50,000 miles the rivets in the clutch damper plate came out. This happened on 2 other Valkyrie's I know of. About the same time the petcock failed and started leaking bad. At 70,000 miles the spline into the rear final drive completely wore out and the same other Valkyrie's wore out this spline as well (the weep hole designed to lube the spline from the final drive fluid doesn't work). The starter switch had to be re-built about every 10,000 miles because the power to the head light is routed through the switch (the solution is to install a relay to the head light). I've got almost 60,000 miles on my C14 now and the only problem on my bike has been the excessive cam chain rattle which could have been ignored like most owners do. Seems to me that the C14 is every bit as reliable as a Honda. Steve would tell you it is because of the mad pow-ah of KIPASS. He might be right, I do keep a fresh battery in my FOB 
 

Interesting- I have always thought of Hondas generally being the flagship of reliability. In fact, I cannot think of any other motorcycle that will get anywhere near an Oldwing (a Hondapotamus) regarding pure longevity, by which I mean outright reliability coupled with an absolutely huge service and parts base almost anywhere in the US.

The C-14 is a great bike IMO but like everything else, overall they do have a failure rate which is not high but again is not zero either, and a handful have had catastrophic failures. Not sure how 1,000  C-14's would compare with 1,000 ST1300's regarding overall reliability or even the incidence of service. I will say that the C-14 has an outstanding warranty, and an even more outstanding warranty extension plan; my C-14 is an '08 model year purchased in July '07, is under full warranty (extended for three years, two times now) and passing 100K miles.

I would suggest while looking at a C-14, also look at a Yamaha FJR; they are direct competitors and some people like FJRs better for various reasons. They are more similar than they are different IMO but still, absolutely worth your time taking a look and hopefully a ride on both bikes before buying anything if possible.

Whatever you buy, best of luck with it.

Brian

My son had a 2005 FJR, traded it in for a 2013. A world of difference between the Gen 1 and Gen 3. I really like the Gen 3 FJR. The side cases are crap and it doesn't have as much raw punch as the C14. But the ride-by-wire smooth throttle control and cruise control is fantastic. A very close competitor to the C14 and Kawi really needs to go to ride-by-wire to keep up.

Yep, really. The FJR is as direct a competitor as there could be between manufacturer's models of motorcycle IMO. About the same cost, and overall, the same size, performance, style, etc. There is also the Triumph and of course BMW's but both of those are somewhat more different than the C-14 / FJR are.

I prefer the C-14 but that has no bearing on anyone else and what he / she may like, what fits better, etc. Even things like which model has a better dealer available should factor in on buying a motorcycle IMO.

And while there are a handful of known problems and quirks with the FJR, just like every other model, they have really made a standing in the long distance riding community. Go to any long distance rally and there will be quite a few FJR's there, as well as a LOT of Oldwings and BMW's of course. But by comparison, fairly few C-14's. So that alone indicates to me that they are a solid bike capable of long and pretty hard (Easy Boys!) use reliably.... BMW riders and their final drives excepted of course. 

Brian

Yeah, that is exactly what I mean: it all comes down to what a prospective owner wants, does NOT want and can / will be tolerable. For my own opinion, I need the engine turning slower at highway speeds (more important to me than how many gears), and I just about require inverted forks. The C-14 fills those needs and as far as the CC, well I developed a solution for that problem a long time ago :-) So for me personally, the FJR is not quite competitive with a C-14 at this point in both bike's development lines. In another generation or two, the FJR may well be ahead of the C-14.... who knows?

But I would absolutely suggest anyone thinking about dropping 15K$ or more absolutely look all the way around at everything even remotely competitive first. I know one gentleman who was in the process of changing from a C-10 to a C-14 and ended up with a Triumph, which he still prefers to the C-14 maybe two years later.

Brian

My son had a 2005 FJR, traded it in for a 2013. A world of difference between the Gen 1 and Gen 3. I really like the Gen 3 FJR. The side cases are crap and it doesn't have as much raw punch as the C14. But the ride-by-wire smooth throttle control and cruise control is fantastic. A very close competitor to the C14 and Kawi really needs to go to ride-by-wire to keep up.

....it all comes down to what a prospective owner wants, does NOT want and can / will be tolerable........ But I would absolutely suggest anyone thinking about dropping 15K$ or more absolutely look all the way around at everything even remotely competitive first.

For my own opinion, I need the engine turning slower at highway speeds (more important to me than how many gears), and I just about require inverted forks.

The FJR ES version does have inverted forks. No cure for the rpm difference(approx 400 @ 80mph {by my calcs}) , maybe a huge dark side car tire in the back? 

I've been looking around lately and I keep coming back to the C14. The FJR does come closest in my searching, very close. Distantly followed in third by the water cooled BMW 1200RT. If I do switch away from the C14 to something else, I'm going to rent one first, even if I have to fly somewhere to do it. I sure hope Kawasaki comes out with something different for '16 other than new colors and bold graphics that will make it clearer for me. As Brian has pointed out to me at least twice, originally the FJR was designed from the ground up (with interceding tweaks of course) to be what it is, where as the C14 was originally designed as something else (ZX-14) and then converted/modified (also along with interceding tweaks) to what it is. This can be a good thing or bad depending on what you are looking for in a sport-touring bike.

Owned an 05 ST1300... was a mod on ST-O... owned a Wing (mandatory to be a mod on ST-O... LOL!!!).

I now own an 09 C14, and wouldn't trade back for anything... great engine... easy to change oil and filter... just an all around great bike.  A co-worker has a 12 FJR, and he's had plenty of problems with it. 

They're fugly as well.

I looked at FJR's and another ST13, too. The C14 is the way for me to go though. FJR is a good choice but the C14 has a little more leg-room. Another ST13 just isn't in the cards, Honda has stopped importing them the newest is 2012, there are still a few new bikes available from some dealers. After looking at several C14's I'm ready to go ahead...

Excellent decision.

I lubs some Honda too but I switched to Kawi. Kept the jacket!

I lubs some Honda too but I switched to Kawi. Kept the jacket!

Cool!!!