After many many years of riding Gold Wings and a year and a half of riding my 09 Concours 1400 I bought a 2002 Honda shadow sabre VT1100. Now I have nothing to look at when riding, only a speedometer!!
On the Wing and Connie I was always looking at the displays, changing radio stations, adjusting the CB or GPS or MP3 player. I know all that stuff should be done before you take off but we all do it. I went on a 4 day ride a few weeks back and really enjoyed adjusting nothing! Sure the shadow is not a wing or a Connie but it's fun

I really enjoyed my 2007 Royal Star Tour Deluxe while I had it. It was simple enough and got the job done. 

The seating position started to bother me over time though, too much weight on the butt, very little on the feet.  I moved towards a C14 because I had a close call while braking, a 20 texter almost killed me in the rain and realized I needed way more stopping performance.

Wind/rain protection is superior on the C14 also, although the RSTD had a huge windscreen, the flow around it was poor and rain pounded my face.
I do miss it in some ways, but I got a new love now.

I had a Sabre years ago... nice on 2 lane roads, not a speedster... a great motor, REAL low maintenance... Shaft, watch yo mouth! 

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Wind/rain protection is superior on the C14 also, although the RSTD had a huge windscreen, the flow around it was poor and rain pounded my face.
I do miss it in some ways, but I got a new love now.

That is what the make Full Face Helmet for.  Protect the face.

I much prefer to ride a naked bike than a full faired bike, but I know that for any distance riding you will get fatigued faster.  My Voyager and the Connie are not great summer bikes IMO.  I did manage to put 7500 miles on the connie this summer though but that is mostly because I tend to ride the new bike more than the others.

Ive got an 06 Suzuki M109R that I put way too much money into and will keep till I die..  !  But wanted add a bike so I could do some longer trips, SO I just picked up a 08 C14 so now the best of both worlds, I hope..  Just have to get used to the Connie and how to pack stuff for long rides..   

In 2004 I was ready to pull the trigger on a Shadow exactly like that with the ghost flames and all. The salesman talked me into a VTX1300S instead. I think the Sabre would have been a better bike being 150 lbs lighter. A lot of fun for the money.

Can't tell if those are OEM pipes, but I loved my Roadhouse 65's. 

Plenty to look at, they are so slow and boring you will now really be able to take in the scenery. 

Plenty to look at, they are so slow and boring you will now really be able to take in the scenery. 

Actually,  given the same speed and lines through the curves a cruiser is more exciting and requires more skill than a sport bike. 

Nothing like floorboards grinding and sparks flying to get the juices flowing.

Actually,  given the same speed and lines through the curves a cruiser is more exciting and requires more skill than a sport bike.

I definetely agree with this.  I have a buddy who rides an R1200RT and he jumps on me when I ride the cruiser vs the Concours.  I have said the very same thing to him about how riding a sport tourer is kind of cheating because it is so easy versus manhandling a cruiser. Don't get me wrong, I love riding sport and ST bikes, but I can ride my cruiser in the same manner as I can the Concours, it just takes more effort on my part to do it.

Actually,  given the same speed and lines through the curves a cruiser is more exciting and requires more skill than a sport bike.

Uhhhh . . . no, don't think so. Other than knowing your maximum lean angle before the floorboards start to throw sparks. That's not a "skill."

Actually,  given the same speed and lines through the curves a cruiser is more exciting and requires more skill than a sport bike.

    

Ive got an 06 Suzuki M109R that I put way too much money into and will keep till I die..  !  But wanted add a bike so I could do some longer trips, SO I just picked up a 08 C14 so now the best of both worlds, I hope..  Just have to get used to the Connie and how to pack stuff for long rides..   

A few years ago I was just seconds away from buying a 109, kinda wish i would have

Uhhhh . . . no, don't think so. Other than knowing your maximum lean angle before the floorboards start to throw sparks. That's not a "skill."

So, you are saying that a 800 lb cruiser is just as easy to ride through the curves as a 350 lb sport bike?

So, you are saying that a 800 lb cruiser is just as easy to ride through the curves as a 350 lb sport bike?

Who makes a 350lb sport bike? a 650 is as small as I will consider a sport bike and most of those are 450lbs. Anything smaller is a trainer.

Who makes a 350lb sport bike? a 650 is as small as I will consider a sport bike and most of those are 450lbs. Anything smaller is a trainer.

Plenty of 400 lb SS bikes out there.  CBR250 is considered a sport bike and it is 350 lbs.  Doesn't matter what you consider a sport bike.  I still stand by my opinion that it takes more skill to ride a cruiser style bike through the same set of curves at the same speed as a sport bike.  If it didn't, then the superior suspension and handling of a sport bike would be a waste of money.

Plenty of 400 lb SS bikes out there.  CBR250 is considered a sport bike and it is 350 lbs.  Doesn't matter what you consider a sport bike.  I still stand by my opinion that it takes more skill to ride a cruiser style bike through the same set of curves at the same speed as a sport bike.  If it didn't, then the superior suspension and handling of a sport bike would be a waste of money.

Makes perfect sense to me.  The less effort we use means we can go further in a day on sport bikes.

I'm not a cruiser fan at all but... that 109 is the nicest one out there IMHO.  I can actually imagine riding one some day.