How about you in the pilot seat? I've not sat on the wing so I have no hands on experience.
I took the plunge and bought a new Wing Tour. My wife is very happy, loves the seat and she has more room. The Wing is a sportish-Tourbike. Compared to the C-14 it is much slower but faster than machines from Milwaukee and all other V twins. It handles sweeping turns well, it doesn't do well on twisty left rights. The suspension is plush at speed limit and is fine until you get to about 10 MPH over then you find out its much worse than the stock C14. Cruise control on the Wing is perfect and I didn't have to spend hours and hours gaffing one on the bike. The electronics are interesting some will like them, some (mainly gadget geeks) will find them lacking. Basically a pleasant machine suitable for purposes that most C-14 owners find unimportant. I will either keep my C-14 or get a Super Duke for solo riding.Cool! Thanks so much for Your input!
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Hell, it seems dealers don't even know what the maintenance intervals are, as they're telling people to come back in 600 miles for the first oil change, when the owners manuals say first service is 4K miles.
Doing a little lurking on the GW forums, and a couple things that concern me are the lack of replacement painted panels in case of accident damage, and the number of people having to wait on back ordered accessories. The new wing has been in dealerships a year now, and they're still not making replacement panels for it? Has me leaning heavily towards the other choice I'm looking at as a replacement scoot.
Hell, it seems dealers don't even know what the maintenance intervals are, as they're telling people to come back in 600 miles for the first oil change, when the owners manuals say first service is 4K miles.
How does the luggage capacity compare to a c14?Definitely less than a Connie with a 50 liter top box. The top box on the wing is supposed to be 50, but the side bags are a little smaller and kinda irregularly shaped. I think the main reason behind the smaller bags is aerodynamics. They're (Honda) is claiming much more fuel efficiency, and there's guy's on the GW boards turning in over 50 MPG on trips.
I read an article that said Honda research showed that current riders take
shorter trips (2-3 days average) than in past (5-6 days average) so that is
the rational behind this generation’s smaller bag.
I have a Shad 50 with a rack on top and I still don’t think that’s enough; got a duffle bag I’ll
strap to back off seat when I go cross country. If the new GW has less, it’s totally off my list
of future bikes to buy.
I ran into the same thing when I bought my C-14 in July 2007- no spare parts. My bike had a scratched front fender that the dealer was going to fix but had no idea when the fender might come in. ?? So I took the bike as- is and maybe 2 mos. later the fender came in. But there was a serious lack of spare parts as well as farkles back in the first days of that new model. In fact I bought a CalSci XL not because I wanted it (though I did and still do like it) but because it was THE aftermarket windshield that was available.
It is always risky buying a new model of anything because the 'world' is just not geared up for it and you never know the model may crash and burn regarding reception and sales and just disappear from the market (thnk Edsel, Kawasaki KZ 1300, etc.).
Brian
The last big trip I took on my C14 lasted 26 days, and a lot of the dry bag I had on top was filled with camping gear. As it turned out, I only camped for 4 nights the entire trip. So the part of my side cases that had changes of clothes, cold weather gear, air compressor and tire plugs could easily be distributed through the side cases & top box on the wing. I don't think I'll do much camping off the bike anymore. I just don't get enough sleep in a tent. Therefore, the increased comfort, the new front suspension, and the airbag option are the main selling points for me towards getting a Wing. That is, if I can wrangle the cost. They've really shot up in price. All the electronic wizardry is cool too, but not really a selling point to me. I have plenty of music and audiobooks on my phone.
Another option is to book a room at Deal's Gap ... simple, small rooms but nice n clean and affordable ... lock your crap and side cases in your room and go ride: Dragon, Cherohala, BRP, etc etc etcOh, that was shot on the way out and heading back home. I did just leave the stuff in my tent for a few runs. I like that picture though. LOL
... until you're ready to leave the area altogether.
That is a lotta stuff man.