Gold Wing riding tips.

[R1100RSpurist]

This post is for my dad whos largest motorcycle has been(is)an R1100RS. However this summer him, his riding partner, and I will be going to the sierras on trip and his riding partner and him will be switching off between a 650 V-strom and 1984 Honda GL1100 Aspencade, while i ride the RS. He however is still nervous about the 800 pound goldwing and i was just wondering if you guys could give me any tips to pass on, or point me in the right direction to a informative site. While he will be practice riding and receiving tips from the owner, he likes to be able to read about things and absorb it mentally.

[blkvelvt]

I had a GL1200 Aspencade for years. This era of Goldwings were very user friendly. A midget could flatfoot both feet on one of them. It is a very stable touring platform. The weight issue goes away at about 5-10mph. I sold it to my buddy and he is still commuting on it daily. I would tell your dad he has nothing to worry about. It's a very easy bike to ride. It has linked brakes (I think the GL1100 had them) that are opposite of the BMW. The rear pedal brakes the rear wheel and one front disc. I think you guys will have a great trip.

[rdfrantz]

As has been and would be widely said, once rolling, a Goldwing is a stable and predictable bike. It's at low speeds that experience needs to be gained - which comes from Riding, not Reading. Remember, every time we ride there's twice when we are at low speeds - when we start and when we stop. It's not ever going to be avoided.

 

Learn to brake with front only, rear only, and both brakes in a parking lot. Start with

moderate stops from 30mph and graduate to full panic stops.

 

Learn to Putter at lowest speeds in the parking lot. Go straight; Do 90 degree turns. Very, lowest speeds to gain a sense of how to balance the bike.

 

Do U-turns at the end of a parking lane to the adjacent parking lane - 25 to 30mph. Learn to lean the bike until it scrapes. Then scrape it and scrape it until that's no longer a mystery and fear of it is dissipating.

 

Now, rear only brake to a stop in that U-turn, more and more vigorously.

 

Now move onto the brake-swerve-brake maneuver used to avoid obstacles.

 

The Rider should be pretty competent by now. I see all this as the same routine we all should do once a month on our regular bike(s).

 

Best wishes.

[Dave_in_TX]

I had a GL1200 Aspencade for years. This era of Goldwings were very user friendly. A midget could flatfoot both feet on one of them. It is a very stable touring platform. The weight issue goes away at about 5-10mph. I sold it to my buddy and he is still commuting on it daily. I would tell your dad he has nothing to worry about. It's a very easy bike to ride. It has linked brakes (I think the GL1100 had them) that are opposite of the BMW. The rear pedal brakes the rear wheel and one front disc. I think you guys will have a great trip.

I had a GL1200 Aspencade for years. This era of Goldwings were very user friendly. A midget could flatfoot both feet on one of them. It is a very stable touring platform. The weight issue goes away at about 5-10mph. I sold it to my buddy and he is still commuting on it daily. I would tell your dad he has nothing to worry about. It's a very easy bike to ride. It has linked brakes (I think the GL1100 had them) that are opposite of the BMW. The rear pedal brakes the rear wheel and one front disc. I think you guys will have a great trip.

 

I also had a GL1200 for several years. However, the GL100s were noted to be less user friendly in low speed manuevers. OTOH, with the relatively low seating position and wide bars, the GL100s weight shouldn't be too bad. The biggiest problem may be switching to it after some time on the extremely lightweight 650.