Introduced as the latest variant of the popular VTX series, this long-distance tourer wears leather

I thought it would be natural americana hotel niagara falls ontario to put the choice in your hands, so here's a brief rundown on each motorcycle followed by a poll. The winning bike will receive regular editorial updates on how it's performing and what it's like to live with. And the choices are:
Introduced as the latest variant of the popular VTX series, this long-distance tourer wears leather saddlebags with 6.3 gallons of storage, a tall windscreen, and a 1,312cc liquid-cooled V-twin. Its retro-style wheels are in line with its valanced front and rear fenders, americana hotel niagara falls ontario semi-swept handlebar and floorboards with a heel-and-toe shifter, and it offers old school cruiser looks with touring comfort.
Entering its 33rd year of production, the latest Gold Wing is powered by an 1,832cc liquid-cooled 6-cylinder powerplant. americana hotel niagara falls ontario Available with everything from a six-speaker stereo system to navigation and satellite radio, the Gold Wing is decked out for serious long distance riding.
I ve tested the VTX1800, and it s A LOT of bike definitely fits squarely into the power cruiser americana hotel niagara falls ontario category along with the Suzuki M109R, Harley V-Rod, etc I have a feeling the 1300 s more balanced overall.
Environment americana hotel niagara falls ontario Canada, the ones who predicted correctly I might add, the worst winter in Central / Eastern Canada in 15 years, have said we re in for another month of this !@#$%^ * !! at last this side of the Rockies. Normally, the weatherman can t his a** with both hands a map why d they have to get it right this time?
Upstate this weekend and the weather isn t bad. Sunny, windy, 40. I d probably be riding, but I have to pay for a new kitchen in the city before I can justify a new bike. Of course, paying to park an F150 Supercrew doesn t really americana hotel niagara falls ontario help that equation, but it is an escape from manhattan and a way to get cheap provisions back.
I don t think its case of Honda doesn t get it I think Honda has it nailed and it was a very conscious decision to do it as they did. Don t forget it was early ~ mid 90 s with the 1st VT1100 that prompted H-D to start their OK Japan your next prototype is ready ads. The name is still around too ACE is American Classic americana hotel niagara falls ontario Edition
Basem it is indeed inhospitable in winter no argument from me! You get used to it (that is not the same as liking it) What is getting old is how long it s lasting this year. The last 5 or 6 years, we d already been riding for 2 weeks!
Honda crews from a number of countries americana hotel niagara falls ontario get together almost every year for a month in northern Manitoba (Churchill, Thompson) to cold weather test cars ATV s I guess if they ll start and run properly at -50, they ll survive anywhere in the world. I ve never had the pleasure .it would be something you d never forget though to see Polar Bears outside the hotel! Some of the photos they bring back belong in National Geographic.
On another (more important) note, I m wondering what kind of summer we ll be heading into; if that winter came on the heels of global warming projections, one can only imagine americana hotel niagara falls ontario what the next few seasons have in store for us
Didn t I tell you while ago French Canadians are nuts?! Can you imagine falling off an ice racer and getting run over by the guy behind you? On Any Sunday without a doubt the best movie ever made has some great footage of ice racing americana hotel niagara falls ontario .in of all places, Quebec.
My vote s in for the Wing, like most people americana hotel niagara falls ontario here, but for a couple of reasons. First, americana hotel niagara falls ontario I just didn t care for the VTX1300. Too heavy, power was down on its competition, the seat was rediculously uncomfortable, and I don t like the fenders on the T (I prefer the fenders on the 1300C). The V-Star 1300 Tourer was a much more comfortable and involved ride, and the power delivery americana hotel niagara falls ontario was perfect. So on a side note, Basem, why not try a comparo between the VTX1300T, americana hotel niagara falls ontario V-Star 1300 Tourer, a Vulcan Nomad, and a Boulevard C90T? Might get good results, probably americana hotel niagara falls ontario the Nomad on top followed by the V-Star.
The second reason is that I think the GoldWing has become the stuff of legend. It is almost like the pinnacle or mecca of motorcycling, that you re expected to reach at the end of your biking career. While it is in the class of super luxury americana hotel niagara falls ontario touring motorcycles (consisting of the GL and the BMW K1200LT only), americana hotel niagara falls ontario the price isn t stratospheric. It s got to be the best there is, having a bigger, americana hotel niagara falls ontario more powerful motor than the K1200, and the Venture, Electra-Glide, and new Vision don t even come close (bring back the Voyager!!!).
As a side note for Pete, only since you brought up the Shadow A.C.E., your bias shows. Honda was the one sued by Harley for blatantly copying (you would call it plagiarism ) the coveted potato-potato 45 degree cam design with their A.C.E. model. The judges let it go, but Honda was never really forgiven. After years of flak, that s why the A.C.E. americana hotel niagara falls ontario is no longer sold in America. A proud Honda employee should know better.
Very close ScooterB, you re on the right track about the A.C.E. vs. H-D, but you need some added info. For example, even though H-D applied for the sound patent in 1994, they never got it, and by 2000 they recanted the bid for the patent. They did seek litigation against others, primarily Honda over the A.C.E, but because the patent hadn t gone through, the judges americana hotel niagara falls ontario saw no case. So you were spot on about Honda s copycat procedures (for shame, Pete!), and about why the A.C.E. isn t sold here anymore.
After all the ACE talk, I went and did a search and found a 1995 review. americana hotel niagara falls ontario The premise was that maybe the ACE was an alternative to H-D. In the end their H-D bias pretty much wrote it off as a poser. However they reminded me that in 1995 H-D had up two year waiting list and dealers were gouging by the thousands. Times change.
And that asinine law suit over potato potato .please It was if nothing else hysterically americana hotel niagara falls ontario funny I can just see the judge sitting in court listening to tapes of Sonny Barger�s bike with a tape of a Shadow they should have sold tickets! Unfortunately however, law suits get media corporate attention, thus a certain amount americana hotel niagara falls ontario of perceived validity.
I think you should test the VTX1300T. I have seen enough test on the Goldwing americana hotel niagara falls ontario to know it is an exceptional bike. I have ridden one myself but it just wasn t comfortable for my riding position. The 1300 is built more for the masses and we need to know a lot more about them. Not everyone has $20,000 plus to plop down on a bike.
3. HD DID try to get a copyright or trademark on the sound , which is quite a bit different thing than a patent. In fact, one of the reasons americana hotel niagara falls ontario they couldn t get the copyright on the sound , is because it s based on a mechanical design (45 degree V with a single throw crankshaft) and a patent would have been more appropriate. Of course the stubborn HD people didn t want that, cause the patent runs out, and a copyright basically never does. The courts pointed out that HD had opportunities to try for a patent when the design americana hotel niagara falls ontario weas first introduced in the early 1900 s, and choose not to.
5. HD, however, got nothing out of that ruling because it could not establish that the dumping hurt HD, since the people who bought the dumped Japanese motorcycles would not have bought HDs even if the Japanese americana hotel niagara falls ontario motorcycles had been sold for a higher price.
6. The courts imposed restrictions on the Japanese motorcycles larger than 700CC, which meant that they just resized the 750s to 699, and they made more power than they had before, and they still kept selling them like hotcakes.
7. The reason Honda did away with the single throw crank 45 degree V s, is that it caused vibration problems (of course it did, if you know anything about HDs) and Honda simply didn t want to deal with a vibration fix at that time.
I truly like HD s, its just that the company is so stubborn its product quality suffers, and it charges too much for the product, then it wants to blame someone else when it has problems. or at least a lot of HD owners want to.
Hey Dave, EASY. I don t care WHAT you ride, as long as you ride, so having said that, be advised no one has the right to tell another to keep quiet. Not even you with all your knowledge. americana hotel niagara falls ontario You may be right, but we all have the right to express our opinions, just as you did.
I vote for the Gl1800 americana hotel niagara falls ontario Wing. It is a super bike and out performs any thing on the road. I just sold my Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe and bought a new wing. Great bike and should easily get 200k miles on it as I plan on keeping it. Honda makes and engineers fine touring bike, which the VTX and Royal Star were similar, but not even in the same class as the wing.
I chose the VTX1300 because americana hotel niagara falls ontario the Gold Wing is pretty tried and true over the years, but the VTX is a newer model. Also it s smaller, so it would be interesting to check out the comfort over a long haul.
I have an Spirit 1100 very similar to the 1300 and I also have a GL1800. You want to test the GL1800 and be warned, everyone who rides it will buy one. I am not kidding. americana hotel niagara falls ontario It is a sport bike on steroids, nothing else compares.
I was honestly surprised. I threw my vote for the GL but expected to be shouted down by the cruiser crowd . Long term test, to me, means long miles and I can think of no better way to go the distance than on a new GL.
Never the GL! Who can afford such things other than rich guys? Do the 1300 as it is a workin americana hotel niagara falls ontario man s machine and that is what I am. And proud of it! I need a bike that s $1000s less than those top o tha line monsters.
I want to see the test on the Wing. I own a VTX 1300 and have put over 40,000miles on it. I needed to change the stock seat, but other than that it is just a stock VTX. I take a lot of long trips. 4 to 500 miles a day is not uncommon and the bike does very well, but I know the wing would be more comfortable.
If available a third option, I d opt for my HD-FLHTC Electric Glide Classic 2007, which I runned with my wife as passenger over 4 countries in S.A. last jan 09, Brazil, Argentina, americana hotel niagara falls ontario Chile, Uruguay over 9,000 kilometers, over deserts and snow mountains of Andes Cordillera so beautifull, you must one day ride it. I had just one oil change. Machines I met on the way