Motorcycle nearly ready

J

jesse

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Oct 2, 2005
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Display name:
Jesse
Since my route to 6Y9 involves first riding a motorcycle to Texas, I've been slowly preparing my Concours.

Nearly there now after adding:
-Sargent seat
-Throttlemeister throttle lock (bar ends)
- Givi V46 top trunk (more cargo capacity)

Now I'm just waiting for the handlebar risers to arrive. It'll raise them about two inches and has a ram-mount attached. I'll then build some kind of mount out of aluminum for my satellite radio.

12 days left...

concours_trunk.jpg


Quite a step up from the bike I rode to Steve's on:

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Nice bike!

This year marks my first year without a touring bike since 1988. So far, I haven't missed it much (thanks to my Suzuki GSX650F), but stories like yours make me long for the open road again...
 
You should just have David's CFI sign him off for solo to Lincoln, and then you sign him off for solo back.
 
Very nice. Next year I may end up taking the 07 Nomad 1600 to OSH if I can't hitch a ride or find someone that is going to drive out with me. I am putting on a tour pak now like you did for the extra storage.

That looks like a great bike, ride safe.
 

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Very nice. Now which will give greater groundspeed - that or the plane?
 
You sure you're not part of Alton Brown's posse? Flying, good food, nice bikes?
 
jesse said:
Quite a step up from the bike I rode to Steve's on:

attachment.php
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Step down says me. Sorry, the Nighthawk 700S was one of the nicest motorcycles ever made by Honda, at least in my opinion. Not that the Connie is more comfy for the long ride.

You might check Avrider. A lot of guys use Connies for long distances, you might get some good ideas for the work left to do. The Sargent seat was good idea, I've got a Corbin on my bike and it makes a big difference. I hope you have better luck with the throttle lock than me.
 
steingar said:
I hope you have better luck with the throttle lock than me.
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It's a non issue. I've got 1500 miles on it so far and it works great. I just set the tension to where it's enough to hold the throttle, but not enough to resist my moving of the throttle. I can easily make adjustments and if I need to take my hand off it stays where it was. I set the tension as soon as I'm coming on an interstate on-ramp and take it off on the off-ramp.
 
AggieMike88 said:
You sure you're not part of Alton Brown's posse? Flying, good food, nice bikes?
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Never heard of them.

wsuffa said:
Very nice. Now which will give greater groundspeed - that or the plane?
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Well. The bike is certainly more than capable of traveling at a greater ground speed, but the law will ensure that the C172 will be faster.

steingar said:
Step down says me. Sorry, the Nighthawk 700S was one of the nicest motorcycles ever made by Honda, at least in my opinion. Not that the Connie is more comfy for the long ride.
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The more I think about the 700S the more I realize how ahead of its time it was. That said, it really wasn't particularly good at much. They also had lots of valve problems (which is what killed mine) as it was their first go at hydraulic valves.

If I ran into one today for what I bought that one..I'd probably but it. Seems like everyone I see though is $3500+ (I paid $1000ish for mine in 2004).
 
2010 and 2011 models are speed limited to 154 mph. 08 and 09 models (same bike, slightly different body style) are reported to true out at about 160 to 165 with the bags on. I've had mine up to an indicated 154 and it definately had more to go when the speed limiter kicked in.
 
BTW I like that seat, definately the way to protect your "ass sets"!
 
Sac Arrow said:
BTW I like that seat, definately the way to protect your "ass sets"!
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It offers some improvement for me, but not as much as I was hoping, I think an Alaska buttpad will fix that though.

The *main* benefit of that seat is it offers substantial improvement for Danielle. It's *really* comfortable back there.
 
jesse said:
The more I think about the 700S the more I realize how ahead of its time it was. That said, it really wasn't particularly good at much. They also had lots of valve problems (which is what killed mine) as it was their first go at hydraulic valves.

If I ran into one today for what I bought that one..I'd probably but it. Seems like everyone I see though is $3500+ (I paid $1000ish for mine in 2004).
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Actually, Honda had been doing the hydraulic valve thingie for a short time before. I had an earlier Nighthawk 650 with the hydraulic valves and a shaft drive. I'd still be riding that bike were it not stolen. Valve job with nothing more than a screw driver.

But yeah, they were all around bikes, not cruisers. Your Connie was built to sop up the miles, just like my Wing.
 
Oh by the way I burned through the OEM Bridgestone tires on mine and replaced them with Pilot Road 2's. MUCH better handling. A couple people on the Concours board suggested using the rear 190 55 profile vs. the specified 190 50 profile, saying it handles even better with a quicker turn in. I might give that a shot next set.
 
Nice bike. You picking up a plane in Texas to fly to 6Y9, or going to Texas and then riding the bike to 6Y9?
 
Sac Arrow said:
Oh by the way I burned through the OEM Bridgestone tires on mine and replaced them with Pilot Road 2's. MUCH better handling. A couple people on the Concours board suggested using the rear 190 55 profile vs. the specified 190 50 profile, saying it handles even better with a quicker turn in. I might give that a shot next set.
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I am hearing lots of raves for the PR2 and threes. They do not make them in the right size for my bike. They have them in the bias ply version and I will use them for the next tire change. Currently running Metzelers
 
AggieMike88 said:
You sure you're not part of Alton Brown's posse? Flying, good food, nice bikes?
Click to expand...

jesse said:
Never heard of them.
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Alton Brown (link to wikipedia) is the host of Good Eats show. on the Food Network. He is a pilot (flies a C206), and did a show called "Feasting on Asphalt" where he and his crew went on some journeys on their motorcycles discovering good local food and locations that highlighted some of the culinary history of different regions of the US.

An example is "The River Run"
 
Sac Arrow said:
Oh by the way I burned through the OEM Bridgestone tires on mine and replaced them with Pilot Road 2's. MUCH better handling. A couple people on the Concours board suggested using the rear 190 55 profile vs. the specified 190 50 profile, saying it handles even better with a quicker turn in. I might give that a shot next set.
Click to expand...
I used Pilot Roads on my Bandit and really liked them. That was my plan for the Concours as well. We'll see how many miles I get out of these tires.

TangoWhiskey said:
Nice bike. You picking up a plane in Texas to fly to 6Y9, or going to Texas and then riding the bike to 6Y9?
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I'm flying with David White in his 172 as he isn't old enough yet to get his private (few weeks after 6y9). So I'm riding the motorcycle down there..flying from there with him and back..then riding the motorcycle back to Nebraska.
 
While looking for a trottle lock for my Vulcan, I ended up installing a Breakaway system (http://www.brakeawayproducts.com/). It's not cheap but it does add the comfort level of disengaging when depressing the front break lever. Regardless what is used, riding comfort is increased and fatigue is decreased which is a great thing on long rides. Keep it between the ditches.
 
I didn't realize that the connie didn't have cruise control? I'm sport tourer shopping now and have it narrowed down to the K1600GT and the VFR1200F. I can't get a demo ride out of my local Kaw dealer.

So the C14's been good to you so far?
 
PittsDriver said:
I didn't realize that the connie didn't have cruise control? I'm sport tourer shopping now and have it narrowed down to the K1600GT and the VFR1200F. I can't get a demo ride out of my local Kaw dealer.

So the C14's been good to you so far?
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The VFR I saw at Oshkosh didn't have cruise control, and the automatic clutch is a non-starter for this biker.
 
PittsDriver said:
I didn't realize that the connie didn't have cruise control? I'm sport tourer shopping now and have it narrowed down to the K1600GT and the VFR1200F. I can't get a demo ride out of my local Kaw dealer.

So the C14's been good to you so far?
Click to expand...

The C14 has been great for me. But I would class a K1600GT more in the Goldwing category, and the VFR is definately more sport touring than a K1600GT. A more comparable Beemer to the C14 is a K1300GT. In fact, I was considering it as a replacement to my 1200RT except the 1300 has had a rash of engine problems. The C14 is basically a sportbike that you can ride long distances more comfortably on.

The lack of cruise control is a real sore spot for me, but otherwise it's an excellent bike. The quality is at least as good as a Beemer, it just doesn't have some of the cool features.

I don't think I would be in to a K1600GT personally. Cycle World specs the horsepower as 160 to the crank - the C14 typically dynos at about 140 hp to the wheel which is roughly 160 - 165 hp to the crank. Yeah the inline six is smoother but it's a big, heavy machine.
 
One of the magazines said it pretty good recently - the K1600GTL is about 90% the luxury tourer that a Goldwing is and the Goldwing is about 50% of the sport bike the GTL is. I'm looking at the K1600GT which is pretty close to the GTL - same bike with slightly different ergos, suspension set up, and programming (traction and suspension control). They're heavy bikes though. My target that I'm trying to hit is a bike that I can take on an annual epic several thousand mile trip but is more capable in the twisties than a full dresser bike. The K16 and the C14 seem to hit that target pretty well.

I (mis)spent my youth on crotch rockets and I'm not quite ready yet for a stratolounger on two wheels even though all my riding buds are straddling Goldwings. I'm still not convinced quite yet that I won't end up on a VFR1200 or the K1300S - both sport bikes with a final shaft drive, both with nice luggage options. I haven't ridden the VFR yet with the DCT tranny but I'm pretty sure I'd pass that by for the standard 6 speed version. They have both sitting side by side at my local Honda dealer waiting on me to come demo them this week.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Yeah the inline six is smoother but it's a big, heavy machine.
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I have to say though, that a bike that will power wheelie through 2nd gear gives me a boner even if it's a 700 lb GT. But alas, it doesn't look like I'll get a chance to ride a Concours before I decide.
 
the K1300S is fun. I got to test ride one when they first came out. Most comfy sport bike I've ever ridden.

Quite different from my normal '82 R65 :D
 
PittsDriver said:
I have to say though, that a bike that will power wheelie through 2nd gear gives me a boner even if it's a 700 lb GT. But alas, it doesn't look like I'll get a chance to ride a Concours before I decide.
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I really doubt you'd accomplish that on a Concours.
 
PittsDriver said:
One of the magazines said it pretty good recently - the K1600GTL is about 90% the luxury tourer that a Goldwing is and the Goldwing is about 50% of the sport bike the GTL is. I'm looking at the K1600GT which is pretty close to the GTL - same bike with slightly different ergos, suspension set up, and programming (traction and suspension control). They're heavy bikes though. My target that I'm trying to hit is a bike that I can take on an annual epic several thousand mile trip but is more capable in the twisties than a full dresser bike. The K16 and the C14 seem to hit that target pretty well.

I (mis)spent my youth on crotch rockets and I'm not quite ready yet for a stratolounger on two wheels even though all my riding buds are straddling Goldwings. I'm still not convinced quite yet that I won't end up on a VFR1200 or the K1300S - both sport bikes with a final shaft drive, both with nice luggage options. I haven't ridden the VFR yet with the DCT tranny but I'm pretty sure I'd pass that by for the standard 6 speed version. They have both sitting side by side at my local Honda dealer waiting on me to come demo them this week.
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I have the perfect solution in my stable. My 954rr tears up the twisties with a crimson-hued vengeance. My Goldwing will take me to hell and back in comfort. Both are older but mechanically sound bikes, so together they cost about half what a new bike would.
 
PittsDriver said:
They're heavy bikes though. My target that I'm trying to hit is a bike that I can take on an annual epic several thousand mile trip but is more capable in the twisties than a full dresser bike.
(snip)
I (mis)spent my youth on crotch rockets and I'm not quite ready yet for a stratolounger
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Not to sound like an ass, but a good rider can take twisties on any bike. If you want a comfortable long haul bike then get the stratolounger. I have a HD ultra classic and I can bank over hard enough in turns to scrape pegs. I know a cop with a goldwing police pack that does the same.

The riding posture on the full up touring bikes is what's important for the long haul.

Sure it's just you don't want to be lumped in with the old farts riding wings??
 
Doggtyred said:
Not to sound like an ass, but a good rider can take twisties on any bike. If you want a comfortable long haul bike then get the stratolounger. I have a HD ultra classic and I can bank over hard enough in turns to scrape pegs. I know a cop with a goldwing police pack that does the same.

The riding posture on the full up touring bikes is what's important for the long haul.

Sure it's just you don't want to be lumped in with the old farts riding wings??
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But a good rider will take them even better on a sportbike.
 
I find such displays just this side of bogus. Sorry, their handling is mostly going to be at high speed, at which those gigantic bikes are little better than cars. Guys I knew used to outrun cops for fun back in the day.
 
PittsDriver said:
I have to say though, that a bike that will power wheelie through 2nd gear gives me a boner even if it's a 700 lb GT. But alas, it doesn't look like I'll get a chance to ride a Concours before I decide.
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There was a video of a pro stunna giving a demo ride of the K1600GT. He could make it turn nice tight circles but he absolutely could not get it to wheelie.

jesse said:
I really doubt you'd accomplish that on a Concours.
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Yes, if I turn off the traction control and ABS I can get the wheel to come up in second no problem on power alone if I shift at a really high RPM. Actually it will come up anyway but it won't stay with those turned on. But I think I weigh more than you and that can make a difference.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Yes, if I turn off the traction control and ABS I can get the wheel to come up in second no problem on power alone if I shift at a really high RPM. Actually it will come up anyway but it won't stay with those turned on. But I think I weigh more than you and that can make a difference.
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See Ed - power wheelies can happen in a Concours. And I don't ride on the backs of motorcycles, thanks. I have my own motorcycle license, have owned three motorcycles now, and even belonged to motorcycle groups and went on group rides / trips. I am NOT a passenger.
 
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