The
Honda Goldwing is the premier touring motorcycle.
In
my opinion however, even the Goldwing needed some
help. The following are areas I thought needed
improving.
-
It
really wallowed and oscillated up and down in the
turns. I ride mostly with sport bike riders
and keep up with them in the turns (not when they
are full out), but the bike really wallowed and
had an oscillation from failing to settle
down.
-
The
front tire cupped badly on the first set of
tires.
-
It
just didn't have quite the throttle response and
acceleration that I wanted. It cruised fine,
but it felt like I could get more out of it than
it delivered.
-
It
handled badly in cross winds.
-
The
straight up windshield seemed to cause a lot of
drag.
Modifications:
Engine
and front fork modifications by: Dale Linaweaver of
L&R Racing in El Sobrante, Ca (510) 223-9052
Front
End
Results:
Front
end
The
front forks are stable in turns and I get no bounce
after going over a bump. My current tires have
10,000 miles on them and so far no cupping. With
the old tires and set up, if I let go of the
handlebars at 35 mph the bike would eventually develop
a wobble. Now it doesn't.
Engine
A
gain of 7 horsepower, 12 foot pounds of torque and
4MPG (I average
42 mpg on a trip).
The bike will now pull red line in fifth gear, which
equates to somewhere between 125 and 130 mph. (I
didn't spend much time looking at the speedometer at
that speed.)
Aerodynamics
The
bike handles great in cross winds and I can get to top
end much quicker (tested before engine modifications)
due to less drag caused by the windshield.
