I took a 150 mile trip to Valparaiso, IN today to look at the GL1100 Standard I "bought" on eBay. Took it for a spin around the block. No pick up ... roll on the throttle and it thinks about moving for a while, then finally eases its way forward.
It was a lot rougher than the seller had described in the auction listing. It had obviously sat outside .. rust on the frame and on the engine and chrome. I had expected some scratches and dents, but hadn't expected rust.
The dash lights didn't work, one of the turn signals didn't work, there was a puddle of oil on the right valve cover, there was some funky looking after market wiring for the headlight and horn. There were cracks in the engine block ... might've just been cracks in the paint, might've been worse. The exhaust pipes were rusty. The tires were dry rotted.
Not the bike for me. Lots of problems, maybe minor, but not worth what I "bid" on it.
But bottom line is, even if it was perfect, the bike didn't perform like I wanted. I'm surprised that even though it was 200 lbs lighter than the GL1100 Interstate, it was just a lackadaisical about getting off the line. Whether this is true of all naked wings, or just this one, doesn't matter.
I turned around and went home. I walked away from the deal. Came home without the bike.
So my stated objective was to "get the naked goldwing out of my system." I think I accomplished that, without ever owning one. Now I'm thinking about what my next bike will be.
No comments:
Post a Comment