No bike now....what to do....

[Trader]

Weren't you really close to buying a Spyder and trailer a couple of years ago? Is one of those still a consideration?

[Larry1963]

I rode a bike for many years, never a biker or a serious rider, even though I have rode across the country when I was younger. At 36 I finally got married to a woman that had two kids, most of the toys slowly went away, including the motorcycle. after a 15 year break when my youngest started to drive I didn't want another car bought a 1980 Honda 400-T and the bike bug bit me again.

 

That fueled me buying a 2001 Victory standard cruiser. While living in Valdosta I help start a motorcycle ministry there, and road everywhere. Well I moved to a little town out in the country where I pastor two small churches. All my biker friends were 40+ miles away, I found it hard to ride a lot and went to hardly any miles on my bike. Older VICs much like HDs cost a lot and little things where needed for my bike, so I just stopped riding and was ready to give it up. A friend in the church help me get my 07 RSV, and even though I do not ride as much as I would like and I think about selling it, when I do ride I love it and can't sell it.

I come to realize with age, life, and all that goes on it is a gift each day that I can ride, even if it is just 20 miles. The day is coming soon when for some reason, usually health, you will not be able to ride.

 

So the moral of the story is, if you love doing it, you will miss it, if it was just a hobby you may not, but if it is a passion you will be miserable this summer. So my suggestion, if money is ok but a smaller, probably older, cheaper bike, and ride it when you can even if it is only 500 miles for the summer. Remember tomorrow you may not be able to ride anymore.

 

Larry

[JDaniel]

Don, I have stored my boat at Lake Cumberland for the past 25 years. It is a 5 hour trip from Piqua to Jamestown, Ky. When the kids were young we would make the trip every other weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Now that the kids are grown and I bought the wing we make it to the lake about three times a summer. We ride the bike almost every evening during the summer. Kind of the opposite of what you are experiencing.

[BigLenny]

Don.

 

My suggestion is; either go with something you've never experienced before, like a Can-Am Spyder RT Limited (2014 or newer), or get a bargain on an RSV.

 

Big Lenny

[Freebird]

Spyder is out of the question. I tried one and it just doesn't work for long lets. In addition to that, I don't want to spend that much money. I'm leaning towards another RSV but also considering the Voyager Vaquero.

[Goose68]

You could always take up knitting

[Freebird]

May have to. New owner just pulled out of the driveway with it. I'll admit it was a bit sad. Now moving right along.

[BlueSky]

Congratulations on selling your hawg! If you sell the boat will you also be selling you Avalanche with the mega-sized engine?

[videoarizona]

""Dang..... So Puc who ya gonna pick on now? "" = EVERYBODY and especially Freebird cause he aint got no motorcycle now:duck:..

Hey Don,, ya wanna try something fun while your waiting for the "we gotta ride long distance" bug to kick back in? You ought to consider an old Shovel or Pan or something.. Owning Olivia was an amazing experience, learning to ride a tank shifter was inspiring to say the least - the learning curve took me right back to being a kid again = what a BLAST!! What da heck brother,, maybe even keep an eye open for a really cool high piped 2 stroke Yamaha twin or something just to buzz around on.. Toss some sweet smelling Klotz in it so when we follow you into town for dinner we can all sample some memories of days long gone by!!

Talking about about picking up another RSV,, I have ALWAYS liked the looks of the Millenium RSV's. I been over that one in our classifieds since the day it was posted.. Scoots only got 20k on it and it's a 2 owner bike for 5k - not bad at all.. I LOVE bike shopping my friend, talk about a BLAST!! I have also noticed a LOT of great deals out there on the new Indian's.. Saw a brand new 2014 left over the other day with an asking price of 14,500 - they are gorgeous..

Not to compete with Marcarl in his ability to ramble on but I also noticed something else in the ad for the Millenium - the poster wrote something about a bike hauler running a Spring special for hauling a bike cross country.. I did a little checking and found out that company will deliver a scoot anywhere in the lower states for 450 bucks - not bad!! Never did call em and see if that was a total price or not (fuel charge?) but sure had me thinking about grabbing something out of California or Florida (seems like thats always where the best deals are)..

CONGRATS to the person that ended up with that great big gorgeous Road Glide of yours Don! Hopefully you also tossed in a membership to the site here so we can keep track of your bike!! If he does show up I PROMISE to be good and not tease em:think:,, to much:innocent:

 

Bike hauler. These guys are great! Brought my 1st gen in from Wisconsin.

 

 

[rickardracing]

Spyder is out of the question. I tried one and it just doesn't work for long lets. In addition to that, I don't want to spend that much money. I'm leaning towards another RSV but also considering the Voyager Vaquero.

 

Food for thought on the Kawasaki. I personally really like the bike. I keep looking at the Voyager myself. I find them on Ebay at dealerships quite often. New old stock, usually one sometimes two years old, zero miles for about 12k to 15k. I took one a few years ago on a 40 mile test ride during a demo days. I did not want to get off. Sure there are some things not as nice as a Harley or a Venture on the bike, but the same can be said of the others also. I think the Voyager handles great. I was dragging the floorboard in the corners like crazy. Hopefully you get something.........I got a hankering for a 3 day round trip to Maine for a lobster dinner........................

[gmarshall]

Don, I would have sold you my 06 RVS with 12K (you could do another iron butt from colorado springs back to ohio), but someone else came to the house yesterday and gave me a deposit. It will be leaving on Saturday. Now I'm actively shopping for another bike thats easier to handle in city streets. Considering a vtx 1300, a roadstar, or maybe even a valkyiere. something not so top heavy and lighter. The RSV was great on the backroads and interstates of ohio, but not so hot on city streets.

[djh3]

The 1700 Voyagers are kind of know for being nut cookers. I personally have not rode one, but it was on y list when I was shopping for the RSV.

[BigLenny]

Spyder is out of the question. I tried one and it just doesn't work for long lets. In addition to that, I don't want to spend that much money. I'm leaning towards another RSV but also considering the Voyager Vaquero.

 

I get what you're sayin on the long legs thing. I'm 6'6" with a 36" inseam. Feet forward bikes always feel more comfortable to me than neutral sitters like the Spyder. But they do intrigue me.

[cowpuc]

I have always LOVED the looks of the new Voyager - that fairing has a certain style that appeals to me.. Have heard stories of them being leg toasters too.. Racking my brain here and maybe wrong about this but it seems like @Barrycuda may have had one:think:... Perhaps the bagger Voyager (Vaquero) would be cooler running...

Wait a second here,,, didnt Kawi make some changes to the later models concerning the heat - seems like I read somewhere about an upgrade or something...

Talking about new bikes here,,, I just noticed that its almost midnight,,, gotta scoot over to @The Tooch 's new bike page and give em a hard time!! He said "I WILL POST PICS ON FRIDAY" and in 17 minutes it will be Friday!!! :stirthepot::stirthepot::crackup:

[slowrollwv]

I have not heard him mentioning anything about a SLINGSHOT yet.

[Freebird]

Congratulations on selling your hawg! If you sell the boat will you also be selling you Avalanche with the mega-sized engine?

 

Yea, the ONLY reason I have the Avalanche is to pull the boat. Otherwise, it just sits in the driveway. So if the boat gets sold, it will be next. I think it will be very easy to sell. It's hard to find a nice 3/4 ton Avalanche.

[Freebird]

Well I've got a nibble on the boat but he want's to trade a Harley towards it. That would be find but it's not one that I would want to keep so if I take it on trade, I will immediately put it up for sale. It's a 2004 Softail Standard, FXSTI. He says that it has 7500 miles on it. Just not my cup of tea. Not sure I even want to mess with it but will decide if he is serious and brings it over for me to look at.

[Freebird]

I too have heard that the Voyagers run hot. I know that at some point they made some changes. Not only did they add some heat shields but something with the engine also. It is liquid cooled so I can't believe it would be as hot as the RoadGlide was. I doubt I will go that route but they have some pretty good deals on the new ones right now. Suggested list with ABS is $17,399 and right now they are offering a $2,000 rebate AND 0% interest. I would sure have to take a look if I was looking to buy new. I don't think that includes the CB though and it's an expensive option.

[BigLenny]

I've test ridden the Voyager on more than one occasion because I do like the looks of the bike, and being water cooled intrigued me. Kind of a unique looking fairing. Anyway, both times I rode it, I was astounded at how much vibration the bike had at highway speeds. Even my wife made a comment about it. Also, I was very unimpressed with the flimsiness of the windshield and the saddlebag and trunk lids. When you have the lids open, they are real flimsy. There was a serious heat issue with them, but a few years ago, Kawi installed a blower underneath the left side of the riders seat to help with that. Not sure how much difference it made. I also don't know if the Vaquero was experiencing the same amount of heat that the Voyager was putting off. And, the Vaquero has a different style of saddlebags than the Voyager, so they're probably more surdy.

[Freebird]

I know that just like the RSV, there are what looks like some bargains out there. Here is one that I've found. It's a 2009 with ABS and just over 14,000 miles. Asking price is $7500.00

[BigLenny]

Thats a good looking bike, Don! I just finished Googling and reading a bunch of comments from Voyager owners. The heat issue is talked about a lot. Apparently Kawi installed a KAMS system in the 2012's and newer to help with the heat. some say it helped, others say it didn't. Also, I read several comments about the bike developing a drivetrain whine as it gets older. They say the fix is replacing the belt and both cogs at a cost of $1500.00 or so. There are lot of folks who really like them tho.

[SilvrT]

I've test ridden the Voyager on more than one occasion because I do like the looks of the bike, and being water cooled intrigued me. Kind of a unique looking fairing. Anyway, both times I rode it, I was astounded at how much vibration the bike had at highway speeds. Even my wife made a comment about it. Also, I was very unimpressed with the flimsiness of the windshield and the saddlebag and trunk lids. When you have the lids open, they are real flimsy.

 

We also test rode the Voyager when it came out in 2009 and found much the same as you. Nina also commented that she felt crowded ... lack of space for movement.

[Freebird]

Eileen and I rode one in 2009 also. It actually felt good to us and she said she was very comfortable on it. The heat issue is a concern though. The only thing that I didn't like about the Road Glide was the excessive heat. I don't want to get into that again. I haven't done my own thorough research yet but based upon what you guys have said, I guess I'll keep looking for another RSV. Even if the problem was greatly improved in 2012, I'm not going to spend what a 2012 would cost me. I'll probably end up with a 2004 or so RSV. There are a lot of low mileage ones out there in the $5500 to $6500 range. I'm actually already considering a 2006 Black Cherry. It has more miles on it than I could find elsewhere but also has about every accessory I would want already on it. I don't know....I'm not really in a hurry. I even thought about taking the summer off this year and seeing how it does without a bike. Feels wrong though. I've been riding since I was 14.

[Freebird]

Well, I just did enough research that I now understand the heat problem. It is NOT water cooled in the way that we all expect. Only the heads are water cooled, they cylinders are just air cooled and that is where the heat is coming from. Same issue with the Harley. Some think that the new Harley is water cooled but it's not and even the head is not water cooled. There is just an area around the exhaust valve that is water cooled on the Harley. I discussed that with the dealer where I bought my Road Glide and he told me that if people traded up to the new one for the reasons of reduced heat, they were going to be very disappointed. He said that it allowed Harley to increase performance a bit but it runs just as hot. So....even though I think that Voyager is a great looking bike....it is off my list.

[XV1100SE]

Have to agree with you...the RSV is the best bang for the money and you know the bike well and what to expect. If the Black Cherry has most of the accessories you want....if the price and pick-up location works.... go for it. You know you won't be sorry and if they do (ever) come out with a 4 cylinder replacement for the Venture you haven't sunk a ton of money into it.