I am pissed that it took me this many years to buy this bike. Picked it up on Saturday AM. Now have 385 miles on it and all I can say is wow. Nice Job Honda. . Starts right up. Geared low enough to get up the wet grassy slope from my basement with no drama. Sounds cool enough for me. It just fits me like a glove. 260 miles on Sunday. 90 degree day, hotter than I care to ride in but, new bike fever prevailed. No major heat(warm but not outrageous) off the bike even when sitting in traffic in Utica. Handles better than I can ride it. Turns in well. Transitions well side to side. Handles tar snakes well. The ergos after the day were still good enough, that if it had been cooler, I would have accumulated more miles. Air management is quite good. No buffeting to speak of. As comfortable as I've been on any bike in that kind of heat. Instrument cluster is laid out well, and very readable. I wish it had a gear position indicator. That and the wimpy horn are the only 2 nits I have so far. Just found out it runs on regular gas, another plus. Engine, while not the most powerful in the world, delivers it's power smoothly and predictably. Coming off a light, the bike is easier to get rolling than my GS12. So it has enough low end grunt for me. After reading all the hype about the vtec, I was almost a little frightened to invoke it's fury as it passed the macic mark on the tach. It is there without a doubt. But not the unsettling monster I was led to believe it would be. I do detect a slight lean spot between 3,700 and 5,000K but just barely there. Not as annoying as the mojo's claim. It handles low speed traffic situations better than any other bike I have ever been on. Looks great, Handles well, Powerful enough for most real world riding. I wish the BMW engineers woud take a look at this bike, seems to me they could learn a thing or two. Stupid little stuff like, put your foot where you think the side stand should be, and there it is. Also seems to be quit stable while resting on the side stand. I'll leave it in gear anyway. To sum it up, I am one happy camper. As others have stated, this bike may not be the best at anything. But it sure does most things extremely well. The term fluid comes to mind. For what I was looking for, Sport Touring within the realms of sanity, local commuting, and weekends in the twisties. I think I may have finally picked the right tool for the job... Walt.
Walt, you did pick the right one (oh wait....I am biased becuase I own one....lol). Don't be too hard on yourself, it took me to this year vefore I got mine, and mine is a 93. But you are right about the whole package in that while it may not be the best at any one thing, it does them all extremely well. May you have many ride to enjoy on your viffer. You will also find that these bikes tend to be practically bullet proof as long as they are maintained. I can't say that about any other machine. Congrats on the new ride! Oh, and you arent lost anymore :wink:
Congratulations! I picked up my '06 recently too and in that week rode from LA to Santa Barbara, then a few days later SB to Vegas. The buffeting was killing me, but I have a new screen on order. I hit 120 easy enough. It may not be the fastest, but it's plenty fast enough. It's an awesome all rounder. I've tried many different bikes and after some very careful consideration decided this was the right bike. I am very happy with my discission. Now I'm just waiting for the Laser Extreme pipes to be released for the '06 and I'm done with engine mods. Don't you like the linked brakes? I love them. People delink them, but as greasy as the street are here in Vegas I'm glad I get a little back wheel action when I pull the front lever.
