Thanks Bill.
That helps a lot. One more question. In your opinion is the performance of the Deauville at least comparable to the Swing? The Swing is pretty quick, but I wouldn't mind just a wee bit more acceleration.

Scootist

Bearing in mind a manual gear change on Deauville, I think its marginally quicker when well underway but not from standing start - Silverwing always will be quick up to 50 mph or so with automatic gearbox.

On my initial ride down from Scotland, the torque of Deauville engine came into its own when cruising at 70/75 mph and certainly pulled away to 90mph on couple of occasions quick enough for me for overtaking purposes. Inclines on UK motorways were laughed at by this bike and same speed maintained with little input from me on throttle.

Deauville seemed less stressed to me than Silverwing at same speeds and certainly more stable at higher speed which were maintained for 1+ hours at a time

Bear in mind this is bike and engine are built for cruising and not boy racing and I would agree with some owners describing Deauville as 'baby' Pan and certainly easy to ride and forgiving at all speeds.

Hope this helps you in your decision - Honda must see a good market in US to import it as its not cheap in UK - with latest price increase due to exchange rates and state of £, ABS model is now £7621, a jump of nearly £900 in one hit !!!!!! Fit a top box and couple of options and £8000 is average price new on the road with all taxes!!!!

Hence my secondhand purchase direct with private seller at £4000, deal of the year for 18 month old 2146 miles and 6 months Honda Warrantly left and most options needed fitted !! Bonus was I avoided giving my usless Government any further taxes to waste !!!

Bill

Bill:
I really appreciate all of your insights into the two bikes. I am well past the need for a bike that will go a gazillion miles per hour. I admit that I enjoy carving turns through the twisty bits and having the ability to pull away from cages when needed, but I don't see the need to pull wheelies or slide around corners while dragging a knee.

It sounds like you got a heck of a deal on your used Deauville. Here in the States Honda has priced the ABS version at $10,999.00. I figure with the matching top case and larger Panniers it will end up right around $12,000 or so. Admittedly, that is a lot of money for a bike, but I really like the durability and reliability of Honda products in general, and I like the look of the Deauville, so it may be worth it. I don't plan to do anything right away. I would guess the earliest I may get serious about buying another bike would be in the Spring of 2010, but maybe not until sometime in 2011 or even 2012. I do like to look and dream though...

Thanks again.
David

Interesting thread....!


It got me thinking.... If you were to combine a S'wing and a Deauville.....

Would you get a DN-01?!

I am wondering if you added some basic after market performance enhancements to the Deauville. (K&N Air filter, free-flow exhaust, power commander) what sort of hp and torque you might be able to get out of it.

I've actually been looking for performance parts for the deauville because the engine for the deauville is the same as the DN-01, except for some reason it has 10 more horsepower.

I also can't find any forums for the Deauville. I would think there must be someone who decided to soup up the bike, but who, and what did they do?

I also can't find what gives the deauville the extra HP. If anybody gets any clues, let me know.

Here are some sites I have joined recently for the Deauville:

http://www.deauvilleuk.org/

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/hondadeauville/?yguid=224953824

This is the only bike that has interested me since I bought my SWing. I will sit on other bikes but only this bike has peaked my curiosity. It should be out in November I think.

I feel like JeffR about this particular bike. My wife would like a DN-01 as she does not want to shift, but this new sport tourer is right in line with the type of riding I like and gives me the added storage capacity for touring.

Next spring may be quite interesting for us. The local Honda dealer has given us a real good price on the DN-01 they have sitting on the floor. Just need to wait until they get the new sport tourer in and see what a package purchase looks like...

I heard that Honda is coming out with a 1000cc Scooter has any one else heard this or is it just a wish.....
Old Dave

DaveR,

I haven't heard anything about that. I've been intent on watching for any developments of the E4-01, which has been reported to have a 900cc triple. But no news on it since it was initially shown when the DN-01 was first shown at the Tokyo Show as a concept. That was possibly in 2005.

The E4-01 is still very much a scooter with a step through body style and much underseat storage. Has an odd windscreen that the engineers claim works to keep the breeze off, but looks really small.

Dale:
This is the first time I had heard of the E4-01. I watched the video that is online and based on what I saw, if Honda comes out with that I will very likely end up on one. What a sweet piece of machinery.

How sweet is this?

Yeah, if Honda comes out with this I'm buying it. I bet that 900cc engine puts out about 80 hp or so. I also read that it only weighs 440lbs so I bet this thing goes. Also, if it does come out we will have to start a new section just for the E4-01. Get it over here Honda.....

Wow... That is nearly as sexy looking as my S'wing..!!! Lol

I remember reading that it was just a concept model.... However Honda have apparently filed several design patents on it, which is a good indicator that some of it at least may come to fruition in the future.....

I think though that the big thing that are Honda rumoured to be doing is to introduce the HFT Human Friendly Tranmission from the DN-01 (renamed dual transmission I think) into their bestselling models as an option.... the VFR, Pan, and Gold Wing for starters....

That should set the cat amongst the pigeons with regards to the rest of the bike manufacturers!

If they do, then in 5 years from then I might be able to afford one!!!

I believe you can get wider ones from Honda, which are essentially bigger lids.....