Fly and Ride

Flew from South Florida to northern New York yesterday. Bought an old Honda Silver Wing in Plattsburgh and rode it through the high peaks of the Adirondacks. Best roads I’ve ever seen for motorcycling and amazingly beautiful in the heart of summer, so many shades of green!

The bike is my fifth Silver Wing and third 2003. This one had 25,230 miles when I picked it up and has been beautifully maintained (beautiful on the inside; it was so dirty on the outside I asked the seller if I could wash it before I rode off, and he was happy to oblige).

Seller bought it to tow behind his mobile home. He had been hauling a Gold Wing and wanted something lighter. Had his best buddy (Honda mechanic!) update all the maintenance in preparation for a cross country trip when his wife announced she wasn't riding on a Silver Wing, she liked the Gold Wing. He put it up for sale and I snagged it for $2,000.

Bike has a new OEM belt (with old as spare), Dr. Pulley 28 gram rollers, new plugs, new filters and oils, new brake pads and fluid. Tires are Michelin with lots of life left. I shipped a tire repair kit and pump in advance to the seller so it was waiting (no way TSA was letting me on a plane with a T-handled, metal gouging shaft).

The bike performed flawlessly. I rode through some pretty desolate areas and didn't fret for a second. Silver Wing reliability is legendary. I have said you could bury one for ten years, dig it up, and it would cough twice and start. Had a couple serious riders on BMW's and KTM's roar by and I kept up pretty well for awhile but they eventually lost me. New bike, new roads, and my same old caution.

Rolling into Rochester today for a few weeks then will ride south in September across 8 states and 1,400 miles. Basically the eastern seaboard of the U.S. in autumn ... New York > Pennsylvania > Maryland > Viriginia > North Carolina > South Carolina > Georgia > Florida.

All told, four weeks of riding and living with only what a motorcycle can carry. That is a slice of heaven for me.

Sounds like a good purchase and what will be a fun trip! Be safe!

Very nice! Looks like a good trip and a nice score with the 03.

Good luck with new ride you timed if perfectly with the weather, luck. It's going to be nice weather at least till Monday around NY-PA. Best riding of the year is Sept. anymore.

$2 grand a steal with crazy prices lately.

PA. has some great roads. RT 44 Coudersport down to Jersey Shore. A great road. 44 will get you to 15 then south to Harrisburg.

Nice looking SWing and it sounds like a very good purchase. Nice scenery out thataway too.
Have a safe ride and lots of fun!!

Thanks, guys.

Managed to get some spray wax on it today and rubber and vinyl cleaner. Picked up some grade 0000 steel wool for the muffler and wheels. It's starting to look sharp. Weather has been PERFECT. Mid 70's and low humidity, welome relief from 91 and humid in South Florida.

Question about the bike ....

It has the weirdest thing happening with the front wheel or suspension or handlebar. Rides straight and true. Nothing is obviously loose. Axle nut is torqued properly. But if I shake the front wheel side to side rapidly, three or four times and stop suddenly, instead of no reaction like every bike I've owned, there is a resultant vibration, like a piece of sheet metal that reverberates after you shake it hard and stop ... boinggggg ... this lasts a second (there is no sound, I’m just trying to communicate what happens).

I'm flummoxed. Never experienced this before. Is something loose? Failing? I will take off the handlebar cover in the morning to check those bolts. Any other thoughts?

Pretty bike.  2G is a good price in todays crazy market.  I wonder if that is the dreaded head shake.  I had something like that happen on my old Swing one day when I was commuting to work on it.  Got off the highway and on the ramp all of a sudden the front started vibrating like crazy for a second or two then stopped as I slowed down.   There was nothing loose on the front end of that bike to attribute it to and it never happened again.  The only thing I can speculate is that some sort of harmonic caused the wheel to do that and it stopped when the speed was reduced.



If you swing through the Norfolk area let me know and we can do a ride out to parts a bit west.

Harmonic distortion sounds about right but this effect only happens when the bike is still. I lift up a little on the handlebars and do a fast 1-2-3-4 left-right-left-right shake and stop ... that's when I sense the 'echo' of my movement, like the shaking continues for a second. Weird.

Thanks for the video. I've seen a couple by that guy. He does a good job.

Might indeed be riding your way later this month or early September, possibly through rural Maryland and the Bay-Bridge Tunnel. I have a 3rd to 7th grade BFF from Virginia Beach who lives just south of the border in North Carolina.

Turns out the front end wobble was caused by an unbalanced, 18-year old tire.

The tire had good tread when I bought the bike so I figured it was fine. Upon closer inspection, I saw a date stamp of 4704. Yikes. I was riding around on a tire made in the 47th week of 2004!

Bought a Shinko from the local Honda dealer, took the wheel off the bike and brought it in. The dealer mounted and balanced the new rubber for $32. Bingo. The wobble vanished.

I added a new GIVI tall screen and a HONDA decal on the front cowling, and the bike is looking good and running like a champ.

THE DECAL: When you remove the OEM screen, the HONDA logo goes away, and I like having it there. I owned five Silver Wings and added five HONDA decals to the front. They cost a whopping $4.00 at a HONDA dealer. In the parts diagram, in the MARKS section, buy the decal specified for the back of the bike, part # 87127-HP2-670ZD.

PRO TIP: if you add a decal, use painter's tape to create an outline of exactly where you want the decal to sit. When you peel off the adhesive, you only get one shot to apply it, and if it's crooked, it will stay crooked.

Closure on my Fly and Ride ....

After flying to Plattsburgh in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State to buy a 2003 Silver Wing, I rode it through the High Peaks to my hometown of Rochester NY, where I enjoyed it for thirty days. I planned to ride back to Florida and trusted the bike fully for that journey -- a credit to proper maintenance and Honda engineers.

Just for grins, I explored flying back to Florida. I cleaned the bike thoroughly, took beauty pics and listed it for sale on Facebook Marketplace. It was a win-win exercise. Either I got a nice 1,500 mile ride home or I could enjoy flying home in half a day (tickets to Florida are cheap in summer; fewer people want to come here when it's hot).

In Plattsburgh, I paid $2,000 for the bike and added a GIVI screen and front tire for $200. Within days of placing my ad, I had an offer for $2,800 from a couple who ride together and wanted it for her bike. She fell in love with it, which I was happy to see. I accepted the offer, bought my airplane seat with upgraded legroom and flew home.

It was a BLAST to buzz around on a Silver Wing for a month. What a fun, trusty mechanical steed. I love this bike, especially the 2003 in Candy Glory Red (this is my third 2003). It's a classic.

You are the man Delray. My wife and I have always wanted to ride The Adirondacks. We used to ride to our destinations but as we age (over 65) we have decided to trailer our bikes so we just might make it up there sooner than later. We are in North Florida. Enjoy my friend.

docjones wrote:

My wife and I have always wanted to ride The Adirondacks ... as we age (over 65) we have decided to trailer our bikes so we just might make it up there sooner than later.

What's up, Doc?

I am 69 and that thinking -- "as we age" -- was strong motivation for my summer trip. If not now, when, right? Next summer, when I am rounding the corner toward 70 (years, not mph! ;o), I want to visit my ancestral towns in southern Germany on a rented BMW R 1200 RT. I learned you can get an international driver's permit from AAA for $20.

Route 3 in the Adirondacks is a gem, recommended highly by a local from Plattsburgh who has ridden those mountains for decades. Go for it!