Gold Wing vs Silver Wing

When I registered a few members asked if I would give them a view of what the Silver Wing was like compared to the Gold Wings I have been riding since '82. Well, it's not as easy as I thought it might be. The Gold Wing costs three times as much and is twice as heavy. The riding positions are totally different with the GW holding you slightly forward with your feet under you and the Swing holds you mostly upright with your feet forward. I find that the SWing position puts some pressure on my tailbone if my feet are on the floorboards rather than all the way forward so I'm considering a gel pad with a sheepskin on top. I could put in ten hours straight on a Gold Wing but so far I've lasted no more than three on the Swing before I have to take a break. For the price and size I think the Swing is a great bike. I usually tour on back roads at about 40mph and the Swing does this very well. The GW had a lot of accessories I didn't need or use or used seldom. I have XM radio so I never used the radio that came with the bike unless I wanted to check the weather. I used the cruise control once when I first got the bike to see if it worked and used the CB only when riding with others who had a CB. When traveling for more than a few days I carried a bag on the back seat of the GW so when I get my Givi trunk, pack the bike and put a bag on the rear seat I think the packing capacity will be real close. If it's not I'll just get a bigger bag. The most noticible difference I first felt was the wind on my legs on my first ride on a cold day. The GW has good wind protection and was made better after I installed Baker Built Air Wings. I had them on most of my bikes and they work great. I see they make them for the Swing but it doesn't look from the pictures that they break the wind on your legs. But, the summer is coming and and I don't want to block the wind now so I'm not going to worry about it for the time being. The GW is a bugger to work on. Changing the air filter is at least a 4 hour job and if you can't do it yourself it's going to cost you buco bucks at the dealer. I just sent my GW maintenance manual to a friend with a GW who lives in Vermont. He had some mice make a nest in his air filter over the winter. He's in for a real treat. There is a guy named Fred Harmon on the GW sites who made a set of DVD's showing how to service the GW. If one of you who has been posting maintenance pictures on the site wants to make a few bucks on the side I think it would benefit us all if you had time to make some DVD's showing us how it's done. I have about a thousand miles on the Swing so far. I would have had a lot more but the weather here has been nasty and rainy for as long as I can remember. I should have made one of my trips to the Dragon by now to give the Swing a real test. I see on the rally page that the Confederate Scooter Gang is planning a ride on the BRP in June. Would you mind if a Yankee boy rode down and joined you for lunch? I'd like to add some running or fog lights to the Swing. Can anyone tell me just how much additional power you can draw before the alternator gets to the max? That's all the time I'll take for now..The weather is going to be great tomorow, I'm outta here....

Shadow,
I've never seen anyone max out the alternator power on the Silverwing, and believe me people add lots of stuff to the Silverwing.

Can you think of any features on the Goldwing that can't be duplicated on the Silverwing other than engine size and reverse gear?

The only thing I can think of is crash bars, or at least that's what they used to call them. Now I think they call them tip over bars or something like that. It would be nice to have something to protect the bike if it hits the ground but I don't know if there is anything under all that plastic to attach the bars to. Then, it would be easy to add highway pegs. I think they could figure out how to add a reverse gear, it only works off of the starter motor, but I don't see the need for it.

Hello,

Some one has already come up with crash bars for the silverwing, well almost.

Here is the site.

http://www.twtouring.com/honda.htm

DennisB

Thanks, I saw them but didn't like them. It doesn't look to me like they would protect the bike because they apper to be connected to the plastic rather than the frame. Thanks anyway

Do not blame you....looks more like scooter decoration than good crash protection.

DennisB

Shadow
Great write up on the comparison. I would rather take the Swing out of the garage for local running than manhandle the GW. And its just plain fun. What it won't do for me is haul two up which is how we ride towing a loaded camping trailer or cargo trailer which is the way we take our annual vacation each year. That reverse is hard to argue with when backing into a camping space on the side hills of the Rockies or out of a parking space with the trailers. And you were spot on about the all day comfort of riding on the wing. But I realise this is a Swing site and they are great fun and I believe you can and I could tour anywhere on them, albiet I'd have to leave the kitchen sink at home and probably drop the miles down to allow for all day two up comfort. We have run just over a couple hundred miles two up so far and it has not killed our behind all that much.
And working on the GW is a challange. I do my own maintenance and am cleaning the carbs right now. I have a 1500 and have the videos from Stu Oltman which is worth a bunch, I agree with you on the value of these CD's. I have added progressive springs front and rear, change my fork oil, steering bearings, tires, lubed the drive shaft, etc; and it takes a while with all the plastic you have to dig thru.
So far we have put over 4000 miles on the Swing and can say only great things about it. I will do my maintenance on it also. Hopefully JeffR or Dennis will have that maintenance video out by valve adjustment time......

dickie wrote:

I would rather take the Swing out of the garage for local running than manhandle the GW. What it won't do for me is haul two up which is how we ride towing a loaded camping trailer or cargo trailer which is the way we take our annual vacation each year.

While there is no way to duplicate the GW's reverse gear,
FYI many people have put towing hitches on Silverwings.
http://silverwing.org/cgi-bin/topic_show.pl?tid=444

You're right on Dickie. The reverse on that bike is worth a million dollars. I had to use it everytime I rode just to back it out of the garage and across the grass. I usually ride alone. Sometimes I'll take one of the older grandkids on a ride but I don't want to do that until I get a trunk on the back. I think that will give them a little more security.

dspevack
You are correct and I have looked into this and have not ruled out a small trailer behind the Swing. I do know that it would be a for stretch or maybe a dream to pull our fully loaded camper without consequences.
Dan I am by no means demeaning the capabilities of our Swing. If it were our only ride I would not have any trouble adjusting to its great touring abilities. Not only can you put a trailer hitch on it you can also install a true cruise control as some have done. We have 4 more states to ride to (to) finish the lower 48. When that is accomplished I fully intend to downsize and only have one ride and the camper and large cargo trailer will go at that time.
When my wife and I started touring together a 350 Yamaha YR1 was plenty big enough for us and we had plenty of fun long before this large displacement mentality became a race with all the manufacturers. Thanks for your comment...Dick
By the way as a side note we are doing Branson this year and will ride Rt 66 lthru MO and IL. No vacation until August...

shadow wrote:

The reverse on that bike is worth a million dollars.

The Honda GoldWing site says it weighs 895-928 pounds.
The Honda SilverWing site says it weighs 540 pounds.

Since I never had a reverse gear, I am curious when you would use a reverse gear on a SWing ... all the time or under what conditions?

Are you able to safely/securely push the SWing backwards while on it?

Apples and oranges. The Silverwing will do the job of a Goldwing in the same way that a Miata will do the job of a limo.

If your wife likes to do her own driving you can outfit two Silverwings for touring and still spend less money than a single stock Goldwing. And you'll probably use less fuel than one G-wing, too.

honda_silver wrote:

shadow wrote:

The reverse on that bike is worth a million dollars.

The Honda GoldWing site says it weighs 895-928 pounds.
The Honda SilverWing site says it weighs 540 pounds.

Since I never had a reverse gear, I am curious when you would use a reverse gear on a SWing ... all the time or under what conditions?

Are you able to safely/securely push the SWing backwards while on it?

I've never been a rider before, but I have no problem backing up the S-wing. A reverse gear would scare me, frankly.

I'm a big guy, though. A small rider might have a tougher time, but you just have to be a little careful about where you park it.

dickie wrote:

dspevack
You are correct and I have looked into this and have not ruled out a small trailer behind the Swing. I do know that it would be a for stretch or maybe a dream to pull our fully loaded camper without consequences.
Dan I am by no means demeaning the capabilities of our Swing. If it were our only ride I would not have any trouble adjusting to its great touring abilities. Not only can you put a trailer hitch on it you can also install a true cruise control as some have done. We have 4 more states to ride to (to) finish the lower 48. When that is accomplished I fully intend to downsize and only have one ride and the camper and large cargo trailer will go at that time.
When my wife and I started touring together a 350 Yamaha YR1 was plenty big enough for us and we had plenty of fun long before this large displacement mentality became a race with all the manufacturers. Thanks for your comment...Dick
By the way as a side note we are doing Branson this year and will ride Rt 66 lthru MO and IL. No vacation until August...

Seems to me that if you're pulling a trailer behind your scooter you probably bought the wrong bike. Goldwings have a purpose. I have no use for one, personally, but I can see the point.