Searching for something completely different on Revzilla, I came across a sale on Helibars for the Goldwing. I was thinking about getting them but not in that near future, mostly due to the price. However, I couldn't pass them up at $660.
As soon as they showed up at the door, I took them to my local bike shop to get them installed.
After the installation I rode the bike off their parking lot to the first stop light, merely a 100 yards away. Waited for the green light... When it opened, I turned left to the main road and immediately scraped my left peg!... The bike cut that 90 degrees turn like a knife! Took me totally by surprise. Did not expected that at all.
In about quarter of a mile I was yielding on a highway. The ramp was almost a full circle, right turn. I've approached it cautiously at first but the more I was in the curve the more cocky I was getting. The bike was glued to the road, "railing" through the curve effortlessly. I had the biggest grin on my face, I'm sure...
On my way home (40-ish miles) I've had a few more curves and I've truly enjoyed them. Though cautiously, knowing that disrespecting the bike can soon punish you. I was still "reading" the new setup.
Got home and started playing with the adjustment. Initially, I wanted to pull the bars all the way back and low, to make them as comfy as possible. However, when I do that they start to hit my knees. They are incredibly adjustable but I'm quite positive I won't be able to pull them that much back (essentially leaning all the way back on the backrest with elbows bent and relaxed).
HOWEVER...experiencing the spirited ride and handling on the way home, I'm not sure I want the "lazy" position any more. That cornering was too much fun. So I might take the bars back up & forward, like the mechanic at the shop installed. That position woke up the inner-sport bike in the Goldwing and I want it. Very similar experience (radically improved handling) I had when I've installed a fork brace on my Vstrom.
Granted, it's way too early for more serious review, I would need at least several hundred miles (or rather a couple thousand) to get the full picture. But the first impression was WOW!
Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk
As soon as they showed up at the door, I took them to my local bike shop to get them installed.
After the installation I rode the bike off their parking lot to the first stop light, merely a 100 yards away. Waited for the green light... When it opened, I turned left to the main road and immediately scraped my left peg!... The bike cut that 90 degrees turn like a knife! Took me totally by surprise. Did not expected that at all.
In about quarter of a mile I was yielding on a highway. The ramp was almost a full circle, right turn. I've approached it cautiously at first but the more I was in the curve the more cocky I was getting. The bike was glued to the road, "railing" through the curve effortlessly. I had the biggest grin on my face, I'm sure...
On my way home (40-ish miles) I've had a few more curves and I've truly enjoyed them. Though cautiously, knowing that disrespecting the bike can soon punish you. I was still "reading" the new setup.
Got home and started playing with the adjustment. Initially, I wanted to pull the bars all the way back and low, to make them as comfy as possible. However, when I do that they start to hit my knees. They are incredibly adjustable but I'm quite positive I won't be able to pull them that much back (essentially leaning all the way back on the backrest with elbows bent and relaxed).
HOWEVER...experiencing the spirited ride and handling on the way home, I'm not sure I want the "lazy" position any more. That cornering was too much fun. So I might take the bars back up & forward, like the mechanic at the shop installed. That position woke up the inner-sport bike in the Goldwing and I want it. Very similar experience (radically improved handling) I had when I've installed a fork brace on my Vstrom.
Granted, it's way too early for more serious review, I would need at least several hundred miles (or rather a couple thousand) to get the full picture. But the first impression was WOW!
Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk