Just got back from the Friday night opening of the IMS show. The show appears to be shrinking each year with fewer and fewer vendors. Here are some initial comments:

Harley has some 117 CI engines out and were handing out free HD Bluetooth headsets if you signed up to their mailer.

BWM had a K1600B and a Grand America on display. They said the Grand America is targeted for the 3rd quarter of 2018 and is estimated to start @ $26K.

Sat on the new Yamaha tour bike. It is @ 950 lbs wet and is quite wide between the knees. I think I would be bow legged after a long ride on it. It is a good looking bike, but would be too wide for me.

The new Goldwing did not inspire an urge to go out and buy it. I asked the Honda rep why they decreased the storage by 40 liters, cut the rearview mirrors in half and removed the saftely lights from the tour pack. He said it was in response to what Goldwing riders wanted. He said Godwing riders do not use the storage space nor want it. I asked, "what goldwing riders were you talking to?". He said he would pass along the comments on the missing run/turn/brake lights and the small mirrors.

The Goldwing/Bagger version did feel very light off the kickstand (The full wings were on their center stands so I could not get a feel for how light they were). The handlebar and wrist position is very comfortable. You can easily steer to the left and right extremes with out having to strain or lean forward. Wasn't able to hear the stereo. It looks like the passenger can adjust the volume on the rear speakers. There is a control panel on the top of the right saddlebag for the rider.

Harmin did make the GPS system. They said they are trying to work out the details so the owners don't have to go to the dealership to update maps. He said they had some online trip planer to make GPX files, but wasn't sure that Garmin's Basecamp GPX files would be completely compatible.

Spoke to a lady that was sitting on the back of the full wing. She said the back seat was not as comfortable as their current wing. They had a blue full wing that had the clear lower air defectors just back of the radiator vents and the clear plastic hand wings. They look good, but the installation hardware on the radiator deflectors look like an afterthought. It looks like they drilled holes though the deflectors and cowl and screwed them in with silver sheet metal/button head screws.

I spoke to some other wingers that attended the show and they had similar thoughts that Honda took away features they wanted. Some other wingers responded with "well, it is, what it is".

Saw a couple of F6B's in the parking lot (a stock blue and a black one with a bunch of toys on it). The black one had left his aftermarket LED lights on, hopefully his battery was good when he got out of the show.

Some pictures will follow when I get them uploaded.



These are going on EBay from $45 and up that they were handing out.



Hand and lower wind deflectors:





Tall shield:



Passenger Volume Controls:



Rear left bag with speaker kit:



Right Bag:



Inside of trunk:



Handlebar Linkage:





Two up:



Bagger:







Grand America: