Daytona F6B impressions

[Vol1chuck]

First real good ride on the "B" since I purchased last October. Here are my impressions after my weekend dash to Daytona from Knoxville...

Fuel economy: 1468 miles on 35.6 gallons of fuel = 41.2 mpg. Not too shabby, especially considering that most mileage was eaten up at 75-80 mph.

Weather protection: Flippin' phenomenal! We went down through Atlanta because we stayed at the KOA in Macon. Steady rain from Cleveland, TN to Calhoun, GA. At times very heavy. I never felt the need to put on rain gear. I flipped up my convertible Baggershield, tucked in behind it, and the only part of me that was more than damp was my shoes and the outer half of the bottom 5 inches of jeans.

Riding position: Coming from the cruiser world, I was really concerned that I would have trouble making the transition. Not a big deal at all. The ergoIII highway pegs and mini floorboards certainly helped. All and all, I'd say B-. Straight through from St. Augustine to Knoxville was almost 600 (which is a typical day when we travel) and I was a little stiff and cramped.

Handling: See above. I came from the cruiser world so this feels like a race bike to me. Never really had an opportunity to test it's legs until the return trip through the gorge between Asheville and Knoxville on I-40, but this thing handled those curves at 70+ like they were nothing. Plenty of cornering clearance even with the comfort drop on the mini boards.

Storage: I was surprised by how small the saddlebags are, really. On first blush I actually entertained thoughts of packing a weeks worth of t-shirts and shorts in one, and rain gear, shower bag and etc. in the other for Sturgis this summer, but when I started putting stuff in, they really aren't that deep. Perfect for weekend rides, but I'll need to get a luggage rack for an extra bag so I can use the passenger seat for tent and camp chair. Again, no biggie, just surprised me.

Seat: Holy $hi*! Does Honda just throw a seat together for its bikes as an afterthought? This one has to go. Now, I'm no baby. When we travel, 500 mile days are the norm. 700 isn't out of the question. And I've done 1058 from Albuquerque, NM to Memphis, TN. My first bike when I was "reborn" into motorcycles again was a Honda VTX. After about 700 miles, I knew the seat had to be replaced. I put the Mustang on and did 32,000 wonderfully comfortable miles on it. My recent trade was an 06 Yamaha Roadliner. 35,000 miles on the original stock seat, and that included the iron butt. No issues whatsoever. But this seat seems just like the one on the VTX. Certainly compliments the look of the bike, but had very little thought put into its ergonomics and comfort. Just my opinion.

That's it in a nutshell....
Safe riding....

[Old Ryder]

The engineers at Honda are the best in the world when it comes to metal and life span on mechicanal parts--- I have owned more Hondas over the years than any other bike and I think they design their seats for 145 lb Asians. Even the folks at Mean City could not do the trick on my VTX. Get past the seat and fix the ergo thingy and they are the best designs in the world.

[shooter]

I think you hit the nail on the head Chuck. I don't think the seat us that bad although I concede it could be better.

[Ixol Phaane]

Very nice little write up. Thanks for this.
I'm sure a lot of new and potential owners will appreciate your experience and opinion.

As I have ridden mine for almost 14k miles, the mileage hovers between 39-42 and of course depends on the load and how heavy I get on the throttle.

I have to agree with you on the point about rain protection. I've had a couple opportunities to ride in some local weather - yes, believe it or not, it actually does rain in the desert! I share the same respect for the ability of the F6B to shelter the rider, even behind the BaggerShield bottom half only.

The riding position is just fine with me. I also came from a VTX after 11 years and had no problem at all getting used to the F6B.

As for the seat, I know it can be a hot topic, but I've had no problem at all with the stocker on an occasional 350 mile day. But I think I'll be packing along the AirHawk I used on my VTX when I make the ride to Franklin this summer... just in case.

The handling of the bike is so nice. It's much better than the 2000 model GL1500 I rode for three years. I especially notice the difference in the city, in parking lots and in the curvy parts of the open road. It's so responsive. Like another member recently wrote in another thread (sorry, I'm not sure who or where) it's like having the bike under mind control.

And you are correct about the bags being a little narrow. But throw a BikeMP3 rack on her, add a nice travel bag and you're definitely good to go the distance.

I give my 2014 model 9 out of 10 points. And she'll get the last point after I add cruise.

Anyway, thanks again for your post. Maybe we'll see you in Franklin?

[opas ride]

Thanks for the info and I agree for the most part...I really had no issues with the stock seat but wanted the 1" lower Mustang seat and am I glad I changed...What a difference, at least to me....Everything works fine now that I have the Baggershield windscreen, Kury grips, Cobra pipes, and other goodies...The wind/rain protection is great and no problems, but the Victory Vision Tour I had was absolutely the best bike I have ever owned for hardly any highway wind/turbulence at all...Damn near non exsistent on the road!!!

[srt8-in-largo]

Interesting about the bags... they're bigger than just about anything else out there, but I too wish they could hold even more stuff.

[hiflyer]

After trying a couple of aftermarket seats, I went back to the stocker. I use an airhawk or a mesh no/sweat pad to change seating position every couple of hundred miles or so. No complaints.

[Fla_rider]

What you didn't stop along the way to take pics?

[Elroy]

Interesting about the bags... they're bigger than just about anything else out there, but I too wish they could hold even more stuff.

I do wish they opened vertically along the top though. My hard-sided bags on my vulcan opened this way. You get a little bit of "cheat" space with the space in the lid when you shut it. Haven't had the need yet to cram my F6 bags full yet, but I imagine I'll be doing the "hold your stuff in with one hand, and pull it out real quick and shut the door." That is till I finally spring for the luggage rack.

[Vol1chuck]

Interesting about the bags... they're bigger than just about anything else out there, but I too wish they could hold even more stuff.

They just seemed bigger when I first saw/opened them. And it may be that my roadliner/stratoliner bags were top opening, so they just seemed to hold more.