Welcome! I also sold my 2007 GW, fully loaded, for F6B. I also thought initially that F6B would be a downgrade from GW, but then I test rode F6B.

I like the way F6B looks and rides MUCH BETTER than GW. I also am more comfortable on F6B due to seat design, and I still use stock seat (with Airhawk cushion I used for years).

After test riding F6B I started thinking:

1. I ride solo 99.56474% of the time :-). So no need for trunk with backrest for passenger. I am looking to have a luggage rack with quick disconnect mounting for Shad case on it in case I do have a passenger (sometimes my mom comes for a visit and she is more likely to go on a road trip with me than my wife), but only then as I like the clean lines of the back end without any rack or backrest on it. Which is why I bought the standard version F6B.

2. I used to own both BMW K1200LT and GW, both of which have reverse. After I gave it a thought I realized I very rarely used this feature. I also own an HD and I do have a habit of backing up while parking so I can just get going. Also, it just makes a good riding practice, if youpark nose down you must also leave bike in gear when parked, and even with reverse it is somewhat precarious backing up uphill anyways. I can very easily push F6B back on a level ground, no problems at all. Since I bought F6B I have over 10,000 miles on it. I did several major trips including Americade, 3,000+ miles in 8 days (I know Miles, that's just going to gas up for you ;-)) and Biketoberfest. Right now I am in Brevard NC riding and looking at leaves changing color, it is beautiful! The point it is I haven't needed reverse gear at all!

3. I did like using cruise. I bought throttlemeister. It is a throttle lock device. It works great, I really like it, easy to modulate, in fact I use it as much as I did cruise. Me and my small group of friends always ride on two lane country roads, I avoid interstates as a rule, so cruise is not very useful on twisty small roads. I am usually the one to lead the group so I set the pace, therefore as I use the throttle lock it is fine. I believe it is because of great engine GW and F6B have, lots of torque, that throttle lock does a great job, engine can keep up the speed and only small amounts of throttle correction are needed.

4. Heated gear is easy. You can add heated grips (standard on deluxe version anyways) but I decided not to. I use heated clothing and heated gloves. In the past I literally had blisters on the palms of my hands from heated grips. As it was very cold outside I tended to grip stronger. Mypalms were warm but the outside of my hands was still cold. So, I decided to go with heated gloves instead, they simply plug in the sleeves of heated jacket so looks clean.

You can add heated seat, which after reading past posts of Miles I decided not to pursue. I believe Miles is correct in that heated seat fatigues you sooner. I think it is better to have heated clothing on. F6B protects the legs great. Having a heated jacket or vest under your jacket will keep your blood warm so it will circulate in your legs and arms too.

5. First thing I changed was the windshield. The stock one is crap. I use Baggershield which can be adjusted, it works great for me. Believe it or not it bothers me more not to have a power windshield on F6B than reverse! I am hoping that Pete from BikeMP3 will eventually offer a dark tinted windshield for his power system, or maybe adopt my existing Baggershield to work with power system, that would be perfect. Until then I'm OK.

6. I added Garmin GPS, the one on my GW was terrible. Much better now.

I hope this helps. F6B is probably one of the best bikes in the world for what it does and all shortcomings can be dealt with.