After reading the forum posts and outside reviews, I stopped at my local dealer this afternoon to check out the new Goldwing as well. I had pretty much decided that I would probably upgrade from the F6B before I arrived... but then found myself underwhelmed. The first thing that struck me was the narrow width. I felt like the fairing would do little to protect the rider from the wind and rain. A big deal if you try to ride in the winter. It was noticeably lighter-- and surprisingly that didn't seem quite right either. I've guess that I have come to appreciate the feeling of a big bike like the '6B, a general feeling of solidness and stability I guess. I'm not as tall as some who have commented before me, but I didn't thing the foot peg positioning was really that comfortable. I also immediately remembered the original F6B seat as I sat on the new model; not much give, and my legs are not long enough to sit back against the built in rise of the seat comfortably. I was really disappointed with the saddle bag capacity as well. The latches to that and the top box seemed, well, cheap. Had to close them hard to get them to catch.
I was looking forward to the new suspension, the electronics, the automatic transmission; however, I sat down on a new 2016 F6B in the showroom to think for a minute and realized that I really like what I have now. The dealership didn't have a 2018 to demo ride so I don't have all the information possible. As others have commented, I am just not sure that I am willing to to pony up another 15K+ and possibly not have something better than what we already know and love. Time will tell; maybe as my F6B gets older the newer model with grow on me. I just may give the BMW K1600 Grand America a look in the meantime.
Reply With Quote