what did Gary Buy???

[GaryM]

I don't see a Snell sticker on that rig. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I don't know where I'm going to mount a lot of things already. Nowadays, you've got radar detectors, GPS systems, MP3 players, cell phones and they all take up a little space.

I never thought I'd live to see the day I'd be mounting satellite positioning electronics, a telephone and a third music source on a motorcycle on top of AM-FM, CD changer and CB radio. That doesn't even include XM satellite radio or the weather radio system. Motorcycling certainly has changed since I started riding.

I've got to admit that each and all of these things can be nice to have and many are really useful when you're touring. I don't want to start a debate on radar detectors (I own one but can't remember the last time I used it) but a lot of folks swear by them. The hands free phone is sure nice. The GPS is really nice on a trip to somewhere unfamiliar and the CB is nice to find out what's going on in the roadway up ahead of you. As to the different music sources, I generally listen to AM when I'm on the road so that's not a big deal to me.

Needless to say, after all of this gets wired up I'm not sure I'll have room for the coffee maker. The six disc CD changer and the CB radio are already in the trunk. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

<font color="blue"> I don't believe I'd care to ride just for "endurance". ...I did enjoy riding the bikes instead of driving a car for transportation. </font>

I enjoy riding for tranportation as well. One difference I find when I'm running errands on my bike is I tend to use the 'star pattern' to add to my trips instead of saving miles as I would in my Tahoe. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

As to riding for "endurance," that's not what I'm into, either. I just wanted to do something different on my bike and thought this would be a good way to check out the work I did through the winter. The Saddlesore 1,000 shouln't be that difficult to get through unscathed.

I'm going to try to see about working out some kind of promotional deal to use the ride to raise some money for a local charity. We have a Midwest Baseball League team here and I thought if I could find a weekend when they play back to back home games maybe I could do my start/finish at the stadium here as a pre-game deal. I could do something like collect hats from some of the other minor league teams around here on the ride.

 

[Inspector507]

Gary,
Put some of the electronic gizmos in here

 

[Bird]

Gary, I assume they still have the auto volume on the radio/stereo and the tuner on the handlebar so you can change stations without taking a hand off the handlebar? The Aspencade had one of the best stereos I ever had on a motor vehicle, but I didn't have any of the other stuff you're talking about.

 

[Bird]

Jerry, those look about like the one I had. Mine was plain white in color, 48" x 36" inside the box, and had a bracket on the tongue to hold my 48 quart Igloo ice chest. So when I went to the FBI Academy, I loaded my computer, printer, monitor, and tennis rackets in it along with my clothes and toiletries, and filled the ice chest with cold drinks, snacks, and ice. Great way to travel!

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Bird,

I have an old GL1100 (1983) Goldwing I still ride on occasion and the stereo on it is very good. Heck, my 21 year old cassette player still works on that bike, too. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'm surprised you didn't have a CB on your bike. My '83 has a factory CB radio that still works fine, too. I still love that old bike. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I never owned a GL1200 for myself but I do know they had good stereo systems, too. The GL1500's like I think you said you had were really strong on the audio side. I think that was the first one to have the volume automatically increase and decrease with engine rpm so you could set it at idle and still hear it with the same db increase over the engine noise at all rpm levels. That was quite a hot thing when it came out, too.

I guess about the only things that have changed are the cassette decks have been replaced by CD changers. The other stuff like the GPS systems, cell phone hook ups and even MP3 players and satellite radio are pretty much the result of technology that wasn't even around when the GL1500's were introduced.

As I said in an earlier post on this thread, I never would have believed all of the things that have changed on bikes and on motorcycling in general since I started riding at sixteen. It's even harder to imagine what might change in the next thirty-three years I hope to be riding. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Maybe if I get the Saddlesore 1,000 done for my fiftieth birthday I can get a Bun Burner 1,500 in for my sixtieth, the Great Lakes circuit for my seventieth and the Forty Eight plus One for eighty. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Jerry,

What brand are those? From what I understand the trailers by Bushtec are considered the Cadillacs of motorcycle trailers. I've never pulled a trailer behind a bike but with 1832cc's I don't think I'd have any trouble pulling one if I decide to.

Those look nice and would be really handy if I end up taking some long trips. If I end up taking the SO I'm not sure just one of those would be big enough, though. I wonder what the DOT says about pulling doubles or triples behind a bike? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Bird]

Gary, my Aspencade was an '85 GL1200 and a lot of folks had the CBs on them, but I didn't. Of course it did have the cassette player and auto volume. It also came without cruise control, but the dealer installed a good cruise control on it. Another thing I really liked was the digital instrument panel. I think I heard that they had some problems with that and went back to analog, but I never had a problem with mine and liked it because it was the easiest to see and read no matter what the ambient light conditions were. Everything else I've ridden had instruments that were either sometimes hard to see clearly or you got a glare at night. The turn signal indicators on my 650 Silver Wing were particularly annoying at night; very bright flashing in your face.

And in '85, Kawasaki had a 1300cc and Suzuki has just come out with a 1400cc engine, and I was reading an article in a motorcycle magazine about the increasing engine sizes, and the author said a Honda representative told him they had no intention of going beyond the 1200cc engine; that their surveys had indicated owners didn't want anything bigger. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I guess we all miss our guess at times. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Inspector507]

Gary,
Try Cycle-Mate .
Here's another brand on the back of a GL1800 Kruzer Trailers .