|
|
On the Cover
I suppose the beginnings of GWRRA were when I decided to trade our 750 Suzuki commuter bike for a red 1976 Honda Gold Wing. The little Suzuki had more vibrations than Carter’s got pills, and it was top-heavy to boot. I thought then that all motorcycles had lots of vibration, and when Shirley and I took our first long-distance ride on it to Tucson one weekend, we literally had a hard time walking when we got off the bike after a two-hour ride. Despite smooth pavement, we felt like an old cowboy did after being in the saddle all day. Everybody told us we’d get used to it, but I thought we shouldn’t have to get used to it! So I started looking around for something smoother. They told me the BMW was smoother. So we looked at the BMW, and it was smoother, but the dealership network back then was pitiful. So then somebody told us the Gold Wing had just come out six months previously, and they were reputed to be a smooth bike with a good center of gravity. We went over to a Honda dealer and were told that they had almost 1800 dealers. We thought if this was going to be a touring machine, that dealer network would help us with any difficulties. Hindsight tells us Gold Wings don’t have difficulties, as a rule, so it turned out to be a less important selling point. But when they put a coin on edge on the valve covers, then cold-started the machine and revved it up with that coin still standing on edge, that was pretty impressive. That was smooth, and when we bought the Gold Wing and took it on another ride to Tucson, it was heaven.
|
|
