TonyDtorch said:
A friend of mine owns a Honda dealership. He was telling me when a Goldwing comes in with a bad alternator (a common problem with them) the repair estimate will be more than the bike is worth because the entire engine has to be removed. At that point the insurance usuallly totals the bike.
Like a disposable lighter. They are not designed to be repaired.
Insurance totals the bike? Since when does insurance take care of a maintenance item.....unless it's a service contract. Your regular insurance is for accidents, not breakdown repairs....except maybe the towing part of the breakdown. And let's face it, cars, trucks, motorcycles, refrigerators, ....you name it, has gotten a LOT more complex that they were years ago. I haven't heard about any specific issues with Goldwings and that being a common problem, but then again, I don't own a Goldwing. And the Goldwing is just one of many motorcycles that Honda makes.
And on the flip side of that coin, back in 2003-2006 when I sold Honda AND Harley motorcycles at a dealership (and yes, they were both on the same sales floor), I read a published article about a guy that had bought a brand new 1995 Goldwing. He was a salesman and used the bike for his sales route, as he loved to ride. The article was published in 2005 and he had 584,000 miles on the Goldwing at that time......and the engine had never been apart. He had obviously gone through a ton of tires, oil and filter changes, spark plugs and the normal maint stuff, but the engine had never been opened to repair or fix anything. I'm sure covers had to come off for valve adjustments, but the point is, Hondas, generally speaking are dead nut reliable cars and motorcycles. My last track bike, a Honda CBR600RR, was sold with 16,000 miles on it. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you realize that the bike lived it's life in the 12-15K RPM range for all those miles, it's pretty impressive.
Ride whatever you like, enjoy the experience, but just know that if everyone all like the same thing......it would not be the same experience