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Re:Hello From Boston!
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TOPIC: Re:Hello From Boston!
#1023639
Bert71 (User)
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Hello From Boston! 4 Months, 2 Weeks ago  
Hello everyone,

I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Bert, I recently purchased a 2004 Midnight Road Star. I haven't ridden in a long time, and have wanted to buy another bike for years. I finally got off my butt and went to the dealer and bought the bike I fell in love with.

I plan on using the bike for road trips, commuting, and camping. Right now I'm scoping out different kits to make that happen next spring.

Best regards,

-Bert
 
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Last Edit: 2017/10/08 20:14 By Bert71.
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#1023641
Midnitmike (User)
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Re:Hello From Boston! 4 Months, 2 Weeks ago  
From Alaska
 
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#1023644
valkyguy (User)
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Re:Hello From Boston! 4 Months, 2 Weeks ago  
Bert from North Florida. If you are going to get into camping, I suggest you get ahold of Kai here, he tows a camper trailer.
Good luck with your new bike.
John
 
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Last Edit: 2017/10/08 20:40 By valkyguy.
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#1023650
Phatstrat (User)
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Re:Hello From Boston! 4 Months, 2 Weeks ago  



from New Orleans, LA.
 
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#1023666
Father_Pobasturd (User)
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Re:Hello From Boston! 4 Months, 2 Weeks ago  

Representing Scorpion Gulch, Arizona. Congratulations on your recent purchase. Now, go sell it and find a nice Gold Wing or a big BMW. There will be many on this site who will argue with me, and that's fine. All I'm saying here is, for the purposes you stated, you'll be better off with one of the aforementioned bikes.

The Road Star is a great bike. Lots of power, looks cool, sounds cool, is dependable....but that's pretty much where it ends. In all honesty, the Road Star is a poser bike, like most H-D's, built to look at and sound cool and be fun in short bursts. Yes, you can modify them to do other things better, many others on here have done so already. It costs a lot of money which you will most likely never recoup if you sell the bike.

First problem is range. There is no aftermarket solution for this issue except some kind of external device to carry fuel in. There are no aftermarket enlarged fuel tanks. If you plan on loading the bike with gear + passenger and hitting the highway, this becomes an issue. Loaded up heavy at highway speeds the Roadstar gets poor fuel mileage. If you do performance mods to give it more power on the highway, the fuel mileage gets worse.

Next, the bike is not made to carry lots of extra weight. Again , this can be addressed, at some cost, to the point where the shock mount is overcome, and cracks, which it has been known to do under normal use, let alone more induced stress. If you buy a Goldwing, or Certain BMW's, they are designed from the factory to haul these capacities.

Comfort and handling issues also come into play. While most riders of smaller stature are OK with the Roadstar, bigger riders have voiced issues in this mater. Again, not a lot of aftermarket solutions here either, the ones that are being expensive, and really only Band-Aids to a bigger problem, that being the bike was not designed for this type of use. Perhaps if you have $25K to spend on a new Venture, you can determine if Yamaha has figured these problems out on their own. Or you can buy a Roadwing, a Goldwing shock modified to work on the Roadstar, then spend some more money getting the front end up to snuff with better springs and guts and seals. You'll want a better seat too, which you can also get here on the RSC. I got one, but not because I ride several hundred miles at a time. Health issues have reduced my riding time to 60 - 80 mile spurts. The stock seat started hurting at 30 miles. An expensive indulgence for sure, but I got a good deal on a used one.


You may have noticed I didn't mention H-D or Indian on my list of bikes to buy for long range riding. H-D makes factory touring bikes, right? Well, they make bikes with touring parts bolted onto them. The frames are the same bikes they sell for non-touring bikes. A Factory Band-Aid is still a Band-Aid, in my opinion anyway. Indian I can't really speak for, I have not ridden one, but I suspect the same thing going on over there.

If you want to give yourself the best chance at your motorcycle experience you outlined here, you'll find yourself a nice used Goldwing or certain BMW "GS' or "K" models with factory load capacities to your liking. If you like getting off the beaten path a bit I would suggest a BMW GSPD 1200, or one with a smaller motor if money does not permit a 1200. These bikes have the highest hauling capacities of any factory bikes, period. Plus, you can attach a sidecar, pull a trailer, even both if you wish. There are lots of aftermarket accessories to choose from to do this, plus factory support, and a stock 9 gallon fuel tank.

Since you popped up here on the RSC however, I suspect you may not have the finances to afford a BMW. That sends you directly to the used Goldwing department, where your choices are many. First thing you'll find is there's a lot of late model bikes reasonably priced. One thing they will all have in common is they each have a zillion miles on them. That's because they are made to go a zillion miles. How much is left after that is a case by case study in maintenance. You pay your money and you take your chances. I bought a Chevy Pick-up with 250,000 miles on it pretty cheap once. My Dad said, "How much more you think it's got in it?" The answer, it turned out, was 100,000 more. However, I digress.

Anyway, welcome to the RSC.


 
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Last Edit: 2017/10/09 00:10 By Father_Pobasturd.
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#1023668
mlharper (User)
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Re:Hello From Boston! 4 Months, 2 Weeks ago  


From Plano Texas.
 
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#1023677
sprt220 (User)
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Re:Hello From Boston! 4 Months, 2 Weeks ago  

From Madera,Ca.
 
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#1023684
Jlb76 (User)
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Re:Hello From Boston! 4 Months, 2 Weeks ago  
from Sturgis Mi Michigan
 
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#1023686
ultrastar (Moderator)
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Re:Hello From Boston! 4 Months, 2 Weeks ago  
from Hollister CA
 
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My Rides
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#1023694
G_Conway (User)
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Re:Hello From Boston! 4 Months, 2 Weeks ago  
from San Diego, CA.
 
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Gerry
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