XJ 650 v. GL500

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was going to pick up my old Honda SilverWing over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Well, I did. I climbed on it all ready to go and was shocked how hard it was to "make it go"! Discovered that you can make it eventually go fast but no way to make it go quick. Compared to the XJ it is so slooooow. I did appreciate having the "boat metal" up front. The temp was 34 deg and foggy. The first leg of my journey was 189 miles. I was quite comfortable. I was wearing silk long johns(don't laugh till you've tried 'em), an armored and lined jacket, armored mc pants, thinsulate lined gauntlet style leather gloves, with silk liners(watch that smile!) and leather mc boats with merino wool and silk construction. The trip home I wore the same getup until I got west of the Cascade range where I had to peel off a ayer due to the increased ambient air temperature. Kept the silk glove iners on though!

I never really realized how quick the xj is. A little research has tipped the hat on the difference. The xj is 71 hp and the GL is 50 hp. Less than 50 lb weight difference with xj heavier.

71 hp is way more fun than 50 hp! Upper and lower fairings sure do feel pretty good though.......

 

The bigger GL's are quicker. They seemed fast in their day, never a KZ 900 though..

 

Right, when I test drove my 650, I said damn this little bike's got some snot.
I still laugh though, run through three gears to nine and a half, look down your going 65mph.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

I use to eat Hondas 500 and up with my RD400, the GL is like a racing a 250

 

The RD's were fast. I had the predecessor. The 1971 R5 350. That thing would do 85 in under a quarter mile. It screamed for a 350. My only complaint was the fouling of the plugs. I always carried a spare set. Had to. Maybe today with the better 2-stroke oils and oil injection this might not be as much of a problem.

Still...Wish I still had one. They sell for alot on Ebay.

 

I bought my '82 Silver Wing Interstate as a safe practice bike, since I had been off bikes for 12 years, and now I have 3 of them.
Honda wanted to target the BMW market with this design, and a turbo was in the plans from the beginning, meaning the engine must be bulletproof.
The riding position is bolt upright, like a BMW, touring bike, or police bike.
The suspension is softly sprung, pitching alot in lower gear shifts. The dual front brakes look like CD's compared to an XJ, adequate but weak.
I raced my brother's Shadow 750- - same speed. He's lighter than me, so whatever bike he's on wins. It's geaed too low, revving 7,000 at 75 MPH. There's a sticker that says "not for continuous use above 80 MPH" It really runs out of beans above 75 pushing the full size GoldWing fairing.
It's totally reliable and cold starts perfectly. Too bad it's just a 500.