1200 vs 1500

[FatherWilliam57]

[quote="Granpah :x I love my 1200 :x I love my 1200 :x I love my 1200 :x I love my 1200 :x I love my 1200 :YMHUG:
[/quote]

C'mon, quit beating around the bush and tell us what you really think! :d

[Guest]

Well thanks to you all for your opinions I really appreciate the views of others on there bikes (1200)and others (1500 and 1800). I think at this time will keep running the 1200 and think about moving up later. I would like to ride the 1500 or the 1800 sometime to see the advantage's or disadvantage's. I just saw some opportunities and didn't really think about moving up until now. Since I also work in one of those carreer's where you are not sure if you will work tomorrow or not. I should probably wait and see.

Thanks again
To All that answered, I do respect alot of the 1200 veterans here.
I have recieved some good advice from you all in the past, on working on these machine's.

[MikeM]

One thing about it....If you have a GL1200 you have one of the best bikes around. ^^

[admin]

I'll second that MikeM.

[Guest]

As has been said, what bike is best (GL1200 of course) depends on your needs and taste. Shopping around is half the fun! If I were to get a different bike I would seriously look at a 1500 Valkyrie Interstate. Same motor as a Wing only with more carbs and a hotter cam! Not to mention it still looks like a motorcycle!

[admin]

That 1500 Valkerie is gorgeous and the nicest thing about it is that it's almost a Gold Wing.

[Guest]

Alot of people here like the valkerie. They all say it was a shame they stopped making them.

[Roleketu]

Oh my, the Valkerie is what got me interested in the GoldWings. I was in Tempe AZ on a business trip and wanted to rent a Harley. When I got there they showed me the rental bikes and this Valkerie just looked so much cooler then any of the Harleys. I rode this around for a weekend and I was sold on Honda. I bought my Wing because its for the wifey and me. And she knows someday I will get a Valk for solo rides. And yes, those are cool carbs!

[Tropicalsuns]

The Valk is a nice bike and a bargain as well....

[detdrbuzzard]

i am one of those that owne both wings, an '84 aspy and a 93se and having ridden them both about 3000 miles or more ( actually more) i cannot decide which i like best. what i found out was i needed a better windshield for the 1200 because even the stock windshield on the 1500 is wider than the wraparound windshield i put on the 1200. while the bads and trunk are bigger on the 1500 i can carry all i need in the1200 bags. some say 1500 wings ride better but how do you compare 16 year old suspension to 25 year old suspension? my 1200 rides just fine.if you are riding them hard througt the twisties you'll notice that the frame of the 1500 is stiffer but it does flex. 1200 wings like to be reved up, on a 1500 with a 5500 red line there isn't much revving to do. shifting past 2500 is more like wasting gas but it will accelerate. good gas milage means you'll be in od going as slow as 30 to 35 mph and normal shifting for me is between 1800 and 2200 rpm. i put more in about my 1500 because we all ride 1200 and know about them. if i had it to do all over and could only get one wing i'm not sure which i would buy a 1200 or 1500

[Granpah]

1200 wings like to be reved up, on a 1500 with a 5500 red line there isn't much revving to do. shifting past 2500 is more like wasting gas but it will accelerate. good gas mileage means you'll be in od going as slow as 30 to 35 mph and normal shifting for me is between 1800 and 2200 rpm. i put more in about my 1500 because we all ride 1200 and know about them. if i had it to do all over and could only get one wing i'm not sure which i would buy a 1200 or 1500

A couple of questions come to mind. I'm foot sensitive 'cause I wear 14W boots (sorry -- that's my size). Especially on the right side of my 1200 I have to always be carfeul NOT to have my foot on the brake. So between the peg and brake peddle that's just so much space -- which gets even more crowded with a passenger.. Now then, the 1500 has an extra cylinder on each side. Does this reduce the space between the foot peg and brake peddle OR has the frame been stretched to compensate for this in the 1500?

I'm not exactly sure how to interpret the approximately 20% reduction in max (red line) RPMs relative to the 1200. When I shift at between 3,000 and 4,000 rpm in my 1200 for the sake of ramping up the torque I feel the engine has a really big margin before getting over revved. Granted the 1500 has a lot more reserve power than the 1200. But if I were cranking the 1500 above 4000 RPM, intuitively I'd feel that I'm getting dangerously close to over revving it. Does this make sense?

[admin]

Are those 14W's feet or flippers? My 13EEE's fit a lot better on the 1200 than they do on the stock 1500 if that helps any. But that could be due to my bike's style of running boards. I've been on some 1200's that felt very cramped for my big feet.

You can spin the 1200 up to 7500 rpm if the engine is not tired and it will still make horsepower whereas the 1500 starts running out of breath after about 4500 but it makes lots of torque down low so there's no need to rev it to make power. The 1200 and the 1500 are two completely differently tuned engines. The 1500 is like an old Cadillac V8 engine in that it pulls like a freight train at low rpm's whereas the 1200 engine is more like a Ferrari engine because it likes to rev. Surprisingly the 1200 can actually beat the 1500 down the quarter mile because the 1200 is slightly lighter, has 4 carbs and has less frontal area to cause wind resistance. The way I see it for the 1500 is that it's a bike for a guy that doesn't appreciate the mechanical aspects of biking because with the 1500 you don't have a carb for each cylinder (only two), you can't see the engine and you don't have to shift very much whereas the 1200 is more sporty and it gives you the feeling that you're on a hot, sporty machine whereas the 1500 gives you more the feeling of sitting in a car on two wheels. Both are very nice bikes but I've always preferred sporty over cushy in my machines because that's the way I like it. The 1800 is a nice combination of the two leaning more towards the style of the 1200 in my opinion. Bottom line is that whatever turns you on enjoy it to the fullest. I like my 1200 because it has doubled in appraised value since I bought it, it makes me feel good to ride it and working on it is a breeze and parts are cheap and plenty. Sorry about the rambling but I love love to extoll the virtues of my amazing GL1200 that doesn't leave me longing for any other bike.

[bagelboy]

I too love my 1200, and don't have much experience with the other Goldwings. I haven't yet had any problems obtaining parts, but have not had any major repairs. However, I hope Granpah is wrong and they don't start making too many parts in China. Most of the crap I get that says China on it doesn't last that long. Anybody recently hang any Christmas lights up....................

[detdrbuzzard]

sorry for the slow responsei, i just got the virus off my computer today. there seems to be just slightly more foot room on the 1500 than the 1200 but not muchas far as power ( hp and tq ) the 1500 has more but it is not top end power it is mid range punch which is whya 1500 will walk away form a 1200 at very low rpm's. try cruiseing around on your 1200 at 1500 rpmand rolling on the throttle, heck your not even in the power band. a 1500 wing is more like a small car motor, its always in its power band. with synced carbs and running good mine will pull without a hiccup from around 750 rpm in od

[admin]

Try placing a 1500 next to a 1200 in first gear at 3500 RPM then whack the throttle wide open and you will be shocked when the 1200 pulls away right up to the 7500 RPM redline and the 1500 can't keep up. The 1200 engine is more of a sporty type engine whereas the 1500 is more like a tractor engine, great for low RPM torque. They can't really be compared equally because they are two completely different types of engines.