Howdy from a long ago owner - Updated

It seems I registered 6 years ago, it is past due time to say hello after lurking for all of this time. I owned a used 2003 IIRC Candy Glory Red SWing that I bought off of Ebay in 2005. That bike had 32,000 miles on it when I bought it from NYWingman. He even delivered it to my driveway here in VT from Greentown, PA a few days before Christmas. I put 27,000 miles on that bike before I stupidly traded it in for a new BMW G650GS in 2009. That BMW dealer gave me a trade-in price of $2500 on a 3 year old bike with 59,000 miles on the clock and a scooter at that. Being the VP of a BMW motorcycle club at the time may have had something to do with it. I was looking for a SWing because I had crashed my 1985 Kawasaki 454LTD a couple of months earlier with my doctor very happily, literally rubbing his hands together, telling me that I wouldn't be able to ride a motorcycle again because my left leg was too banged up from the crash to permit shifting. I took that as a challenge and went looking for a scooter. A local Honda dealer had a NOS 2004 SWing gathering dust at the back of his storage shed. He had the bike out the next day and I put the first 18 miles on the bike. I was so blown away by the performance and comfort I almost bought it on the spot. At the quoted price of $7800 my wife said no so I went looking for a used one. That turned out to be a lucky break for me as there was something wrong with the title which made it impossible to register the bike. A recently retired and long time female rider bought it and never registered it. She used an expired plate from one of her old bikes which also means it was never insured. My next door neighbor tried to buy the bike from her last year after she gave up riding. He couldn't register it and gave the bike back. That dealer was sold and shut down a year later. Boy, I do go on when I get going.    

I really miss my old SWing and thought about getting another one but the 540 lb. weight was a no-go for me so I went a lot lighter and bought a 2020 397 lb. Yamaha Xmax 300.



The photo above was taken in 2007 on Route 9N in New York state outside of Lake George while I was attending Americade. My red SWing was my one and only Iron Butt Saddlesore 1000 bike which I rode in the Minuteman 1000 in 2008.

Good pictures, thanks for sharing! My 2nd scoot is a Forza 300 and it is considerably lighter and more nimble than the Wing. That said, I prefer the Wing for highway riding. So for now keeping them both!!!

GHM-PM wrote:

Good pictures, thanks for sharing! My 2nd scoot is a Forza 300 and it is considerably lighter and more nimble than the Wing. That said, I prefer the Wing for highway riding. So for now keeping them both!!!

You're welcome. The Silver Wing is an absolute mile eating machine. Two years after I traded it in at 59,000 miles I spotted the bike sitting in someone's front yard outside of Whitehall, NY. That owner had the mileage up to 78,000+ after repeated trips throughout New England and Canada.

kpinvt wrote:

(Snip)


The photo above was taken in 2007 on Route 9N in New York state outside of Lake George while I was attending Americade. My red SWing was my one and only Iron Butt Saddlesore 1000 bike which I rode in the Minuteman 1000 in 2008. (Snip)

It appears that there is some kind of air deflector along the side of the fairing. What’s the story? Any closer photos of that?

Every time I see a picture of someone’s Silverwing I miss mine!

When I look at that picture I don't really notice the scooter. What catches my eye is that white SuperVisor peak on the blokes helmet, I have one myself in black.

Plus the Givi E52 top box, I sold mine a couple of weeks ago, and last but not least, he's wearing what looks like the one-piece version of the Aerostich Roadcrafter textile suit.

I had the Aerostich two-piece Roadcrafter back in my biking days, a very expensive import from the manufacturer in Duluth, Minnesota back then. Unlike US bike journo’s that raved about the 'Stich, I have to say I wasn't very impressed with my suit at all.

Meldrew wrote:

(Snip) I had the Aerostich two-piece Roadcrafter back in my biking days, a very expensive import from the manufacturer in Duluth, Minnesota back then. Unlike US bike journo’s that raved about the 'Stich, I have to say I wasn't very impressed with my suit at all.

Yeah, those ‘Stich’s aren’t very impressive —until you have an accident.

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

Yeah, those ‘Stich’s aren’t very impressive —until you have an accident.

Have you owned a 'Stich Timothy ?  After a couple of years I had to send the pants back to Duluth to get the connecting zip to the jacket replaced.

The weird soft sponge armour pads in both the jacket and pants may have hardened on impact, but could easily tear removing them from the pockets to clean the suit.

The back protector was a weird long narrow shape, and the Velcro strips on the jacket wrists and pockets lost their tenacity to stick together. I had to place adhesive backed hooked Velcro strips over the originals.

While I never got really damp in wet weather, it was pretty cold for an unlined suit and I often had to stop and layer up. I can think of other less expensive suits I owned from Hein Gericke, Clover, Büse, and a couple of others that worked far better in the same weather conditions.

Compared with another US suit I've had for a few years the basic unlined Klim Overland two-piece, the Klim wins hands down. Even though the pants on this box cut suit are more suited to someone with thighs like a NFL linebacker.

Fox Creek Leather in Independence, Va. manufactures excellent leather gear. Paul

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

kpinvt wrote:

(Snip)


The photo above was taken in 2007 on Route 9N in New York state outside of Lake George while I was attending Americade. My red SWing was my one and only Iron Butt Saddlesore 1000 bike which I rode in the Minuteman 1000 in 2008. (Snip)

It appears that there is some kind of air deflector along the side of the fairing. What’s the story? Any closer photos of that?

The PO told me that those little winglets were an unsuccessful attempt to change the airflow at the back of the bike. He usually rode two-up with his wife and she complained about the turbulence of the air passing over her. Her complaints and the fact that he really did not like the seat led him to sell the bike.

Meldrew wrote:

When I look at that picture I don't really notice the scooter. What catches my eye is that white SuperVisor peak on the blokes helmet, I have one myself in black.

Plus the Givi E52 top box, I sold mine a couple of weeks ago, and last but not least, he's wearing what looks like the one-piece version of the Aerostich Roadcrafter textile suit.

I had the Aerostich two-piece Roadcrafter back in my biking days, a very expensive import from the manufacturer in Duluth, Minnesota back then. Unlike US bike journo’s that raved about the 'Stich, I have to say I wasn't very impressed with my suit at all.

I have had a Super-Visor on every one of the helmets I have owned over my past 18 years of riding. I just move it from the old helmet to the new one. The one shown is a black model that I painted white. I did that because I used to commute home from work in the morning into the rising sun and the white visor let too much glare in. The suit was a Fieldsheer Centurion one piece that was similar to an Aerostich but nowhere near as well made and absolutely not waterproof. The suit I'm wearing on my Xmax is my third 'Stich, all of them purchased used on Ebay. The first two were too big for me and leaked around the zippers but the two piece 44 Short I have now does not leak at all. As for keeping warm I use an old school Gerbings Thinsulate lined electric jacket liner with a pair of glove liners attached to the end of the sleeves. The Xmax only puts out 175 watts and the jacket and glove liners pull 118 watts. To power the liners I use a GoLabs 300 watt solar battery that I can carry under the seat.

I bought my SuperVisor back when I was wearing the weird looking Schuberth J1 open face that had a weird detachable jaw guard similar to the one worn by a NFL kicker.

I didn't like the idea of permanently fixing it to the J1's visor with the supplied adhesive, so I found some 3M self-adhesive pads that mated like Velcro with bristles instead of the usual hook and loops. I've fixed the SuperVisor to my Schubert M1 the same way, but as my other helmet is the Schuberth E1 adventure helmet with an adjustable peak I prefer the longer length when low winter sun is a problem.

Meldrew wrote:

I bought my SuperVisor back when I was wearing the weird looking Schuberth J1 open face that had a weird detachable jaw guard similar to the one worn by a NFL kicker.

I didn't like the idea of permanently fixing it to the J1's visor with the supplied adhesive, so I found some 3M self-adhesive pads that mated like Velcro with bristles instead of the usual hook and loops. I've fixed the SuperVisor to my Schubert M1 the same way, but as my other helmet is the Schuberth E1 adventure helmet with an adjustable peak I prefer the longer length when low winter sun is a problem.

I use the same 3M product to hold them on. I use a butter knife to pry two sides apart.