Hi from Philly!

I just picked up a 2004 Silver Wing from Jacksonville, FL and rode her home to Philly this past weekend 6/12/10 - 6/13/10. I wanted a bigger scooter for my long distance riding. I happily rode my 263cc SYM Citycom on 2 Saddlesores and a 4800-mile 9-day trip through the southeastern United States, but she started overheating after that and I got tired of WOTing all the way.

After I picked up my SWing and got on the ramp to the highway, I was on my phone telling my friend I had arrived safely and had picked up the bike. However, she said that she couldn't understand me after that because I kept screaming "WHOOHOO" and "WHEE" every other second -- the power and speed and smoothness of the SWing became so very apparent when I went zooming across a viaduct at 85mph (didn't realize till I looked at my speedo -- Floridians drive FAST!) that would have stumbled my Citycom to 50mph.

Anyway, I'm super stoked. My Silver Wing earned her new name, Senora, from the Harry Belafonte song, "Jump in the Line", cos "When she wind up she bottom, she go like a rocket!"

She's definitely a fantastic tourer -- I would've probably just done a Saddlesore bringing her back home but my friend had already paid for a motel to make sure I would stop halfway. I can't wait till next year when I attempt a 48-10 on my new baby.

Anyway, I've been lurking on this forum since the last couple weeks -- you guys are FANTASTIC! My only trouble so far is... I can't figure out how to put hard cases on the SWing either -- can't find anyone who makes side racks! My friend's wife has a triked-out Silver Wing (coincidentally the same year and color as mine) and she uses textile saddlebags. I have giant Nelson-Rigg CL-850s which I'm worried will get burned on that really high exhaust pipe... I plan on using the rear rack to add an auxiliary tank so I can boost my range up to about 250miles (anybody else think the digital fuel gauge is a bit wonky? mine starts blinking when I've barely used up 3 gallons and I thought the gas tank was 4.2 gallons?).

Wow I'm rambling. Sorry. Anyway, I love this forum, and will be very happily searching for farkles on here... once I can afford to buy 'em!

Hammy
www.ezridersscooterclub.com (anyone who is from or visits the Philly area, do consider riding with us sometime -- I'm one of the ride organizers and always love having new folks around )

Hello, welcome and congratulations on the new bike!

Is that 'Señora' with a squiggle on top?

Nope, Senora the way Harry Belafonte sings it. I know, everybody keeps telling me I'm spelling and pronouncing it wrong. I'm going by the song, not the Spanish señora but Senora as in, "Shake, shake, shake Senora, shake your body line..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwVsObcNYvI

I was trying to come up with a name fpr my Silver Wing on the road home when the song came into my head, and I kept thinking, she DOES go like a rocket!

Hammy,

Welcome to the site.

Calm down - not really, enthusiasm is a great trait when properly controlled and channeled toward the right things.

You've already hit on the two major "third rail" items in the SilverWing world. Silly inaccurate fuel gauge (indicator) and the hard bag dilemna. GIVI does make a braket for the RH (muffler) side of the bike that allows use of a hard bag, but the LH side is still not resolved. I tend to think the RH bracket would some how be modified... DennisB?

Thanks Dale!

Never heard of the term "third rail" before. Then again, I had no idea what a darkside tire was until I looked at this forum! Does everybody else's fuel gauge start blinking when you've barely used 3 gallons too? I get just a mite over 40mpg, so originally I thought I only had a 3.5 gallon tank cos the last bar would start blinking around 123 miles...

I get to ride Senora in a little charity ride this weekend in York County, PA, and get to introduce her to a few of my club members. I keep thinking at some point I want to give her a custom paint and light job and make her look like Serenity from Firefly cos the feeling's the same: old, beat up, but pure love at first ride and way faster than she looks...

No the indicator bars are not too accurate except to say that Honda does indicate in its literature that the light will start flashing when the fuel reserve point is reached. That would be when 1 gallon remains. I get all nervous when the light starts flashing and then I remember that I have a gallon left...

Your mileage will improve if you are able to stay off the throttle (good luck). Custom paint is fairly often discussed and it can be done I recall seeing a SilverWing done up in a REPSOL paint scheme. Looked pretty cool. All panels can be removed and a good shop should be able to paint them no problem. Of course at that point your wallet must be a pretty generous fellow.

"Third Rail" as in the electrified rail in the NYC subway system - ala "Don't touch the third rail, it can kill you."

Hi Hammy,

I just love that song, I was just listening to it on the youtub thread you provided. I just can't stay still when it's playing. Makes me want to dance around.

Welcome to the forum and very glad you decided to join in.

17,000 miles and still amazed at the reliability, smooth power flow. speed of my 07 Silver Wing. The People that ride Silver Wings are a mix of fine People. Enjoy the ride.

Actually the gas gauge seems pretty accurate. It is not marked anywhere as to how much each bar indicates, and it seems to be very consistent from one bike to another.

Most users seem to get about 50 miles on the tank before the first bar disappears. Then you lose a bar about every 10-12 miles you ride. Around the 150 mile mark, the last bar starts flashing. At that point, you have 1-1.2 gallons left (close to another 50 miles before you run out).

Mileage can vary a lot according to the rider. Heavy use of acceleration and high speed use will drop you below 50 mpg (and maybe below 45 mpg). Moderate use gets you about 50 mpg. Light use has been reported by only one or two riders, who claim to get in the mid-50's mpg. I personally cannot attest to that.

If you continue to get near 40 mpg, you might want to check your air filter and spark plugs. Both items are believed to reduce mpg.

About the hard sidebags - check out this link - http://silverwing.org/cgi-bin/topic_show.pl?pid=28743;hl=saddlebag

If that link doesn't work for you, try - http://paulscooter.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=9329746

Congrats on the new (to you) Silverwing. Welcome to the board.

Philip

PS - If you ever want to do a comparison between the Silverwing and the Citycom, I would love to read it.

Thanks - I'll probably check the air filters and spark plug after this weekend's riding. Also it's neat how that hard side bag set up is. So far the most I've done is to adjust the backrest backwards, and put in a bigger Givi windshield although this one is actually way too tall and I probably am gonna eventually put in a Givi Airflow adjustable windshield when I can afford one...

Lovin' the SWing! And yes, now I'm gonna definitely check out how the gas indicator works. It IS great to know though that when the blinky comes on that it means I have at least 1 gallon of gas remaining.

buddy 19520,

I erred in calling the fuel indicator inaccurate, it is more appropriate to call it Non-Linear". The first bar and the last bar both seem to give an indication of approximately 1 gallon. That leaves 6 bars to reflect 2+ gallons or 3 bars per gallon? Once that adjustment is accounted for it is safe to think of the indicators as "accurate". I realize the flashing bar is meant to indicate the bike is now running on reserve, but the oddity of the non-linear nature of the indicator is strange. Accurate? Possibly, but odd.

I'll go along with that!

I would concur. Tis most odd, but now that I realize how it works, it's actually pretty useful. My mileage in regular country driving is over 50mpg when average speed is about 45-55mph.

Anyone know if the GoldWing ISO grips from Kuryakyn model # 6180 will fit the SWing?

It's the Universal fit for 7/8" handlebar, model # 6241

Hammy,

Congrats on your new SWing and welcome to the site. It must be nice to buy a bike almost 1,000 miles from your home so you can have a nice ride. Mine is an '07 and has 31,000 miles and still runs like new. If you plan to do any maintenance you should go to the "Pictorial" section to help you out.

The SWing gets good gas mileage until you do much WOT. If I do an entire tank of WOT I will get about 40 mpg but it is a tankfull of really fun riding. If I just do the interstate speed limit than I get about 50 mpg. I think the California gas is so clean that it really decreases the mileage. Others have gone up to Oregon and saw a 5 mpg increase so maybe they have the "real" gas there. Keep us informed on how you like it the longer you have it. Again, welcome and congrats.

Hi Hammy

Welcome to the forum. I know that you're going to enjoy your new Silverwing.

If it's help any in determining what kind of mpg's you're getting on any given ride you can use the 1st bar indicator as a rule of thumb:

When you fill the tank reset your odometer to zero. As you're zipping your way down I-95 and the odometer gets to the 45 mile range keep an eye on the 1st (top) bar of the fuel gauge. As soon as the 1st bar disappears note the odometer reading. Assuming you continue with the same style & speeds that odometer reading will be your effective mpg's.

As Dale stated, the 1st (top) bar as well as the last (reserve/flashing) bar = one gallon each. The remainer of the tank is divided between the other fuel gauge bars.

We have a mutual acquaintence in the legendary Iron Butt scooter rider, Jerome.
He was supposed to introduce us at the Mid Atlantic Scooter Rally last month, but too many other distractions got in the way of that. He always speaks highly of your long distance scooter rides too.

There was a very interesting Burgman 650 at that rally which was fitted with a 3 gallon aux fuel tank by Tour Tank http://www.tourtank.com/ttproducts.html at the Rally. I hope that you had a change to check it out. Though the tank & accessories are a bit spendy, it would be a great addition to a Silverwing.

Anyway, I hope the Silverwing serves you well in your long distance riding.

I'm off to the Iron Range Scooter Rally in northern Minnesota on Tuesday morning. Assuming I don't get blown off the Mackinac Bridge or sucked up by a tornado perhaps we can hook up for a coffee & chat some time after I get back.

Tim
'03 Silverwing, Cosmic Jumper
Delaware County

Tim,

Have fun at the Iron Range rally and if you see WBP (Bill Gooden) say Hi to him for me. I'm from Illinois and only lived about 90 miles away from him but didn't know him then. I have chatted with him many times on different forums. He rides a B650. Have a great time there.

Hey Tim, I saw the Cosmic Jumper at the MAR, but I was only there on Friday as I was still without a bike that weekend. I was the tubby Asian guy in the blue EZ Riders t-shirt and shorts and flip-flops.

Yep, Jerome was my inspiration to try out LD riding in the first place. I was supposed to do the MD20/20 this year but my lack of a steed nixed that, and the money I spend on the SWing will likely curtail any other rally riding for the rest of the year.

I do plan on taking Senora on a 48-10 next year after I'm done with my NPT. A few of my guys and I are also gonna head down to either Skyline or Tail of the Dragon in mid-July (17-21), and then probably do Niagara in August or so. You're welcome to join if you're interested.

Other stuff... I might probably do my New England stamphunt over the July 4 long weekend -- may or may not skip Maine.

Anyways, I am continuing to love my SWing. I notice a lot of folks have a power commander. What does that do?

Hammy wrote:

I was the guy in the blue EZ Riders t-shirt and shorts and flip-flops.

Ah ha! That explains it then. Seeing someone was wearing flip-flops I assumed that they were some totally naive asshole local rider who crashed the scene. So I blew you off. My bad!


I do plan on (clip) to do Niagara in August or so. You're welcome to join if you're interested.

Thanks for the invitation. FWIW there is a Vintage M/C meet at the extremely interesting Glenn Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport NY on Aug 7th weekend. The museum is well worth a stop anytime. Hammondsport is kind of on the way toward Niagara if you're taking Rt 17 (the Southern Tier route) west from Elmira / Watkins Glen area.

Glenn Curtiss was an early motorcycle & aviation pioneer. On display are several of his hand-made motorcycles, m/c engines and early aeroplanes & flying-boat planes he powered using those m/c engines. He used the flat lake waters & frozen lake in winter to serve as an "airfield". Do check the place out if you're in the area.

As a bonus...a big bonus in my book...this is the Finger Lakes region. There are lots & lots of high quality & boutique wineries along most of the lakes. Most of them with wine tastings & free tours. I was up that way last September and managed to squeeze in 7 bottles of nice wine to pacify Miss Helen for my absence. Hammondsport is at the base of Keuka Lake. There is a world class winery (Dr Frank's) along the western shore of the lake

I notice a lot of folks have a power commander. What does that do?

The Power Commander tweaks the OEM fuel injection program. The product was basically designed for racing, but the version that fits the S/Wing (and other bike now too) can be set up for street use, power, or economy. The changes are done via your own computer and the PC's usb port.

I don't have a PC, but it's high up on my to-do list. My pet project is the Dr Pulley HiT Clutch: It's my contention that at 600 cc's The S/Wing has adequate power, but there are major power losses in the 'inefficiencies' of the (Variator, Belt and Driven Pulley/Clutch) transmission. Variator Sliders along with the HiT Clutch's lock-up feature go a long way to rectify that inefficiency.

Tim

Thanks! So you're replacing your rollers with Dr. Pulley sliders and a HiT clutch... anything else you've done with yours? My seat pad's still on my Citycom in the shop, along with my Brakeaway and other things, but I can't wait to transfer that Holstein-patterned sheepskin and butt cushion onto Senora. She just needs that extra touch of obnoxiousness, heehee... I was thinking of maybe one day just getting a Russell Day Long for my LD riding, especially since I'm about 255lbs and short-legged -- could use all the support I can get. I'm not a fan of hard seats. Another option was one of the Mayers... Anybody got any preferences or suggestions?