Maxiscooter vs Honda ST?

Howdy all. Some of you know I recently sold my Goldwing and that I'm looking for a replacement. I also had to trike it with a Tow Pac due to the treacherous dirt/sand road to my house. I do not want another trike or a Goldwing due to it's weight.

I had thought I wanted to go back to Maxiscooters like the Honda Silverwing. I had previously owned a Burgman 400 and 650. Their weight is much lower than the Wing, has great weather protection, reasonable performance and lots of storage potential.

Recently I started to study the first generation ST 1100's. I discovered that they were very popular with Iron Butt riders, long distance tourers and police departments all over the world. They're known for their longevity and low maintenance. So, it appears that an ST is little like a Goldwing on a diet. Folks, like the motorcycle author, Peter Eagen, saw them as one of the most perfect bikes ever built.

Anyway, got to thinking that I really love the motorcycle experience and a bike like this could fill most of my needs for solo touring, occasional ride with the Mrs., on board storage, good low end torque and power for interstate travel, civilized, good commuter bike, longevity and low maintenance and lower weight than Wing. (I understand that these bikes aren't light and may be close to 700 pounds wet. The 200 pounds differential between these bikes may be more doable on our dirt road however.)


I've also looked at the ST1300. My only concern with that bike is the heat that is generated by the bigger engine. I understand that the 1100's are not as hot. Of course the other is my budget. There's some awesome deals on the ST 1100 right now. So, more to think about now in my future bike. Any thoughts?

ST Hondas require camshaft removal to adjust valves. Consideration if you ride a lot.

I put 60k miles on an '01 ST1100. Great bike, very smooth, reliable, long range(7.4gal. tank). As you noted it is somewhat lighter than a Goldwing, but taller and certainly more top heavy. I also had an '05 GW, 30k miles.
From my somewhat limited experience, if the GW was too much weight, the ST will not be a major improvement, although 200lbs lighter. I highly recommend you try the ST prior buying one to make sure it will work for you.
Good Luck.

I had a GL-1800 and decided to downsize to a lighter bike and bought a Silverwing. The GL-1800 sat in the garage while I racked up the miles to and from work and around town on the Silverwing. Then I started the search to replace the GL. I tried the FJR, ST1300, Connie 14 and BMW R-1200 RT. The RT won. 570 pounds ready to ride (about the same as the Silverwing) and very easy to maneuver with two bad knees. Real cruise, radio, six suspension settings, average 50 mpg two up at Arizona highway speed, and the list goes on. Maintenance is expensive if you take it to the dealer but I found an authorized BMW independent shop that is close and reasonably priced for work I can't do. BTW I don't use the Silverwing for short trips anymore because I can't get my sweetie off of it.

I had an ST1300 for a while. I think it was the first year. They had just discontinued the ST1100.

The bad:
The heat coming off of the engine was intense. I understand they've solved that now with a shroud of some sort.
The thing was super heavy. Very difficult to back up on a slight hill.
The windshield that creates the "still pocket of air" that Honda is so proud of trapped diesel exhaust, so I smelled it for miles and miles after I had passed a truck, unless I adjusted the windshield down to flush the bad air out, then back up (the shield it is motorized, at least).
The bike was no more comfortable for long rides than the '98 Nighthawk 750 that came before it.
The thing was not what I would call nimble, though probably better than a Goldwing.
It was pretty expensive.

The good:
It was super smooth, super powerful, super fast, and super quiet.
It had a better fit/finish than the scooters do.

After a while I decided I wanted a smaller bike, and foolishly traded down to a Suzuki SV650. I say foolishly because while the SV650 is a great bike for its purpose, and very nimble, it was even less comfortable for rides of any distance, and it almost caused me to stop riding bike altogether.

I've had bikes of all sizes and shapes, old and new, (my first bike was a 1977 Kawasaki 400 twin, 20 years ago) and I have finally come to the maxi-scooter as my long term preference.

I had an st1300 and did approx 5000 miles in a years ownership. my thoughts and opininions, it is a very good bike inmost areas as are all these tourers but,and here is the crunch, they are all so bloody huge and unweildy be-hemoths, think of bikes like the old norton 99 or 6650ss et al ,triumph bonneville t120,honda 750 cb. these bikes were all easily manageable especially by old farts like me, now no chance. Give me a silverwing everytime. What we need is light weight and something that is easy to get a leg over. (except my missus) pip pip.

I did 50,000 miles on my ST1100, very reliable, comfortable, good luggage capacity, plenty of torque/power and good spares availibility at the time. Very heavy, needs some muscle in the twisties (but very stable on the highway), not particularly economical (4 carbs) ~10 miles/litre. Getting somewhat long in the tooth now so parts will be starting to dry up

Ive owned maxi scoots because of dodgy knees, although Im only 52. Ive owned many bikes over the years, always admired the ST pan, but never bought one as Ive had 2 friends, ex ST owners who sold them due to their weight. I think they are exellent touring bikes , if you still have a bit of 'wrestle' in you. 

Thanks guys for your thoughts here. I was looking at bike prices and low mileage ST's with ABS are about the same cost of used Silverwings (less than 5k). I thought, " this is allot of bike for the money". However, bottom line is the weight. I dropped my GW about 6 times on my deep sand, gravel, dirt road to my house that's a half mile long. With the crash bars on the Wing I never damaged the bike but it was a handful to lift back up and I hurt my hamstrings several times trying to hold the bike up before it fell. I ended up installing a Tow Pac Insta Trike kit on it and that worked well. Unfortunately it changed the dynamics of the bike and without being able to lean the bike I lost the joy of riding my Wing and sold it. Looks like a Silverwing is really my best choice here as it's light enough to maneuver the road, has lots of storage potential like the GW and also has touring potential and can just as easily serve double duty as an excellent commuter/urban bike.

I decided I have to at least test ride one to feel if an ST is comfortable for me to handle. Have an appointment tonight to test ride a 2005 ST 1300. Will let you guys know later what the outcome is.

Dan be, never had a pan my mate had one to commute too London everyday.Dropped it three times in a year ,and not a small guy. Great bike but now sold it as does not do the miles anymore now rides a 97 burger 400cc and loves it ,go steady.

Well it wasn't the best night for test riding a motorcycle. I met the seller at 7:30 PM in the dark with a light rain. However sitting in his garage was a gorgeous burgundy 2005 ST 1300. The bike is in perfect condition mechanically and cosmetically. This is a one owner with 17,000 original miles. The bike felt deceptively light sitting on it in his garage as I could lean the bike over and it felt very balanced and planted. Backing it up in his garage was where I felt the weight. I took it for a short ride in his neighborhood and it felt very nimble at low speeds and very easy to handle. This is the most powerful bike I've ridden with 125hp however it felt very civilized at low speeds and could easily be ridden as a commuter bike as well as touring. The engine heat issue baking the shins was not going to happen on a cool rainy night as I never felt the heat. A valid issue though, I hear. There's allot to like with the ST 1300 and a part of me really wants this bike but....I must be real about my sand/gravel road that was very unforgiving in the past with my Goldwing.

I had a 03 ST1300 what a bike I do miss it. It just got to heavy for me at time. The heat was not a problem even in 90 -100 DEG. but that me. In over 50,000 miles the valves  they never need to be adj. Yes it heavy 7 3/4 gal of gas all of my camping equipment, but it would go 300 plus miles on a tank. Ritch

The engine heat issue was resolved, and as I understand it, there was a recall to install the fix on bikes that did not have it. So the one you test rode might not have that problem.

Well, after test riding an ST 1300 and reading every review on the Internet, I've decided to not buy one but to defer to my original plan to get a Silverwing. The primary reason is because of the weight of the bike traversing the dirt road to my house. The ST is nearly the weight of my GL 1500 which I had installed a Tow Pac on to safely navigate my way in/out of my property. There's allot to like about the ST 1300 with a Honda V4 engine and about the Goldwing like longevity, dependability and low maintenance cost. However, there is a 200 pound weight differential between an ST and SW. The Swing will much easier to ride on my dirt road than the ST.

So, I called the seller of the ST up today and told him I couldn't buy his bike because of it's weight due to the road to house. Now.....to find that perfect Silverwing.

Well, I've been teetering on this one and have found allot to like about the ST but it's weight always comes back front and center. The bike isn't much smaller than my Goldwing. Every time I run this through my head I always come back to the Silverwing.

I am rather liking the looks of the new CTX 700 from Honda. Lightweight and very fuel-efficient. My only issue is the reach for the pegs, a tad too long, but I think it can be resolved by some planning. If I had the dough, I'd be getting one.