Greetings from Finland

I bought a used Silver Wing 600 2010 a month ago with 3500 kms when bought and now 2000 kms more with me. I prefer long distance touring and make a trip to Norway every summer that makes about 3000 kms for a trip.

I used to have a Gilera Nexus 500 for 10 years. OMG what a difference! SW isn´t so sensitive for side winds or trails on the road. The steering is more sensitive because of the gentler steering angle. The center of mass is much lower and the driving position is better i.e. nicer for a woman of my height. Not to mention the two cylinders thats makes the scooter start surely even if it´s cold and rainy.

Silver Wing is the right maxi for me !

Hello leena I became member here for 2 was ago, nice people here. As being no American it's hard to welcome you on this American site but when you consider riding down to NL you feel welcome to tell so.

Welcome aboard from o-HI-o.

André-NL wrote:

Hello leena I became member here for 2 was ago, nice people here. As being no American it's hard to welcome you on this American site but when you consider riding down to NL you feel  welcome to tell so.

I don't see this as being an American site/forum. From all the members that contribute, this is an international site. I enjoy reading most posts with many differing background influences. Good job you hard working administrators. Keep it up.

Hello Leena and good to see you on the forum. We need more females here to keep some of these clowns    in order.
If your long distance rides ever take you to the NW. coast of England, let me know and I''ll guide you around the area.

Hi Lena and welcome. As others have said, this is an international forum which is nice as you get different viewpoints and ways of looking at things.
That looks like a great bike you've got. Hope you enjoy it and have many fun and safe miles.

Hi Lena and Greetings and Welcome to the BEST SWing site on the Net. There is a lot of information here with people ready and willing to help. I've had my 08 SWing for three seasons now and really like riding it.

My Mother had Finnish heritage. One of my regrets was not learning how to speak Fin when I was a kid. She could speak it almost better than English. But, as they say, hindsight is 20-20.

Welcome Leena! Yes, as someone else said, this is a Silverwing site not an American site. Glad to hear that you are enjoying your new Swing. I'd like to hear more of your opinions comparing the Silverwing to the Gilera.

Thanks for everyone for welcoming me to the forum. I´ve found it very useful to read the topics specially about modifying the bike. I must admit the height of the windshield has caused me some trouble. Although I´m able to see over the top, but the edge seems to disturb when driving in city speed i.e. you have to look a little bit nearer. There was a good topic about the Givi Airflow and I´ll get one before nest season. It´s autumn now in Finland and the days are getting shorter and colder, so this season will end soon (even though I got my new pair of Rukka Queen goretex gloves that are superb).

The windshield of Gilera is adjustable and it was a slight surprise for me that the one in Honda is not. It was very informative to read about the Airflow. I had decided to order the Givi D214 kit, but changed my opinion after reading two sides of the opinions about the Airflow. The quality of Givi products has always pleased me and I had a Givi windshield installed to Gilera, too.

Comparing to Gilera, well I find Swing very reliable because of the two cylinders and the quality of the technique, electricity and the manufacture overall is great. Even thought the acceleration of my Swing isn´t as breezy as one of my Gilera (yet), I love to know that I don´t have to push to the limit and there is some reserve power left if needed. There´re loads of moose where I live. We have had a car crash with a moose and that was quite scary. The moose danger is actual when it´s getting dim. The lights of motorbikes are poor in general, but I found it very surprising how good the headlight of the Swing is.

There´s more to come next weekend. I´ve written a longish story about my plans of modifying my Swing, but because of external links, I´m not able to post it until next Saturday.

Leena,

You might want to check out the Kappa windshield. There are some posts about it by using the search box. You definitely want to be able to see the moose.

Hi Yo wrote:

  Leena,

    You might want to check out the Kappa windshield. There are some posts about it by using the search box. You definitely want to be able to see the moose.

The two windshields look pretty much the same and Givi and kappa are identical in many product lines. I found it very amazing that in this case the price of the both windshields are about the same and even more surprising that I get the Givi windshield at almost the same price from my local distributor as from Italy where everything concerning maxi scooter parts is so much cheaper. Finland's price level is so, so high as well as the taxes, but wages not .

Leena Hallasmaa wrote:

There´re loads of moose where I live. We have had a  car crash with a moose and that was quite scary. The moose danger is actual when it´s getting dim. The lights of motorbikes are poor in general, but I found it very surprising how good the headlight of the Swing is.

Hi, I remember seeing moose wandering about a couple of times when I was touring in rural Sweden on a Helix many years ago. I was quite surprised how tall they are. One waited until I'd stopped, taken off my helmet and gloves, rummaged about in the top box for my camera, and then wandered off into the trees before I could take a photo. So I had to buy one of those moose warning sign stickers instead.

I can understand how expensive imported bike gear is in Nordic countries, but what about Rukka clothing as it's manufactured in your home country, it's really expensive here in the UK. Only the top of the range adventure suits from US manufacturer Klim cost more, and my Klim Overland suit was made not in Idaho, but Vietnam!

Meldrew wrote:

I remember seeing moose wandering about a couple of times when I was touring in rural Sweden on a Helix many years ago. I was quite surprised how tall they are. One waited until I'd stopped, taken off my helmet and gloves, rummaged about in the top box for my camera, and then wandered off into the trees before I could take a photo. So I had to buy one of those moose warning sign stickers instead.

I can understand how expensive imported bike gear is in Nordic countries, but what about Rukka clothing as it's manufactured in your home country, it's really expensive here in the UK. Only the top of the range adventure suits from US manufacturer Klim cost more, and my Klim Overland suit was made in Vietnam!

A grown up moose bull can easily weigh over 800 kg, so it´s very dangerous to crash with one. One italian motorist just died by that way a couple of months ago in Finland. If you ride in Northern Scandinavia, the road sign warning about moose should be taken seriously.

A have two sets of Rukka clothing. They are very comfortable, especially after I updated the protectors with Rukka´s 3Do Air ones and the back protector with Forcefield one. It´s very important that your gear is comfortable and keep you warm and dry. I have made a mistake by buying bad stuff in the beginning. What a waste of money! After investing in proper gear I´ve never got wet, even though I don´t have separate rain suit.

The Rukka is a premium brand and it´s very expensive in Finland, too. I´m ashamed to admit, that I´ve ordered mine from Germany .

Welcome aboard the board Leena.