BonusVFR

Oh yes one of America's great roads. Actually more than 100 miles as the road is great going west and climbing from Montana. As the road follows the river most corners are open which means you can see through most corners allowing a "modest' pace. Have been on it a few times but always touring loaded but no matter this road is fantastic. Make sure you get gas before you start! Man these pictures make me want to post up again especially my last VFR tour.

I would like to ride the new one. But I also have my eye on the 2018 Africa Twin Adventure Sport. I hate to give up the Wing though as it is really a fine motorcycle.

I got my original Zumo 2006 factory refurbished (or replaced) in 2010 and after another seven years the buttons were failing out among other annoyances. I tried a variety of emergency fixes to included erasers and of course color coordinated duct tape. Garmin no longer works on 550s. Even on my KLR (somewhere in Utah) my faithful Garmin was starting to look a little shoddy! Finally in the Fall of 2017, I succumbed and took a gamble on PalmDr and sent it in for an estimated $100 worth of repairs. Well the process and repair worked so the 550 is as good as new...so I can defer buying a new Zumo for perhaps a few more years.....what a Tale! Chris or Mr PalmDr and his work is top notch and highly recommended! Checked my GPS on one of my favorite San Diego Winter Rides. Stopped at one of many scenic spots along the Salton Sea after a couple of days touring to the East .....everybody has to go to Mecca once right!

The Wire goes under the upper cowl and up under the instrument Cluster and through to the left side fairing and then exits to the black hole under the tank. I would have to take off the left fairing to see better. Here is a picture I snapped over 10 years ago when I was installing my heated grips. The mystery wire runs through a bracket under the green thingy and then goes under the tank somewhere? May have to pull the fairing and tank to trace to the end.

I did trace it back but it went into a black hole. Could not find a male connection point on the Instrument Cluster. May have to pull the tank to track the source. This plug for sure is an OEM style connector and I am only one to fit aftermarket electrical stuff in 19 years so it is nothing I have done. My added wiring all goes to Aux fuse box under the seat for GPS, volt, aftermarket Heated grips, and radar detector.

No the connector is not associated with my LEDs as I do not have a fan with that install setup. Maybe a legacy power plug for OEM Heated Grips? Everything still seems to be working so I guess I am OK???? But would still like to confirm what the white plug is. I looked at the wiring diagram but the only thing I got out of that effort was a headache!

I did one of my favorite rides out to the desert this past November and started experiencing some odd gage readings. At first I thought I was scoring incredible mileage but really it was the gage it just barely budged off full till the very end of the tank. The next fault was the temp gage started to soar (up to 240+) in big chunks of degrees up and down. I have never experienced that before. The fan did not appear to come on at all. Once I got out of local traffic in lovely Mecca (everybody has to go once in a lifetime...trip report coming) the temp stabilized to normal ranges but still tended to jump in big increments. Rather than buying and throwing parts at the problem, my usual modus operandi, I started with the treasured VFRD search instead! This thread seemed to describe my symptoms. So I pulled the front cowl see below......... BTW thanks ZoomZoom Nothing looked terribly wrong but there was one zip tie that was touching the printed circuit board and the board was very dirty especially in the area where those circuits (temp and fuel) are on the left side of the board as you look at it here from the front of the bike. So I made sure all the wiring bundle brackets were in place and cut the zip to ensure it did not touch the circuit and cleaned the road oil/grime/dirt off the board. This was the first time I have pulled the front cowl in 19 years! I may have to do this again someday but it was fun .......only causing slight marital stress when she braved coming into the garage. Now everything is steady and the temp works to spec with the fan going on in normal range which prevents the temp from climbing to astronomical heights. I have done a couple of road trips and lots of driveway testing and all appears well............I hope!

Well I pretty much followed ZZs directions to the letter and they worked. The only thing I would add is really move your fingers as close to the rubber boot as possible when pushing hard on the release fittings for the headlight electrical connectors. Oh yea after a test ride I saw this white connector hanging down. What is that.....everything seemed to be working? I had to take off the cowl after 19 years! Had some issues with fuel and temp gages so I did an inspection and perhaps a repair/fix plus I replaced my original H-4s (WOW and still working) with some LEDs. More on that in another thread. Pretty handy to have this forum..........thanks again. Have to send in another donation!

I think the 5th gen is 5.55 and I have pushed it to over 250 miles twice. Out West the range comes in handy. On my last long tour this summer we had to stop twice in a panic for a buddy on a Triumph 1200 with a 5.3 tank when he was in extremis. The stations of course were charging confiscatory prices as we were in one pump boonies! I was on my Wing and passed up both spots as I had extra range and was getting equivalent or better mpg with my Wing plus I had a lot more gas.

Looks to me a significant upgrade. So I see improved handling with the new model among other gizmo and comfort updates. I have never found the GL1800 much of a handicap even in the tight stuff. Indeed I regularly look for the twisties on tour whether I am on the VFR or the Wing. While I have upgraded the suspension on my 5th gen the Wing is still stock. The only handling arena I get upset with are high speed sweepers where sometimes my GL Carrier seems to wallow in the trough a bit. And all my pegs are gone! I suspect the new front end suspension will tighten things up a bit but we shall see. There are two areas where some would argue the new Wing is a step backwards. Fuel capacity is now VFR like at 5.5 gallons although Honda claims a 20% improvement in mileage...so range would be comparable I suppose. There is also a significant reduction in luggage volume. This would impose some packing discipline at least for me. When I was looking for a bigger Sport Touring bike I ended up with a Wing after I actually rode one. I never looked back and think the new Wing would add more sport to the equation just as the original 1800 was a huge jump in performance over the GL1500.

Ok this should answer the question. A couple years back I rode to AZ to meet the SO and drive back together. Here the VFR is loaded into a 6.5 bed but the chock is setback about a foot to allow me to retain the folded bed cover on the back. Note the plywood over the tailgate. No problem. I started doing this about 7 years ago and it still works although I split between trailer, pickup and riding from my doorstep. It depends?

As indicated earlier I have been quite happy with mine for some 13 years. On my trip to Alaska back a few years ago I towed to the border to save both bike tires and time as 3,000 miles on a KLR on Interstate 5 would have been ....well awful! We only had 3 weeks for the entire trip and still did some 4,000 miles on the dual sports. With practice you can back up fine just make sure you have a bike on the trailer for a reference. Mud flaps on the truck are a good idea especially if you are running in the rain or snow (ugh). I added the third rail option but only take a 3rd bike (very small dirt bike) in a real pinch. I use the middle rail for my big bike which helps with flotsam and drag. It makes me feel more comfortable too although I never had any stability problems with my Wing on an outside location. Towing again to Utah in a couple of weeks and doing mostly dirt roads and riding out of a base camp with all the comfort crap. You have to be careful with dirt roads with the Kendon due to its low riding height. I have run Utah a couple of times with the VFR so this will be different. Trailers and trucks give you more options! I was thinking after a 4,600 mile tour this summer maybe I could have figured out a way to use my trailer????

Here Here is the other Ventura 5th Gen version. Not quite the best "action" shot but my best to show the design. I still use this rack with my hard bag setup. With Hard Bags.