Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

while riding. Also in defense of this BMW was the fact that it was definitely the best-handling bike on the trip when it came to twisty roa d s, ye t remained reasonably comfortable on the lon g hauls. II becomes difficult to rate the stereos from here on up 10 the champ, but since I need to, th e Kawasa ki Voyager XII w ould ha ve to be in third place. Ranking the stereo on the Kawi third almost doesn't d o it justice, because it wor ks great and has plen ty of h and Jeba rmounted controls 10 keep you humming down the road. The Voyager's powerful fo u r-sp eaker sys te m works w ell a n d s u p p lies h ig h vol ume a t a moment' s notice. This is the only bike on the trip that provided the rear passenger wi th his or her own stereo controls - which can be either good or bad, depending on th e p assen ger . Performancewise, th e motor was fine, but the flexy front forks m ade th e bike a "wallow ing w onder" on twis ty. ro a ds or at sp eeds under 5 mph. I hav e to give th e Harley-Davidso n Ultra Classic runner-up honors, du e to one reason : motor noise . The Ultra Classic d efini tely had the best ha nd lebarmoun ted controls - which covered abo ut any fun ction you could des ire and could be cranked up -to unheard-of levels yet still remain clear - but the noisy motor and loud er exhaust note slightly detracted from the clarity of the music. Don't gel me wrong. though: This thing has a ri ghteo us sys tem . H owever, w e did notice tha t the rear speakers, due to low p lacement, becameharder to hear wi th a passenger on boar d. Moto rwise, the Harley w as a little down on power, but surprisingly handled well, especially at lower speeds where most hea vy bikes become a handful The best-of-the-best stereo-system award for the voya ge has to go to the Honda Gold Wing 5E. The Honda had the best sound by far, at any speed. The six-cylinder motor in the Gold Wmg is so quiet (a n d smooth ) that it never affects the integrity of the stereo system. The handlebar-mounted controls on the Honda are nice but lack the most important one: a volume control. II's a minor complaint, but the Kawasaki and Harley had them, and they were easier to use. The Honda's killer stereo, supersmoo th mo tor, an d excellent han dling at high or low speeds ma de it the bike of choice for m e. A fter many q uality miles on the Go ld Wing with the stereo blazing, I think the bike sho uld have "No air guitar on board" stickers plastered everywhere. Cameron Coatney Are you a READER. •...Triumph T595 .. .mego motor, Rex free cha ssis, incredi ble brakes, it's on exhilarating street ride.: " -Cycle World, April '97 •... Triumph 's reborn triple is one o f the horniest, most delightful engines ever attached to a spo rt bike.: " - Motoreyclist; June '97 . ... T509 Speed Triple and T595 Daytona, these •...T509 Speed Triple... you're the Hooligan Bike of the Yeor... • - Motorcyclist, Sept. '97 two Triumph's have enough modern credentials to stimulate an y sporting enthusiast's salivary glands... . - Sport Rider, Aug. '97 • • .or do you want to • • RIDE? • The all new Triumph T500 Series. You 've heard about them. Read abo ut them. T alked about them. Are you ready to ride" them? Now you can,.at your authorized Triumph dea ler. After your ride, catch your breath and regi ster to w in a Triumph Paddock Jacket (one to be given away at each participating dealer) . And remember, reading is fun, but riding rules! ~. M' O TOR e ye L E S r.. .... 1o<,ld'" ,011; l -aOO-RIDE Tl(umphl or SIt DlII' wtbsitt at I www.lriumph.ro .uk ,,,,.,t1,,Amori<, Ud. 1991Triomph .. "le st rides and drawing for licensed riders only. Rid pri",ilegtts solely at deal", di~crefion. See focal dealer for details. ing ........ _ "'.........,__ CI'I! ry new Triump h co mes M,jth an unlimited mileage ,wo year wurrant . on(' year of (J\.tItlen dun memm.:rslrip y and one free ~r of roadside assistance . C om plete traffic supremacy, that's all I want. And that's what makes choosing a tourin g bike so difficult. But still, if I'm going louring - real mile-eating touring w ith a passenger, ma ybe a ten t a nd lo ts of stuff, too - I want full lu xe-boat, and no thing less. That' s why I'd pi ck the Gold Wing. It simply has unmatched refi nemen t and capacity. It' s just that the damn motor's jus t so blandly competent. It didn' t used to be bland, bu t then the Valkyrie came ou t. Kno wing that so mewhere in there there's Valkyrie pow er waiting to be u n le ash ed jus t d isapoints to n o end w hen you tum the throttle an d you quie tly, com p et en tly whir awa y from a stop. • So here' s my s ugges ti on, Honda: Stuff a six-earb Valkyrie engine in there, paint th e bike VFR red, an d call it a _ " Hot Wmg ." Trust me. Mark Hoyer When you choose SSSSTREETexce sinte compounds, you i r choose the best In sinter replacement pads for your high· performancestreet 3PPUC3tlons. we oller high IrlCUon IHSI fronts and lower IrlCUon ILSI rears to provide VOIJ with tile u,dmat. 'n ,topping pewer nomatter what thecondItions. wnen you're readY to replace your worn. slntered rnet31 pads. be sure to choose STREETexcel from S - tile sinter BS com"olmcls with tile pewer to SlOP you. seeyW" dealer 1lXtIY tor aDtl1e r1ght STREETexcel C!1OIces. 0." r-, I: 0\ 0\ ...... ~ . * 0,55 c<) 10.50 .... ! o... • •40 o (1) 100 200 300 - . . Me ft_ _ n.- 400 ro-.-q . 500 E 2 £" 29

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