TO BLING OR NOT TO BLING !! "THAT IS THE BURNING QUESTION " ??

[wingdings]

" Ring of fire you say " there !! - Well much depends on your taste's there - However bear in mind if you make your bike into a 1970's disco.

Don't be shocked when you come to sell it - If the buyer does not look impressed with your handy work there !! . Over the pond here in the UK the current trend now is for a clean bear factory looking bike - Either done retro mod style - from the factory paint job ! or original from the factory .

A listing on EBAY the other week over here the wing was a 1989 - Just a bare bike factory looking bike - not chromed to death and looking like a scene from close encounters of the third kind !! with all the lights on it - lol - That bike went for £4000 pounds !! not bad when consider its age !! - Yes ??? .

I have seen other wings bling to death !! over here and people selling them and getting very little interest from buyer's even though the bike's had been well maintained with a ream of paper work to go with it too !! .

Whatever you do to your wing !! - Just remember this !! - You might think a shocking bright pink custom !! wing is cool with a air brushed ken and Barbie on the side panels and trunk !! and led lights around the windscreen and named pink lady too boot doodled on the fairing side - lol - But you got to ask yourself this too !! - Is a new buyer going to like it also ??. You could end up appealing to a very narrow market of buyers indeed yes or even worse none at all !! - Yes ??.

EXAMPLE OF THIS BELOW !! - WOULD YOU BUY THIS ??



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I have seen over the years on wings - Air brushed wolf's heads to naked lady's -or names painted on the sides - Even one guy mold his own panels for the wing too and renamed the bike hat trick !! . ( see video below ) .



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I have a couple of friends who break wings for parts and sell the parts on too !! . They tell me time and time again - When they break a wing and its been customized or as they call it sodomized !! - lol. They can not sell the plastics on again !!. Lately too the custom stuff they take off the bikes is just not selling like it did anymore !! ?? .

The wind of change is coming over this side of the pond bling is out !! - Your bike looking like a drug dealers car and Jewellery box !! has gone - Lol - This is just not cool anymore !! - Sticking a car radio in your wing is not cool either !!

EXAMPLE OF OVER BLING !! - OVER DONE !! WING !!



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I defo think there is a balance to be struck here between improvement and upgrade !! or Alice in wonder land on drugs doing LSD !! - Yes !! ?? -lol .

If you go over the EBAY completed listings for the Goldwing 1500's - You will soon see what's selling and to be honest - "what's not either too !!" .

This should provide a base line tool !! - Ask yourself " what made you buy your wing !! ?? " - And what put you off buying
others too!! ?? .

EXAMPLE OF FACTORY LOOKING BIKE !!



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EXAMPLE OF MIDDLE OF THE ROAD WING
( " A Goldilocks wing " Not to much Bling and not to little " and well maintained " "Just right !! )-
Yes it is "wing admins - !!- Lol .



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Some people spend thousands and thousands on their wing knowing they will never get it back either !! - This fine if you plan to keep the bike long term - If not - Simple don't do it - Keep the bike well maintained and up to scratch if you do that !! it will sell its self come sale time !! .

Lastly -
Time to poke the bear here !! -

Watch these vids - Everyone has a opinion about their Goldwing - Yes ?? Even the latest 2020 model is like marmite to some people ( you either love it or you hate it !! )



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[blupupher]

When I look for bikes, I look for as stock as possible.
Only modifications made to my bike by the previous owner was floor boards with heel toe shifter (removed them and went back to stock), Tulsa Tall windshield (removed and went with a Madstad), foam hand grips (replaced with OEM grips), 12v plug in left front compartment (still there, will be converting it into a permanent USB plug), rear trunk rack (not crazy about it, hard to clean under it, but may be useful in the future), battery tender pigtail, lower wind deflectors, highway floorboards (I would prefer pegs, but these work well enough), Progressive front springs, Superbrace (may swap to a Blackwing brace) and a clear plastic cover to headlight housing (keeping it).
No crazy chrome covers, bars, exhaust modifications, no weird lights, no holes cut into any part of the dash for switches or body for lights.
The only thing I have added to my bike (aside from the changes listed already) is a "dash cam", with the only permanent thing done was a hole drilled in the left side passenger cubby. The front and rear camera are mounted with 3M tape, which can be a pain, but not impossible, to remove.
I have been looking at adding some LED driving lights, but plan on doing the bar that bolts to the frame in the front, and wiring up a switch that does not require drilling a hole anywhere (since I will rarely turn them off, it will be up under the plastics somewhere).

When I was looking for my previous bike (a VT1100 Shadow), it was so hard to find one that had not had the stock exhaust removed or gutted. If I wanted a bike that sounded like a Harley, I would buy a Harley.
The bike I found had a lot of aftermarket chrome bits added, but on that bike, they did not look that bad, and it had a stock exhaust.
When I went to sell it, I have several offers from people that wanted to swap my stock exhaust for their loud exhaust. No thanks.
The guy that bought it said he too was looking for a bike with a stock exhaust, and was having a hard time finding one as well.

I am fine with bikes that have upgrades that fix factory issues (fork braces, shocks, fork springs, wiring upgrades done correctly, etc), but anything added for just appearance or "performance" upgrades turn me off.

And for goodness sake, if you take a stock part off, keep it so you can return it to stock if needed. On my GL1500, I had to source some new OEM foot pegs and controls since the original owner tossed the stock ones when he put the floor boards on.

[XJSRider]

My bike came with a lot of chrome on it. There was a pile of receipts with the paperwork for all that chrome totalling over 2 grand. I would never do it personally, but I do think it was "tasteful" and I have received a ton of compliments on the bike. There is also some pin striping that was applied, again I would never have paid for it but I am not inclined to remove it because I think it looks pretty good.

I have always preferred stock bikes. Specifically for the GL the presence of a heel toe shifter would make me want to pass on the bike, fearing transmission damage from some lunk stomping on it.

My bike also had the rear crash bars removed and a longer crashbar put on that wraps around the entire back of the motorcycle to the opposite side's rear crash bar mount. Again not something I would pay for. I thought it looked pretty sharp honestly, until I realized it severely complicated the removal of the saddle bags.

I received all stock parts with the sale. To my dismay, after the sale, as I was packing up the owner showed me the heel toe shifter in the box... he had removed it. There was also an aftermarket CB in the box (stock is nowhere to be found). When the guy I bought it from removed the stock CB, he just cut the coax to the antennae, even though he was about 4" from where it unscrewed from the unit

Overall when buying bikes I prefer to buy stock. But when it is mine I make it mine, and don't get too hung up on resale. Sometimes I put a new pipe on (always keep stock parts), usually something like a USB charger or luggage rack, or suspension components. I've never done a bunch of cosmetic upgrades like what was on my bike.

The PO did however have a folder with all the manuals and installation instructions for the accessories, maintenance logs, and the factory service manual had a sticky note on the front with page numbers for all the regular maintenance tasks, so I was pretty comfortable with the whole package.

[wingdings]

Many thanks to people for the reply's on this one !! - The reply's id had so far seem to bear out what i wrote !! - Most wing riders are looking for - A Clean bike !! - Not messed with !! - No hacked wiring !! ( birds nest type !! ) - Well maintained - And no outrageous paint job done on it either !! This will win the day !! and with the 1500's now getting harder to find - If you keep it that way - You make money rather than lose it - Yes ???

[wingdings]

One other thing two !! Mine had floor boards on too !! and the toe and heel shifter as well !! - I removed them - and replaced the shifter oil seal it was pissing oil and had failed - I bought a shifter brace and new oil seal and installed the factory pegs back on again !! the shifting is much better now too !! - Defo a good upgrade and improvement best of all it does not stick out like a sore thumb either !! .

[wingdings]

LASTLY -

AS A FOOT NOTE DO YOUR HOME WORK !! BEFORE YOU BUY ANY BIKE OUT THERE !! - WATCH THIS VID PEEPS !! -IT A BIT GOOD I THINK ... !!!

I Bought the Cheapest Honda Valkyrie and Honda Shadow ACE on Facebook Marketplace!



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[Solo So Long]

I like to see a nicely-appointed bike or car, but one thing that I never missed about my Kawasaki was ALL THE DAMN CHROME.

When we went to the BMWs, I got an hour per week of my life back, not having any chrome that had to be polished. I prefer being able to wash, wipe and wave bye-bye.

[wingdings]

I have no idea - Why people chrome there wings to death !! - Its a motorbike for GOD'S sake !! -

When you ride down the road on a wing or park up people will look anyway - Watch this vid . see the heads turn !!

The Honda F6C Valkyrie Review - With Richard Hammond


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Older guy's will exchange memory's and deeds with you about when they had one - So i think No need to chrome to death your wing !! and if you do get ready for a shock when you come to sell the bike and you taken off the original gear that came with the bike chromed it to death - And the buyer say's no thankyou !!.

I demonstrate my point here - Please watch this vid !! all of it !! .This guy buys bikes to sell just look at what he brought and what he paid for it too !! .

I Bought the Cheapest Honda Valkyrie and Honda Shadow ACE on Facebook Marketplace!



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[wingdings]

https://itstillruns.com/honda-goldwing- ... 23158.html

[wingdings]

[minimac]

There is nothing wrong with customizing or personalizing your machine to make it unique or make yours different from thousands of others. Those that do it, don't CARE about resale. That's not why they do it. While some might like plain vanilla-(like everyone else's) others chose to take the road less traveled. What's wrong with that? If you're buying it only as an investment-that's a whole different story. There are better places to invest your money. If it brings joy to it's owner, what business is it of anyone else?

[wingdings]

Hi - There !! - Yes I agree with you there !! and I did point that out in my post there !! too !! - The reason behind the post was not to offend anyone !! at all full stop !! - It was to draw a comparison between " what was selling well on the market out there and what was not too !! ?? - So defo 100% not a attack on anyone or there ideas either there !! In this world of covid 19 and people losing there homes and jobs worldwide it was a honest attempt to compare and inform and let people decide end off .

[detdrbuzzard]

when I got my wing it already had some chrome on it, my mistake was chroming the center stack from the key back. it has to be the worst place to put chrome, while it may or may not look good the real issue is when the sun hits it and reflects in the windshield and you can't see where you are going

[wingdings]

So - Will - will you be changing the chrome bits to make the issue go then fella ?? - Sounds like by what you wrote your wing you think is dangerous ?? -
Show some pic - will of the problem fella ?? - This may help other wingers too ??

[fibersport]

When I bought my 1500, it had a bunch of plastic crappy chrome on it, most of which had started to turn green. It also had some chrome bars on the trunk, saddle bags and side covers that required holes to be drilled through the pieces to secure them. I took all that junk off and tried patching holes with the thought of eventually painting the bike. I also bought used saddle bags in the correct factory color and a trunk that turned out to be the wrong color. I never got around to painting any of it and really hated the guy who butchered the bike. It was his bike I know but it would be like drilling holes in your brand new car to mount some flashy junk!

Fast forward 3 years when I find my next bike, this time a near stock 1800. Previous owners did modify it a bit. It has Hondaline turned down tips, a painted (bike color) dash and front cowl with a little bit of chrome added to the side frame. He was nice enough to include the stock muffler tips, original dash in perfect condition and the original side frame pieces. The original cowl was painted to match so I'm still looking for one. The only other thing that was modified was some pinstriping the previous owner had done when he rode down to Daytona. I had thought of removing it but it has a pretty good story and it does dress up the bike, I'll probably leave it. I've also left the turn downs and chrome side pieces as it just adds a little bit of flash, much like my old Shadow VLX Deluxe with the added chrome.

If you want to make the next owners happy, and you want to accessorize your bike, try to do it with things that don't destroy the bike by adding holes or cutting things. If you really want to be a nice guy, buy extra panels and save the originals. I would gladly pay more for a bone stock bike than one that has been butchered - and remember, plastic chrome belongs on model cars, not bikes!

[wingdings]

fibersport - Got agree with you there !! - 100% fella .

I post on other sites too !! - if you think you have problems have a look at what this - Newbee- SE wing owner found after buying his wing !! ( see the pic below !! " what's missing ?? )

Clue here is it stops crap going into the carbs !! .

Why people do this crap is beyond me !! .

Lastly - Good luck with your restoration there - Two good top tips here is buy a A5 plain lined book record the dates of all maintenance carried out and any parts that where replaced too !! - If it was a big job like carbs or vac lines - take pics - Store on a USB or CD - Next buy a presentation folder - Place pics of the bike in it ( country settings work best !! - With out you or a naked chick on the bike - lol ) Also place all receipts in order into the folder too of all parts - bought for the bike - All this adds confidents to a new buyer that the bike has been looked after even though the maintenance may have been carried out by yourself there .

Example of good pics to sell your bike !! -

Example of bad pics to sell your bike -

Hope all this helps too fella !!

[fibersport]

I'm trying to make out what you're referring to in the first picture, is it the extra line running to the gas cap? Otherwise it looks pretty much as it should to me. Regarding the pictures, at least the two riders are wearing helmets! I'm not doing a restoration, I actually sold the 1500 to a good friend at work. I did keep all my receipts, even for gas as well as a notebook I start for all my vehicles as well - we both seem to think the same!

[wingdings]

fibersport - the picture - Fella - Ha got you stumped !! - Yes ?? - LOL- TBH - It did me at first - Look again !! - the previous owner has took the fuel filter out and just patched it in there - Here are the two pics to show what's wrong fella . And yes we do seem to think the same too !! By the its - Jon and you are ?? ...

[fibersport]

Got it, sometimes it's easier to see what IS there rather than what IS NOT there. You'll have to forgive me, it was a little early this side of the pond.
Fibersport aka Greg

[wingdings]

fibersport - Greg - Nothing to forgive fella - English gent trying to help others in the true spirt of this site - We all know something fella - but if we share what we do know - It makes this world a better place . Not here to judge people or tell people what to do either or even tell them how to write !! . If I raise a smile and make people think that will do for me !!