Google Earth view of the new location at Delamere on the A556

Knutsford Motorcycles, formerly Knutsford Honda and before that, some years ago, GoldWing International, is closing its doors today prior to relocation.  The business, including its GoldWing Accessory stock and mail order business, having been taken over by J&S Accessories of Northwich.

The doors at their High Legh Site on the A50 close to business today in order to start the relocation, while things are quieter, to a new J&S site which is being developed about 10 miles away at Delamere, Sandiway.  This is a large site on the A556 and used to be occupied by a caravan and motorhome dealer.  It has large showroom and other buildings including a well equipped cafe.  There is also a Pub right next door.

The idea is to recreate the open and accessible display of GoldWing Accesories which was so attractive to Wingers in the Knutsford Showroom in its own section of what will be a very large showroom indeed.  J&S have been trying to expand within Northwich, the town where the business started up, for some time but when this site became available moving their headquarters from Northwich to the A556 at Delamere (allowing expansion to incorporate the Knutsford Motorcycles business) became a more attractive option.

For Wingers it was disappointing to lose Knutsford Honda, which owners Eric and Bridget Warburton tried very hard to build up as a GoldWing specialist Honda Dealership but it was not successful and after unsuccessful efforts to get HondaUK to loosen its corsets and give them a chance to develop a viable business model as a specialist dealership, they dumped the franchise. continues………

Fancy a nice day out in Chester?

The first GoldWing Light Parade was held in Blackpool and over a period of several years developed into a standard format involving a seaside resort, a daytime static display, inexpensive accommodation which could also serve as a social gathering place, a best lit bike competition and finally the Parade itself, along the promenade and hopefully past lots of admiring spectators.

This formula was copied with only minor variations in Scarborough and, with a few more more variations, last year in Llandudno.  Both of these venues have proved successful, as has a smaller event in Hunstanton in Norfolk, which was the first attempt at a spring-time Light Parade and a smaller resort town.  Blackpool has been abandoned as a venue because the Parade Route became un-rideable but nevertheless the Blackpool model has proved successful and it lives on.

This year at least four GoldWing Light Parades are planned.  Three follow the Blackpool model: Hunstanton in March, Scarborough and Southport in September but a completely different and very promising GoldWing Light Parade is to be held in Chester  in April.

Firstly, and obviously, it’s not taking place in a sea-side resort – although of course Chester is a City which attracts a lot of visitors, so maybe that difference doesn’t count.  On the other hand Chester is a particularly attractive place to visit for the ladies and maybe that does count as significant.

There is inexpensive accommodation available but it’s not actually in Chester (it’s in a 3 Star Hotel about 15 minutes ride away) but that’s not very different because Southport is in a nice Hotel too and Scarborough accommodation is out of town as well.  And there is going to be a Light Parade – which will be escorted by the Police rather than merely tolerated, but that’s not the difference either.  And I guess there will be a a best Lit Bike Competition, with trophies and fleeces provides by Barry Walton of Appleyards, so not much difference there either.

So what is the difference?  Why all the fuss about this Chester Event being ground-breaking? continues………

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE FOR AN ENLARGEMENT

Graham Coleman is selling his 2004 Candy Red GL1800, having ordered a new GoldWing.

Click on the image for an enlargement

Although Honda have not published details of the inspection procedure in UK a copy of Honda America’s Service Bulletin has appeared on the internet and can be viewed by clicking here.

It’s a bit difficult for non-engineers to grasp what the inspection is about from this technical bulletin but it appears to involve rotating the secondary master cylinder (by inserting a special tool in place of one of the mounting bolts) as far as it will go in a clockwise direction (i.e. in an unfavourable way) to see of the rear wheel then drags after a test application of the rear brake.   In other words to force the piston alignment of the secondary master cyinder as far as possible in the potentially brake-dragging direction to see if it then causes the brakes to drag.

If the rear wheel locks up after this test or if resistance to rotation (measured as in the third picture) exceeds 5.1 kg (11.2 lbs)  the bike has failed the test and the secondary master cyclider requires replacement.

Having done this test of how the secondary master cylinder performs with the most unfavourable piston rod angle which can be contrived, the mounting bolts are tightened up again with rotating force applied in the opposite, counter-clockwise direction, to optimise the piston rod entry angle, as in the fourth picture.

According to this Service bullettin all GL1800s from 2000 -2010 are subject to this recall and even some of the 2012 Model GL1800s are affected, so it’s not just some of them as originally thought – which at least makes it easier for UK GL1800 owners; your 2001-20010 GL1800 will require this inspection and all of us will get a letter from Honda UK eventually. continues………

Petrol to which ethanol has been added is being sold in UK and because this mixture is deemed to be “greener” than petrol alone, is likely to become more common as time goes by.  Ethanol for fuel can be made by the industrial processing of agricultural crops and is therefore considered to be renewable energy.

There is an EU Directive which requires than all petrol sold in Europe contains 5 – 10 % ethanol by 2013.

But what does this mean for our precious GoldWings, including our classic bikes, built when four-star leaded petrol was still the norm – how ill they cope?

The move towards ethanol-containing fuels is happening gradually in UK and 5% ethanol has been added to some fuel (without necessarily announcing it) for some time.  But 10% ethanol (E10 fuel) is likely to come into wide use in UK over time and it’s already fairly common elsewhere, especially in France and the US.

The good news is that either of these fuels, E5 or E10, can be used in any model of UK or US-spec GoldWing.

With pre-GL1800 GoldWings (mostly carburetors but including the 1985 GL1200 Ltd and the GL1200 Aspencade SEi) models there may be some loss of performance because ethanol has about one third less energy content, volume for volume, than petrol.  But the bikes should come to no harm running on this fuel.  And because the GL1800 has a clever sort of fuel injection, there should be no noticeable performance loss.  When using E10 fuel a 3% decrease in fuel economy compared with petroleum is likely to be noticed with all GoldWing models.

So for E5 and E10 fuel no modification of the GoldWing is necessary and you can simply continues………

For the third year, Members of GoldWings North West and several other GodWing Clubs, including GWOCGB Regions, will be gathering at a Hotel in Leyland, Lancashire, for an evening of fun, food, entertainment and free drinks.

This is very much a non-political, all welcome event at which any Winger, from any club or no club, will be most welcome.

It’s a Dinner Dance and there’s an opportunity for the ladies to dress up if they want to (and the blokes) but posh frocks are not expected or compulsory – especially for the blokes.

Two scrubbed-up Grahams!

The ticket includes drinks and canapes on arrival followed by an all you-can-eat carvery-type buffet with a selection of meats, fish and veggie dishes, folowed by pud and/or cheese with unlimited wine on the tables, a free bar afterwards and a fish & chip supper at 11pm.

Further details are available on the GoldWings North West Website.  You can book directly with the Hotel by ringing  01772 422922, quoting reference GW280112.

Accommodation is also available at the Hotel at a special rate if you will be travelling from afar or want to stay in order to make full use of the free bar.

This was my first attempt to use the Blog to conduct an opinion survey and so it was something of an experiment.  Hopefully the results will stimulate some discussion.

I asked Blog Readers to assume they are about to buy their next GoldWing, have two equally suitable bikes, one being sold by a Honda Dealer, the other one by a non-Honda dealer.  There are no differences in part exchange or guarantee and it didn’t even matter whether the bikes are new or used, the only difference was the price – the Honda Dealer was asking more because he feels he’s offering a better, quality-assured service.

The question you Readers were invited to answer was:  How valuable is it to you to buy a GoldWing from a franchised Honda Dealer, in other words how much extra would you pay for your next GoldWing for the benefits of buying from an official Honda Dealer, compared with any other motorcycle dealer?

The response rate was low in relation to the Blog’s readership numbers and this certainly needs to be taken into account when interpreting this result.  Respondents could very easily be a biased sample, for example because only those who hold strong feelings (for example of personal disappointment) about Honda bothered to take the survey.

Having said that there is at least a suggestion from this Survey that a surprisingly large proportion of GoldWing owners attach little or no value to buying from a franchised Honda Dealer.  Why could that be? continues………

Some bikers tour in winter

Motorcycling is primarily a recreational means of transport in UK, although of course lots of people use bikes to get to and from work, including Wingers.  A couple of bikers I know preferred for many years to use their GoldWing to ride long distances in the course of self-employed work right through the winter.

During  summer the travelling would sometimes be a joy, although of course even during summer the practicalities and time pressures would often force them to be making predominantly motorway or dual carriageway journeys rather than using more attractive but much slower good riding routes.

These two guys travelled big distances throughout the year because they needed to go where the work was, sometimes moving between far-flung locations and sometimes staying away from home on their travels.  In winter this lifestyle was often very hard going and not a little risky.

And indeed both of these riders have since taken up different employment at least partly to escape from the burden of this travelling, one by becoming a minister of religion, possibly to give thanks for his survival through years of winter riding. continues………

A conversation with a Honda Dealer sparked the idea for this opinion survey; he was telling me about a Winger who was considering buying a new GoldWing from him who seemed to attach little or no value to buying from a franchised Honda Dealer.

HondaUK would like us to share their confidence that all franchised Honda dealers can provide good sales and after sales support for all their motorcycles, including GoldWings, and that theirs is a better and therefore more valuable service than we can get elsewhere.  It is however possible to buy new as well as used GoldWings without going to a franchised Honda dealer in UK,  so I thought it would be interesting to ask Wingers how they feel about the value of franchised Honda dealerships these days.

I haven’t tried doing an opinion survey on the Blog before so it’s also something of an experiment so please spare me a few moments to take part.  The more responses we get the more reliable the survey will be.  There is only this one question to answer and you won’t have to identify yourself any way unless you want to.  The results will be published in due course, once I have had a decent number of responders, hopefully fairly quickly.

Let’s assume for purposes of this survey that you are about to buy your next GoldWing and you have found two equally suitable bikes, one being sold by a Honda Dealer, the other one by a non-Honda dealer.  There are no differences in what they will offer as part exchange and the guarantee is the same, so ignore those factors.  It doesn’t even matterwhether the bikes are new or used, the only difference is the price – the Honda Dealer is asking more because he feels he’s offering a better, quality-assured service.

This Survey is now closed and the result will be announced shortly.

The questions was:  How valuable is it to you to buy a GoldWing from a franchised Honda Dealer, in other words how much extra would you pay for your next GoldWing for the benefits of buying from an official Honda Dealer, compared with any other motorcycle dealer?

Editorial Note:  I dug Steve’s article out of the queue because it speaks with the voice of an ordinary Winger in an uncomplicated way which seems to me to present a useful reminder to all of us of what’s important as we start a new year.

A lot of Wingers reading this Blog must have at sometime or other asked themselves this question, as both organisations offer to cater for the Goldwing owners in the UK, but in different ways.

Irrespective of politics/delusions/snobbery etc, the bare facts are of importance and interest here so having read many articles I want to concentrate on these.

I believe in the present climate everyone is looking for the answer and it is not as straight forward as it looks, the doubt is creeping in and it is spreading a glum over an otherwise once very happy and stable Goldwing community here in the UK.    It’s like an “us and them” scenario which upsets me greatly and should not be the case at all.

I do not want to favour one or the other in what I’m writing here, but try to offer a suggestion so that all can move forward together and give our community a fresh start for 2012.  The Mayan calender is due to finish on 21 Dec 2012, but it does not mean the end of the world! , or does it?  LOL.  Well, one thing is for sure we can get through this and move forward.

Both organisations have advantages for GoldWing owner’s:

Goldwing Owners Club of Great Britain (GWOCGB): is the older club internationally recognised by GWEF and offer centrally and local club run events throughout the year both at home and abroad.  They have a club magazine “Wingspan” and also have a membership directory which lists members willing to offer help if you have a breakdown or need emergency accommodation as part of their membership package.  The central committee have reps which cover most aspects of the regional clubs activities on a national level ie, Treffens, Events, PLI cover etc, they also have national rules which apply to all regional clubs but leave local events more to the regional committees to run as long as they do not breach national policy.  The club membership fees are flat rate for all and reflect this level of service for the national club as a whole.

The Federation of United Kingdom GoldWing Clubs: Formed more recently for Goldwing owners who   want more freedom of choice in what they want.   This concept involves local clubs running themselves totally but under the help and if required guidance of FUKGC which offers PLI cover for all the events which the individual clubs wish to organise.  Membership fees are set by the membership themselves and this is generally minimal depending on how the club intends to run.  As with the former organisation these local clubs have a Chairman, Secretary and a treasurer and meetings are held monthly.

These are the bare facts and I think you should choose which club suits you more to your own personal expectations and who’s to say you can’t join both!

So as can be seen there is light at the end of the tunnel, both offer similar or different benefits and outlooks depending on what you want out of being a member.

The bottom line is we all have a great hobby and the friendliness and joy of sharing our passion should not be marred by who’s in what club, we should have a sense of common ground or good foundation on which to build a thriving community as a whole and accept personal preference as to whom we hand over our membership monies to be it GWOCGB or Federation.  Let’s just get on with it and have a great time!

Wishing all a bright future in 2012!