After my trip to Townsville the end of last year (12,000 in 20 days) I found that the faithful ST1300

wasn't doing it for me anymore in regards to Comfort and Luxury (probably my advancing years)

On return to Perth I decided I was going to buy a new Goldwing with Lotto's permission.

I tried to arrange a Demo test ride, no Demo available, one in next week I was told. Rang 3 times over the next 3 weeks, still no Demo available.

Loto and I Decided to take a local secondhand GL1800 with very low Klm for a ride, we sat on it, didn't even bother to take it for a ride. I found the riding position too cramped with no room to move around, with my feet on the fitted highway pegs I felt like I was doing the splits.
Loto said the pillion seat was comfortable but because of my size there was not enough room for her.

What other options were there for me, Triumph and BMW were out because of Sport Touring riding positions (same as ST1300). I found on the ST that I spent most of my time riding with my feet on the Highway Blades so this suggested to me that a more cruiser oriented tourer might be what I was looking for. After a lot of research and I was left with a shortlist of 3 brands, HD, Kawasaki and Victory.
HD I don't really like because of their Top Pricing for outdated technology, Kawasaki has small tank and limited range, so I took Loto to Victory for a Demo Ride. We road a New Cross Country Tour, and then a Vision, as soon as I sat on the XCT I felt comfortable

Loto had plenty of room on the rear so off we went, it handled great and I felt right at home, Lotto was impressed with the seat and topbox backrest.

Next we took the Vision out, same thing, very comfortable and great handling. We decided to buy the XCT because it has much more space in the paniers and the topbox is easily removeable to turn it into a nice around town bagger.
I kept my ST1300 until I was sure the XCT would fulfill my expectations, the ST is now sold and the more Klms I put on the XCT the better it gets.

Sorry for such a long post but the reason I wrote was that Goldwings aren't as comfortable for the taller or larger person and there are other options, click on the link for a comparo of some touring bikes
http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/features/1112_crup_full_dress_tourer_comparison/viewall.html
