I'm a satisfied Traxxion system owner ('08 GL1800). I have the full Trraxxion system including the fork brace but still find the remaining fork flex annoying. When on the road I find the Goldwing lacks precision in steering compared to my previous bikes (all sport touring type bikes), I can't tell whether it is due to fork flex or just the fact that it's a 925 lb motorcycle. Anyway, I can't help but think the full billet triple clamp system (both upper and lower) would help. Is this correct, or should I just get used to the fact that I'm riding a bike that's 250 lbs heaver than anything I've had in the past and it's the nature of the beast?
(Response from Max McAllister, President of Traxxion...)
Hi Randy,
You are dead on....
The GL billet triple clamp set (now called "Traxx-Rite" because every cool product needs a name!!!) was one of those "if you make it they will come" type of products. I am just sorry that it kept getting put on the back burner. It took us years to get it done, when it should have been done in a month.
The absolute #1 weakness in the GL chassis is the lower clamp. It is a hollowed out cast pot-metal piece of junk. Even on Honda production bikes with the same cheap pot metal clamps, there has always been a "web" that shoots from the steering stem (back side) forward to the leading edge of each fork tube. This "triangulates" or “honeycombs” the metal underneath, and even though it doesn't look like much it dramatically stiffens the lower clamp, while leaving the clamp hollow to keep weight low.
In fact, this is the way just about every bike in the world has been made for decades. Just bend down and look up under a few.
In the case of the GL, weight is not a consideration… at least not in the case of the chassis. So, in the case of the biggest, heaviest, most structurally taxed motorcycle on Earth, it seems Honda didn't leave that web out by accident. I am sure they didn't.
While the list of suspension and chassis problems are all obvious to me, it seems that Honda laid one Band-Aid on top of another with the GL suspension, especially when it comes to the front of the bike.
The front suspension works so poorly, that in order to get the fork to "soak bumps" they purposefully weakened the triple clamps to put flex and bump compliance into the chassis. There is no other possible explanation.
We have proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that with a proper working fork, Anti-Dive and structural flex are unnecessary. (We consider anti-dive to be a safety HAZARD).
I believe you fall into a group of about 10% of owners who simply find the flaws in the chassis themselves. This is because you have other bikes to compare to, and have an opinion about how a motorcycle should perform.
Many GL owners move from old antiquated street bikes to GLs, or go decades without a bike and a GL is their first bike in generations. Or many times it is a rider who is simply so casual that they literally do nothing to tax the bike… the type that could drive a car with an open cup of coffee on the dash and not spill a drop all the way to work… This can be the consumer who thinks the GL "works great" and can't understand why any improvement would be desired.
(Interestingly, GL owners scream murder about tire cupping, poor tire wear, tire howling, harsh ride, Anti dive failures, ride fatigue, and co-riders bashing them every time they hit a bump, and co riders that demand frequent rest and breaks... but yet, nothing is wrong).
There are two sub groups to this. The first is the group I just described, and the second is the group who doesn't have the money to buy upgrades, and then is simply disdainful that they can't have the best money can buy, or worse, tries their best to convince people who can afford upgrades that they are:
- Unnecessary.
- Offer no improvement.
- Offer an improvement that is insignificant compared to the cost.
- Are a “rip-off”… the bait from evil capitalist snake-oil salesmen.
- It degrades from there…
Along with this is usually rhetoric about how good stock is, how likely aftermarket is to fail, how it will void your warranty, how much you will have to spend to maintain it, and a host of other reasons not to upgrade.
You have to be able to spot these people and their "opinions". They don't buy upgrades, won't buy upgrades, and can't buy upgrades. Therefore, they feel you shouldn't either.
We are always glad to find consumers like you who independently and of their own evaluation, find the exact same problems we have with the GL, and ask for a part or upgrade to make it better.
I have stated clearly in the past that contrary to popular opinion, that $20,000 is a joke price for a bike like the GL, and that it should cost many times more. I simply don't understand how such an amazing piece of technology can be built for $20K. They don't sell millions like Ford F150s!!! I don't have a CLUE how they do it!!! AND offer an awesome warranty (that still isn’t good enough because apparently it doesn’t include tires and gas!!!) I wouldn't be surprised if dealerships have had to warranty bald tires for whining Wing owners!
Certain items wear out, no matter what... tires, brake pads, all fluids, clutches, and all rubber seals (not surface gaskets).
To address your question about the clamps, we make it WAY better with billet aluminum clamps. If you get the clamps, and the brace, that's as good as we can do. At some point they "overlap" some. The brace gets about 50%, the lower clamps gets about 70% together we get about 85%. The upper clamp is the smallest improvement, maybe not even noticeable to most. We like to sell a set, and have tried to reduce the price to the point where people can't hardly refuse to buy the set. This way we know we have installed all we can to make the bike's steering rigid.
With the clamps, a purist will still be able to notice bend and twist in the fork… barely. What we chose to do was to make a realistic compromise between outright possible rigidity and installation reality.
Our clamp set comes with All Balls tapered bearings pre-installed. There is absolutely no modification or additional parts, or relocation of anything, or any stretching of cables required.
They simply bolt up exactly as stock, using the factory service manual.
Anything other than this design is asking for major trouble and a reduction in reliability. If we had to stretch cables, brake lines, and wiring to gain lower clamp thickness, we would be asking for certain trouble, especially on heavily accessorized bikes. So we made the side clamping areas taller to get more clamping surfaced area, but tapered the clamps so that the critical under area had all of the factory mounting points exactly as per original… except that the clamp is solid billet aircraft aluminum, not hollow cheap cast pot metal.
We have a physical display we made for people to play with. You can push and pull for yourself on both stock and billet clamps. Stock moves easily like rubber, the billet is so rigid you can move the display and the guy standing on it.
What this does is make a dramatically improved feeling between steering input and the front wheel. Anyone who comes from sport bikes, or even modern sport tourers knows the difference. A subconscious input to the handlebars yields a reaction from the bike.
The GL is the single most unresponsive and lazy motorcycle I know of in stock trim. If you drive it at freeway speed, you can demonstrate to yourself. Firmly grasp one handlebar, and shake it vigorously back and forth about an inch (or more), very rapidly. The bike will positively not react in any way.
If you watch closely, look down at your upper triple clamp on either side at the clamping bolt on the outside edge of the clamp, near each fork cap. You will CLEARLY see that when you move the bars, the upper triple clamp moves (a lot, like ½” back and forth) and that the bike makes NO reaction.
So why doesn’t it?
The handlebars are NOT rubber mounted on a Wing!!!
The “rubber” is:
- Triple Clamp Flex
- Long cast aluminum handlebars
- Mechanical slop in fork halves and bushings
- Axle diameter
- Fork diameter
(Engineers please look away. I am going to explain this in simple terms… argue the correct explanation on engineering boards…)
The GL has a MONSTROUSLY heavy front wheel and tire that act as a gyroscope that don’t like you messing with it. It likes to spin just like it is. You have to apply a great force at the axle to make it do something other than what it wants to.
So you have to wind up all the flexy parts like a candy cane to get them to react. That’s all there is to it.Reduce the amount of wind up, and you will get quicker response.
The billet clamps we have made do ALL THAT IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT REDESIGNING THE COMPLETE FRONT END…. Which would be insanely expensive as it is equipped with linked brakes and ABS, and now an airbag.
They can be installed per Honda service manual, don’t wear out or break, require no service, and last beyond the life of the bike.
At parking lot speed the clamps exaggerate the improvement you get from a properly designed and installed fork brace. I won’t say they’ll make a sportbike rider happy, but they are WAY better.
But where they really really shine is on the freeway, or at any speed above 50mph. This is where the massive front gyro doesn’t want to react…. When you put the clamps on, it becomes very very solid and controlled feeling, and you actually get a very instant response to bar input. It is a BIG difference on the freeway.
We have a certain percentage of folks who don’t know what the hype is about. I think it’s easy to fall into the comfort of a wing and not actually come to grips with the fact that you aren’t in a car with seatbelts and airbags around every of the cockpit.
People who don’t even attempt to sense how the bike will react in emergency situations are most likely to have the worst outcome when one occurs.
The stock wing steers so lazy it’s hard to avoid anything in the road. That’s because you have to wind up the metal before it reacts. Cutting that time down is a big deal for your safety.
For old timers, just recall the steering box on your old car or truck that had slop in it, and then think about modern rack and pinion. You don’t need to be on a sportbike to desire responsive steering.
Each of the products we offer has an ascending price with a descending amount of improvement. This seems to be true of any performance item./p>
Although the clamps have a high up front price, they give an instant improvement that lasts the life of the bike without maintenance. This helps make their upfront cost less significant.
I hope this helps!
Regards,
President