Would much rather have a Goldwing.
My wife and I went to the BMW dealership to test ride a GTL. I had basically made up my mind to buy one (only sat on one at a MC show, never rode one); this was the requisite test ride with the wife to make sure she was comfortable on the pillion. The following were our first impressions.
She did not like the back seat, it seemed to be an afterthought; the pillion on the GTL is much wider than the GT seat and covers the passenger handles rendering them useless. She also complained the rear bag felt like it was mounted on rubber grommets and gave too much during take offs.
For me the engine/transmission combo was the noisiest and whiniest I had ever rode. The engine whined like a Banshee and the tranny clunked in every gear. It also clunked like a cheap plastic toy over ever bump.
I could not see spending ~$30K for a bike that was not an order of magnitude more comfortable than the Connie. I complained about the whine to the salesman and he said it was not normal and was maybe due to it being a test bike? To make his point he started up a brand new GT and it sounded exactly the same.
I had to point out to him the bike needed service; the clutch reservoir was leaking onto the gas tank.
In short my wife and I were not impressed.
Two months later we bought a level 3 2010 Gold Wing in Pearl Yellow. No complaints from the wife and I feel like we got our moneys worth.
=LJ=