Originally Posted by Fortsand
Hello,
I am not an owner, but I joined the forum as I wanted to correspond with other Stallion owners.
I presently ride a Gold Wing 1800. I have been fascinated with the Stallion for several months, but I have not seen one. Bazooka is about a hundred miles from me and I plan to go up and do a test drive at some point.
I have several concerns. How much heat do you get off the engine? Since it has a/c, I was thinking that maybe the a/c was to compensate for the engine heat.
How much wind noise do you get at 60-70 mph? Is it worse than a GoldWing?
How about intercom? How do you communicate with your passenger?
I saw on one forum where somebody had acquired an owner's manual before purchase. I sent the factory an e-mail yesterday, but did not hear from them yet.
Any info you could offer would be appreciated. Thanks.
Hello Fortsand,
I would be happy to answer your questions, but would you mind if I posted it on a thread so everyone could benefit from these good questions? That way someone down the road with the same questions you have can get them any time just by reading.
That would be great, thanks for your time.
Fortsand here is an answer to some of your questions:
Heat off the engine:
The stallion does not suffer from one of the most problematic issues that I believe plagues regular motorcycles in very hot weather. I have rode my Stallion this summer in 100+ degrees with not problem. In fact I always try to wear mesh CE armor for protection, and I was wearing it on that day too. If you read the TBMS factory website, they say they placed the radiator in the rear of the trike and when the electric fan kicks on it pours heat behind the bike. Because the engine is not exposed, you don't get heat rising from between your legs. As you pointed out, the AC delivers a bunch of cold air at any speed. I find I need it most in hot weather when I am cruising at slow speeds looking at the sights. I have noticed some minor issues with heat escaping the vents when the ac is not on, but I addressed a quick fix on another thread for that. One extremely minor issue that most people will never notice is that the bolt heads near your feet will heat up on hot days, but if you are wearing boots and pants you will not notice. I find the AC enables me to ride when others will find it unbearable especially at slower speeds or in heavy traffic.
Conversely, where the AC will enable you to ride in the extreme heat, the heater and full cowling and windshield will enable you to ride comfortable in extreme cold. I have found the heater to make riding in the cold much more enjoyable. But, having the large trunk enables me to carry the correct gear, rain gear, different jackets, and gloves, and all the other boyscout stuff I tote around to help others out.
Wind Noise:
I have never rode a Gold Wing, but I am sure someone here can fill in this gap. The wind noise for the passenger is much more than the drive, and I wrote about this on another thread too. I have done some research on riding wind noise, and I found the Stallion to be different from many motorcycles without wind shields in that the main wind noise for the driver is a booming turbulence. I have been able to reduce that by changing to a full face helmet ( a Shoie RF 1000) and I always wear hearing protection, no matter how short my ride is or what helmet I wear. I understand someone is developing a great wind deflector that fits into the design of the Stallion, and it will be released in the next few months.
Owners Manual:
If you read all the posts on this website you should not need to read the owners manual. I hope TBMS will put it on line soon. I think they should so we can print to the pages that we need to carry on the bike for road side repairs, as the entire hard bound book takes up too much space in the trunk.
Intercom:
Look at the other threads. I don't own one yet but there are some great threads on this here on this forum. Someone even has a complete setup designed specifically for the Stallion, I believe Serra Electronics can direct you to that retailer, as they are providing the electronics and that dealer has made a custom mount for the radio/intercom.
Test Drive:
I put my deposit down before I took a test drive, and only got to test drive one one day before they painted my Stallion. I was not disappointed, neither will you.
I hope I answered your questions, if you have more, just ask away!
Ride Safe!