Daves Blog

I really don’t know what to do about getting the bike to the DVLA. Meike and I own a Frontera with a tow bar fitted and I’ve towed anything up to an 18 foot caravan before but I’m really not sure I want to tow the bike. It’s not the towing that worries me but rather securing the bike to the trailer. I’ve never done that before and I really don’t fancy experimenting with my new pride and joy. So what’s the alternative? Well, I guess the only real alternative is to find someone who can transport it there either on a trailer or preferably in the back of a big enough van. At least that way I might find someone who knows what they’re doing and get the bike there and back in one piece.

On a happier note the service manual arrived from Joe in the US today. Wow… I haven’t counted all the pages but it is absolutely complete. Not only is the service manual on the CD but also the electical trouble shooting guide and lots of other useful documents such as a full parts list. This will prove to be invaluable as I keep and work on the bike.

Posted our application to join GWOCGB (Goldwing Owners Club - GB) today. I’ve already been posting on their forum a little in the public section and they seem like a good bunch. Looking forward to getting into the members area and reading more. Also looking forward a lot to meeting up with other Goldwing owners.

On my previous bike, a Honda ST1300, we had a Starcom Advance intercom system. The Goldwing has its own proprietary system and there’s just no way the Starcom headsets are going to work with it. So I started a search for some suitable headsets for the Goldwing and today ordered J&M Elites from Wingstuff in the USA. I chose the Elites because I like the looks of them and the reviews that I’ve read and also because I found an article on how to fit them to my helmet - a Schuberth C2. It’s not easy because the J&M’s rely on a sort of clamp for the mic boom and the Schuberth doesn’t have a suitable lip to clamp this on. Meikes AGV helmet should be a lot easier. Anyhow, I’ll report more when I get them and fit them.

Well I am truly amazed at how fast this work has been completed and the finished result is absolutely fantastic. I honestly don’t think anyone would ever know it was imprinted concrete unless they looked close. Not that that matters one jot. It is apparently the way of the future for driveways lol.

This is going to make it so much easier for me to wheel the bike around and with its reverse system, I won’t have to try and turn it round in the garage any more.

Now we just have to stay off it for a week with the vehicles but thanks to the DVLA that’s not really an issue any more.

Truly amazing progress. They got the drive completely cleared, levelled and prepared the day before yesterday and today it’s almost as good as finished. Concrete poured, colouring and release agents added and pattern imprinted - all in one day. I am really impressed.

It’s been a fascinating process to watch and I’ve seen them give the concrete a finish I would never have imagined possible. Tomorrow they come back to clean it all off and apply the sealer and then we’re good to go. Amazing.

I’m not happy… I received a letter from the DVLA this morning with the appointment for the Goldwing’s inspection - 8th August! A whole two weeks away. The weather is gorgeous and here I am with a brand new Goldwing stuck in my garage and I can’t ride it anywhere because the DVLA decided not to believe what I’d written on some forms. OK, maybe that’s not accurate but it’s how I feel. Bureaucracy gone mad because we all have to pay the price forced on us by the criminals who constantly attempt to cheat and defraud us.

Having said all that, the letter itself is obnoxious. The key points are as follows:

1. The appointment given is the earliest one available. In other words, don’t bother contacting us to plead for an earlier appointment because we’re not going to give you one.

2. Home visits can be arranged but these typically take up to six weeks!!!

3. In the small print on the back of the letter there is some legal stuff that basically translates to: It is illegal to ride your unlicenced motorcycle to a DVLA inspection and any vehicles brought by illegal means will not be inspected and the police will be informed. Lovely.

So what this means, if I don’t want to take any risks or suffer any further delays, is that I have to find other means to get my Goldwing there for the inspection. I have no idea how I’ll do this. Oh what fun.

I’ve spent some time reading the user manual and playing with all the controls on the bike over the last couple of evenings and I’ve come across some more US/UK differences that I hadn’t already realised. Fortunately they’re not serious and might even be a benefit in a couple of instances depending on what accessories I end up fitting.

Firstly the FM radio is different. In the US it seems they only have odd numbered frequencies spaced 0.2 khz apart. eg 91.1, 91.3, 91.5 etc. That means I won’t be able to get a number of UK frequencies. Secondly the UK FM radio has RDS which the US radio doesn’t. Lastly, the left hand switch pod on the US bike has switches to control the optional CB radio whereas on the UK bike it is the RDS controls.

I feel none of this is important as I prefer to listen to MP3s rather than the radio and the CB controls will I’m sure be more useful to me. I’ve had loads of FM radios with RDS in the past. I’ve occasionally used the traffic announcement functions and of course the station hold, but other than that I’ve not found RDS that useful. I might look at some time to see if the tuner can be swapped or chipped just so that I can get all UK frequencies but right now it’s not important to me.

Why something about a new driveway in my Goldwing blog? Well really because one of the reasons we’re having this done is for the Goldwing. We ordered it all some weeks ago but today the workmen arrived and started work to clear away our old shingle and replace it with a smart imprinted design drive. We considered block paving but we had that done at a previous house and it only looked good for a year before the weeds and moss started growing between the blocks. This should look good for years to come and provide a smooth, durable finish that’s easy to move the bike around on.

However, there’s one other way this affects me. They expect the drive to be finished tomorrow or on Saturday morning, and once it is, we’re not to drive (or ride) on it for 5 days. This means the Goldwing really is stuck in the garage for at least a week now even if by some miracle the DVLA process only takes a few days. I doubt it will, but I live in hope.

I made sure I had all the paperwork and left home at 6.00am to be at the DVLA office in Bristol for opening time. As it was I had to wait an hour for the offices to open and even then there was one guy in front of me. Still, ticket number 2 wasn’t bad.

I handed all the paperwork over to the nice lady and she started to look at it, stamp it, fill in bits etc. Then she handed back to me the certificate of newness - a form completed by the importer to declare the bike was new at import. It’s not dated she said. I thought the bottom was falling out of my world, but she said it was OK to phone and get the date - phew. Fortunately the importing dealers details and phone number were stamped on the form - Bill Smith Motors in Chester. I called them, explained who I am and what I wanted then got passed to someone else who blurted out 1st Jan. To be honest I don’t think they really knew but it too late as Ms. DVLA had heard them. She handed me a pen to write the date on the form.

On taking the form back from me she then said “seeing as the vehicle was imported over six months ago we will probably want to inspect it before issuing the licence”. I asked why she couldn’t have told me that before, but she was too pleased with herself on catching me out to even care. Can I ride it to an inspection I asked and she said no. So I asked if they’d come to my house to inspect it and she said yes home visits were possible. How long will it all take I asked and she said usually about a week.

I paid the money for the first registration and left feeling more than a little disappointed. How long is my new bike going to have to sit in my garage before I can ride it?

Yippee… It took Brian a little time to find us but sure enough he arrived in his flatbed truck complete with Goldwing tied down on the back around 5.00pm. I never saw anything so precarious as him riding it down a six inch wide ramp to come to a stop on our driveway, but he’s obviously used to it because he did it very well. Getting my ST1300 onto the truck was a different matter however and we needed the help of my neighbour to help balance it as we let it ride up the ramp under it’s own steam. Brian handed me all the paperwork and once again made sure I knew what to do with the DVLA before heading on his way home.

Now I know the real meaning of frustration. I have a brand new Honda Goldwing parked in my garage that I can’t ride anywhere because it’s not licenced or registered. I’m already planning to go to the DVLA tomorrow though and get everything sorted. Tonight at least I can sit on it, play with all the controls and switches and even read through the two very thick user guides. At least I should know how everything works before I finally get to ride it.