New ST1300 Owner.... and review

[SCDAUB]

Hello all!

In 2010 I saw the Honda NT700 and HAD to have it.... instant love! So, a few dollars later I am driving off. I had the NT from March 2010 to Oct 1 2012. I sold it on that day and purchased a 2006 ST1300.
Here is my review of the ST1300.
FWIW...

Let's start with the NT. The NT is a good bike for just about everything it is asked to do. It is good at everything and a master of none. It is heavy enough to have a good, planted feel of the road, but light enough to flick easily! Awesome gas mileage and an adequate tank size. Shaft drive, Water cooled V twin... and the list goes on. Now, for a "round town" commuter.... the NT is hard to beat. Seriously.. it is tops in that area to me. Easily in and out of parking lots and stores! Enough storage to carry groceries. Now, with all this positive... here is where the windshield wiper starts to go the other way.... I drive 90% of my commute on I85. So, I am cruising @ 75 - 80 mph everyday. Now the NT CAN and DID answer the call for this. My issue was the fact that that 700 was spinning 5500 @ 80.. 5200 @ 75. The WORST MPG I got was 45 the best was 54. So... it DID live up to its bidding as advertized. Wind protection was ok. The passing and being passed by 18 wheelers and the wind behind them.. now THAT was a problem! It .... and this is my view, so take it with a grain of salt.... was not able to push thru the buffeting well. It got tossed around ..... some. The bags could have been slightly more robust.... and 2" larger. Put a helmet in one... from the factory. it is like they said.... Ok... it is 5pm friday, stop. It was the combo of the highway ride, RPM's and wind issues that finally nudged me to start my search for the next bike.

So.. my friend let me borrow his ST1300 as he just purchased a Goldwing and was drooling over that... I had the ST for 3 days.


Pros:
POWER..... that V4 is silky smooth!
4200rpm @ 80
42.1 mpg...
Bigger gas tank
That electric windshield is worth the price of admission...
Detachable saddlebags... and sturdy.
Can hold a full sized helmet.. imagine that.
Instrumentation cluster has a lot of info...
A LOT less wind buffeting and more stable in winds...
Adjustable two piece seat.


Cons:
It is a heavier bike.. no doubt.
Heat on the feet... there are "fixes" but .. we will see.
Not as nimble in the city....
Less MPG


So.. all in all.. a better fit for me. I want to ride on the hwy and not worry about winds... or passing an 18 wheeler... and the ST answered that call for me.
Will I miss the NT.. HELL YEA! She was my 1st love! Do I regret selling.. no. I am stepping into my next progression... who knows... maybe a wing is in the cards in the next few?

I will be here and I will comment!

SCDAUB

 

[Chucksklrst]

Congrats on the ST1300. Great bike. It will do the long hall. You will love it on the road. Pushing it around the garage is a bit of a chore though. I just turned 113000 miles on my 2003 model. Just returned from a 3000 mile ride. The ST did not even wimper. Time to put some local miles on the NT700 and let the ST rest up for the next long out of state ride. You need to post some pictures.

 

[RedLdr1]

Congrats on the ST, they are a very nice bike.

 

[vzshadow]

Congratulations on the new acquisition! It will be great on I-85!

It is good at everything and a master of none.

This is why I like the NT and also why I occasionally look at other bikes!

 

[Rob]

Congrats! ST's sure are great bikes. Enjoy!

 

[EX Winger]

Congrats on the ST,
I am keeping my eyes open for a ST1100 to pop up with the right figures in milage, condition , farkles and price, I don't know what would go if I found one, or if I would have to move to a new place with a larger garage so there would be room to keep all and just add another bike.A question, Are you sure of the MPG as taken with a acurized odometer as proven by a gps or???

 

[Rich]

Congrats on the ST,
I am keeping my eyes open for a ST1100 to pop up with the right figures in milage, condition , farkles and price, I don't know what would go if I found one, or if I would have to move to a new place with a larger garage so there would be room to keep all and just add another bike.A question, Are you sure of the MPG as taken with a acurized odometer as proven by a gps or???

I can confirm this mileage is as expected for general use on a ST1300. Although the speedometer is wildly optimistic (close to 10% high), I found the the odometer to be within 1%.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Congratulations on the ST! I love it but it's just too big and heavy for me and my knees.

 

[EX Winger]

Thanks Rich

 

[Lorien]

From a former owner:

Lots and Lots of motor and scaarey smooth at the century plus,
It Will wheelie on the throttle in first gear,
The heat issue you will find out about come summer and it may not just be your feet,
Never knew one to need the valve shims changed but if you do the cams have to come out,
Onlly somewhat easier to get tires on the rear than the NT,
The idle really is that irregular,
Can be a handful in the parking lot,
Something I used to hear about thermostats but I never had a problem.

Enjoy

 

[vacanefan]

Congrats on the new ST! That bike is truly silky smooth at highway speeds. I had the pleasure of riding one for a day earlier this year and was very impressed. Enjoy.

 

[vc_slim]

Congrats on the upgrade in cc's Rich. Something about that size in my future though not sure which bike at this point.

 

[Rich]

Congrats on the upgrade in cc's Rich. Something about that size in my future though not sure which bike at this point.

Just to clarify, I wasn't the one to upgrade. In fact I "downgraded" to the NT last year. My response is based in the preceding 9 years I drove two successive ST1300's. Under the very best conditions I could eke out 50 MPG. But normal or high-speed driving brought it down considerably. That's why 42-43 was more common. Failure in the original thermostats of both machines caused the mileage to drop well below 40 until they were replaced. In both cases the thermostat failed at about 1 year old. The replacement thermostats never failed as long as I had them.

The ST1100 I had before that was better at gas mileage, and less variant. It tended in the high 50's and didn't drop off much at high speeds or in traffic. I attribute this in part to different gearing (the 1100 has a bigger spread and is taller in top gear) and a narrower cross-section. But even so I don't have a full answer for why this slightly heavier bike with carburetor-controlled engine would get better gas mileage than the 1300.

I did do much more high-speed interstate driving in the 1100 (due to where I lived/worked at the time) than with my 1300. It wasn't uncommon for me to drive up from SW WA to my home East of Seattle, with numerous bursts of triple-digit speeds.

Both bikes are wonderfully adept at 115 MPH, though the 1100 steering would get heavy around 95 on up. The worst at this was my '75 GL1000. At 95 MPH it was like steering a train.

 

[Phil Tarman]

A friend of mine who has an ST1100 says he gets 50mpg no matter what he does.

 

[RedNigel]

When I was bike shopping last Feb. I could have bought anything I wanted, and the ST1300 was my 1st choice.
But even though I had the cash, I couldnt bring myself to pay that kind of money for a bike. Just to make sure i really wanted to re-enter the world of motorcycles, I spent $4K on the CBR250R so if I found I wasn't going to keep riding, it wouldnt be such a great loss.
Once I decided that I still loved riding, I started looking at the NT700 and the F800ST
Again, couldnt bring myself to spend BMW money, and between Soundtech Guy and this forum, I chose the NT and have not regretted it for one second!

 

[SCDAUB]

EVERYTHING stated here s true! I have had it to 125mph...... and it was asking for more... and I chickened out... On the thermostat.. HOW do you know if it fails? Will a light come on.. or..... what.. how do you know?
I am getting .... oh..... 40ish...... Worst so far has been the 38... best 49
Smooth, powerful and smooth, and fast, and smooth, and good wind protections and smooth and electric windshield..... Didi I mention smooth?
Buttery....

Thank you all for your comments!

 

[Rich]

EVERYTHING stated here s true! I have had it to 125mph...... and it was asking for more... and I chickened out... On the thermostat.. HOW do you know if it fails? Will a light come on.. or..... what.. how do you know?
I am getting .... oh..... 40ish...... Worst so far has been the 38... best 49
Smooth, powerful and smooth, and fast, and smooth, and good wind protections and smooth and electric windshield..... Didi I mention smooth?
Buttery....

Thank you all for your comments!

There are 2 indications of thermostat failure. It's not obvious in hot weather, but in cooler weather how you tell is:

A drop-off in gas mileage for a given set of circumstances.

The temperature gauge varies with speed. The thermostat fails open (or at least partially). Now there isn't much resolution but the temperature gauge should sit at 3 bars with VERY high consistency. When the thermostat is malfunctioning, it will stay below 3 bars almost all the time. At open riding speeds (50-70 MPH) it will sit at 2 bars and only rise up above when idling at a light or some such thing.

I happened to buy each of the ST1300's in November. No thermostat problems. The next October, when the weather cooled down, was when the problem became apparent.