I've never owned a bike that required this much effort (and $$$) for the enjoyment.
I've owned four bikes and two of them were virtually identical '99 Kawasaki Concours. I bought the NT when I was 67 and realized that the Connie was too danged heavy for an old man who had had five knee replacements. I had made quite a few improvements to the Concours to make it the bike I wanted it to be for long-distance riding -- cruise control, Russell DayLong saddle, driving lights, non-stock windscreen, heated grips.
When I bought the NT, I knew even before I picked it up that there were farkles it needed to suit me and I ordered them the day after I signed the papers and the day before I picked up the bike. In my initial flurry of farkling, I included a tank pad, heated grips, and the wind deflectors from Honda. I got Motorcycle Larry's peg lowerers and bar risers, plus his handlbar clamp to give me a mount for my GPS and a Throttlemeister throttle lock.
From Twisted Throttle, I got their original Denali driving lights; a Shaq topcase (plus all the stuff it took to mount that); a SW-Mototech City Bag and a Day Bag, plus the ring mount. I got a Fenda'Extenda', and ordered big pannier lids from the UK. After a few months, I broke down and spent the big bucks for a Russell DayLong saddle, and bought an OEM undercowl from the UK. I also bought a Rostra electronic cruise control from Murphskits.com and conned a friend into helping me install it.
I've had two or three CeeBailey windscreens and have now been converted to the National Cycles V-Stream. I've spent a bunch of bucks farkling the NT, but I knew I was going to do that when I bought it. No manufacturer would have equipped a bike like the NT with the stuff I've added to make it
the bike I want for long-distance riding. With all these things, the NT does exactly what I want it to do. As best I can tell, there's still nothing on the market that would suit me any better.
I was impressed with Frosty and Daboo's F800GTs, but the clutch pull is too heavy to make the GT really comfortable on any ride that would take me through stop-and-go traffic.
I'm going to lower the bike and hope that solves my problems with getting on and off. I'm also re-starting physical therapy next week.