May 2025 – GL Cruising

May 24, 2025May 25, 2025

7 months ago

I was in a bad motorcycle accident. Since that day I have ridden over 11,000 miles.

I had multiple strains throughout my body, contusions, lacerated liver, opened wounds, damaged kidney my left knee cap completely came off.

For the next 3 months I went to the hospital 3 times a week for wound repair, that’s 36 visits for body repair.

I am really blessed and lucky to be alive and still riding. I purchased another Goldwing 2 weeks later at a Sacramento motorcycle dealer. The genius in me decided to ride it home, that caused a month of additional infection repair. Not smart.

May 22, 2025May 24, 2025

Front brake job

After over 15k miles, it was time for a front brake pad replacement. It wasn’t because of any sounds or dragging, I based it on the miles. I decided to go with the OEM Honda brand pads, Part Number: Front Brake Pad (Set) – HO06455-MKC-A01, I went with the OG pads rather than from third-party companies. There is still pad material remaining.

I probably could have gotten more miles out of the front pads, but since this was my first replacement, I didn’t want to risk having a metal-to-metal condition.

Replacing a 6th generation Goldwing front disc pads is probably one of the easiest setups I’ve ever done.

The key to replacing caliper style pads is to make sure you compress the pistons as far it will go. I used a plastic body tool to compress the pistons. The plastic material is safer to use for preventing scratches to the piston and caliper.

May 15, 2025May 22, 2025

CarlinKit 5.0 Wireless Carplay

I’ve been using CarPlay with my iPhone 15 Pro Max since I got my 2022 Goldwing Bagger. Aside from having to go through a rigid startup process, everything worked. There were times when I couldn’t get CarPlay to be recognized. This was normally after I had been riding around for a while and stopped for gas or shut the sled off for a very short period.

Another point to bring up is the iPhone case temperature getting fairly warm when it is placed in the center storage compartment.

Using a wireless CarPlay adapter allows you to use the bike audio system without having to be tethered to a USB cable. You can place the phone anywhere in the bike or pants pocket, which is the method I use. This is ideal for several reasons, like forgetting your phone in the bike.

I chose the CarlinKit 5.0 Auto Adapter based on the various YouTube video reviews. Almost all the reviewers complained about the connectivity issues.

The procedure I use for a successful connection are the following.

1. Turn on the bike ignition, you can do a full startup or into accessories mode.

2. Wait for the startup warning screen, press the center knob button down to dismiss dialogue box.

3. Turn on SENA 20S EVO, wait for a few seconds confirm the headset has connected to the Goldwing and the headset icon is visible.

4. Wait for another beep, at this time,e you should be able to hear audio from your Goldwing. This can be a radio station or XM Radio source.

5. Plug in the CarlinKkt using the supplied USB cable. I used the USB-C adapter.

6. If this is the first time connecting you will have a display screen prompt to allow the CarPlay connection. I opted for allow whenever a connection is made. This will allow use even when the iPhone is in locked mode.

That is the sequence of events I use and it has seemed to be the most reliable.

Cons: I have on a couple occasions lost connection during a ride. This seems to have occurred during use of the Apple Music library online.

Keywords: CarlinKit 5.0 Wireless CarPlay/Android Auto Adapter USB for Factory Wired CarPlay Cars (Model Year: 2015 to 2025), Wireless CarPlay/Android Auto Dongle Convert Wired to Wireless,Fit In-Dash Navigation

May 14, 2025May 14, 2025

Maintenance Oil Change

It seems like I just did an oil and filter change not too long ago. The amount of commute miles I have ridden the past 6 months justifies another oil change.

I will refer to the actual service manual but the internet community seems to think the oils should be changed every 8,000 miles. That number seems to be off too.

May 8, 2025May 11, 2025

Goldwing Rear Wheel Removal

I decided it was time for me to change out the original Bridgestone tires that came with the Goldwing Bagger. These set of wheels made it to 14,466 miles and still had some rubber left. The rear tire still had the full wear bar intact and had not worn down. Also, one note. I didn’t not put in all the miles. I purchased the sled with 4,430 miles, 10,036 miles are mine. That’s approximately 6 months of riding.

The procedure for removing the rear wheel based on my current shop situation called for servicing on the ground using the center stand and floor jack (The Fatboy was on the table lift).

If this is the first time removing the wheel and the factory torque is still being applied the lug nuts are a bitch to get off. I tried both my MAC air and Harbor Freight impact wrenches and they would not budge the lug nut on bit.

I had to use a 2 foot half-inch breaker bar with the 19mm socket on a 5” extension. This method worked great, each of the nuts broke free easily. This also meant I had to have the sled on the ground with the rear wheel making contact on the ground.

The removal of the rear center fairing and stabilizer cross bar is necessary to roll out the wheel. There is also an inner exhaust shield that needs to removed to get the final clearance necessary for the tire removal.

Since the original Bridgestone tires lasted so long I decided to stick with the same brand and model. The Exedra G852 (rear) and the G853 (front) tires had an active rebate offering at the time of my purchase.

This is the wear on the rear and front tires. This is probably the earliest I have changed out a tire. My normal method of operation is to take it down to the Steel bands below the rubber.

The rear tire.

Removal the front tires is easier to do than the rear. Once again the center stand was used, I also used a regular floor jack with a piece of 2×6 piece of wood to raise the front of the bike up just enough for me to drop the front tire and pull it out.