Just added a 2014 Honda Forza to the fleet  By  romei (Read 745 times)

Congratulations, I had one just like it two years ago, put 6,000 mi. on it that season before trading it in on the Burgman 650, looking back I wish I'd have kept the Forza. You're going to love the mileage, get the Givi windshield you'll need it on the highway. enjoy.

Thanks folks. I'm in PA and I just picked it up Saturday during the snowstorm. So I only have 40 miles on it so far but my first impression is pretty good. It has great power and acceleration and cruises nice on the highway. It's small enough that you still get the nimble scooter feel at low tight speeds. I'm 5' 10" and the leg room is non existent so it is somewhat uncomfortable right now, but I saw a seat mod in the Forza forum knowing before I bought the bike that I was going to do it. Basically, that seat bolster behind your back gets removed, skinned and all but an inch of the foam gets cut away. Then cover it back up using the existing material and it gives you several more inches of room to stretch out and still looks pretty much factory.

The dealership also had a few 2013 new leftover Silverwings for $4999 which was very tempting but those and the Burgmans they had just seemed so big and heavy that I would have struggled with them anywhere but on the highway. But man, what a deal if you're looking for a highway bike.

That windshield does beat you right in the chest and face. I read in the Forza forum that some folks put the tall Givi's on and regret it later because it's tall enough that they have to look through the windshield all the time. I prefer to just look over the top of the windshield so I ordered the factory Honda tall windshield which is just a bit shorter and hope to put it on Friday.

All in all though, I love the deal, and love the bike so far. I think I'm going to keep loving it too :-)

I found the SilverWing way too top heavy compared to the BV500, BV350, Burgman 400/600 or Tmax.

The NC700 has the riders pegs so that they hit the back of your legs when stopped and with a 32 inch seat height its hard to straddle them while the CTX700 once you get used to the placement of the rear brake pedal is not bad.

Getting the same fuel economy as a 250cc scooter makes the BV350 and CTX700 tempting alternatives over the less fuel efficient SilverWing and other scooters over 300 cc that aren't quite as efficient.

I didn't like the slippery squishy ride that the air pillow gave me from the Airhawk seat pad, so I cut open a throwable life preserver (boat cushion) and used the foam and rubber sheets to make a seat pad. The foam pieces are about 1/4 inch each . The rubber sheet on top keeps the cover from sliding around and makes it a bit firmer. It's a cheap solution I know, and while I don't really like raising my center of gravity up 2 inches, I sure do like the leg room and it's really pretty comfortable now. This will do nicely as a cheap solution until next winter when I will take the seat to a local custom seat professional and have him customize this seat without that stupid backrest.