Phil's Photo Album More from Phil The Shovelhead Diary

This Page is Sponsored by

13 February 2008
First Impressions of the Pacific Coast

Normally when I head out to pick up a new motorcycle to bring home it's a time full of excitement. For some reason I wasn't all that excited about this particular motorcycle. Even after reading all about it, and how it was touted as a good everyday ride; the station wagon of motorcycling. Owning one of the more exotic machines in the world of motorcycling; the "Beast" (Yamaha YZF R1), which is dripping sex and performance at every angle you could possibly look at it; how could I get excited about bringing home a station wagon?

On Friday Flo and I went to Steelhorse and picked up the Honda PC 800 or as they call it the Pacific Coast. My first impression of the PC was it was huge compared to all of the other motorcycles I have in the garage. I thumbed the starter switch and it came to life; I couldn't hear it running, but the tach needle was hovering at the 1 grand mark. The mini Gold Wing is as quiet as it's larger sibling.

Shifting it into gear was a surprise, no clunk; in fact it was almost without any notice at all. Letting out the clutch lever I expected it to lurch, as many motorcycles with hydraulic clutches do: but it didn't. In fact it was so well behaved I felt as though I had been using it for years.

Looking out what at first appeared as a rather tall windshield I could see the unobstructed dash; gas gauge, temperature gauge, speedo and tach giving me vital information in a simple analog manner. No trick digital stuff, just plain old analog faces we are all familiar with. The array of familiar idiot lights; low oil, neutral, high beam and a side stand down indicator lights, separated the large tach and speedo faces. With the large right and left indicator lights located in the upper corners of the dash, finishes off the central information center.

Twisting up the throttle, bringing the engine to life; it surprisingly gathered up speed pretty quick. It is not as fast as the "Beast" or some of the other motorcycles I have owned, but it wasn't slow. It gathered up speed in a very Honda like fashion; smooth and steady. The sound level began to rise as the revs came up, but no one would have taken offense to the sound. It was, as it should be a very smooth and quite Honda.

I wasn't expecting it to handle as well as it did, light commands got good responses and the bike tracked very well on the entrance and exit ramps. Surprisingly it has a lot of ground clearance and lean angle. I never did feel the rising and falling effect common in shaft final drives; that's not to say it wasn't there, I just didn't notice it. I did have to rein in my enthusiasm cornering the PC; I had to remember it was shod with bias plied and rather narrow tires. I did notice afterward that I was getting use of sections of the tires that the original owner had never used. It surprised me how far I had been on those narrow tires. No I don't think it would do well as a canyon carver, but for a nice easy ride through the mountains or an occasional excursion through the back country it would do well.

The ride on this machine is plush. The suspension, seat and feel of the machine were comfortable. For any use other than it was intended, the suspension would need some serious work as well picking some better tires too. I think it would serve well for some medium distance touring. I didn't feel cramped at all and the seat seemed to be just right. The handle bars feel wide but actually aren't, the riders position is typical of the touring style motorcycle. My only complaint was the tiny shift lever, which soon after I got home was repositioned to allow more room for my foot to get under it.

Braking is accomplished by dual discs in the front and a drum in the rear. The front brakes are typical Honda, very effective with little effort. And they will bring the 600 plus motorcycle to very quick stop. There is a lot of slack in the lever and not until your half way through its range of motion do you feel the front pads bite. They are however very controllable and easy to modulate during stops from any speed.

Riding the PC the following morning to work, wearing my steel toes which are rather tall in the toe box, I was able to complete up shifts with ease. Once I get into my riding boots I suppose it will be perfect.

As a commuter bike it was a dream, the large trunk swallowed up my back pack with ease. The motorcycle managed the morning rush to the shipyard traffic nicely. More than quick enough in the acceleration mode; enough that you have to monitor the speedo pretty close to keep your speed in the legal marks.

With its large faring it was quite pleasant in the cool morning air. At 5 a.m. we had lots of cool morning air. At these slower speeds I was glad I had my full face helmet on and the shield down. It seems the windshield doesn't deflect the air as well as my old Electra Glide or Fat Boy did with their big barn door size windshields. I felt a lot of head buffeting from air spilling over the top of the large looking windshield. The buffeting was a lot more than I experience sitting upright at speed on the "Beast".

On Sunday I loaded up the PC with the stuff I normally take to the radio station and headed to Norfolk with Charles on his Ducati. We were heading to the station by way of Jefferson Ave, 664, and then 264. With a stop for gas to top off the tanks; we were off.

Did someone order up wind? If you did I hope you're happy, because we sure as hell had more than anyone would care for. The PC is not wind friendly, with all of the plastic covering the machine it's a natural sail. I had my hands full as we crossed over the James River and some of the overpasses on 664.

The PC kept a nice pace at 70 and 75 mph even with the abrupt cross winds wanting to send it sideways, the handling or its ability to allow it to correct for these conditions was rather good. I never did feel as though we needed to turn back or slow down.

Passing isn't the PC's strong suit. but it doesn't lack reserve for making passes from 70 mph. The hard thing here for me to remember is with the "Beast" it's just a twist of the wrist, on the PC is a down shift twist and plan ahead.

At least it didn't rain, which just seems to be normal when I bring home a new motorcycle.