My 2 cents worth. The America will tour, but...if I wanted to take Robin with me I needed a bigger bike made for touring. A 900 pound behemoth to be exact. You need a water cooled motor, fairing and shield, lots of baggage carrying capacity, shaft drive, horse power and torque, and at least 6 gallons of fuel. When you plan your route, figure for 55 miles per hour per day, this will usually average your stops and meals for a 8 hour day in the saddle, even though most of your riding is at 80 mph. Any thing over a 500 mile day is just tiring. Robin and I have done several 500 + miles for a couple days, but it does take the enjoyment away from the tour. Its more fun to take the time and enjoy the sights. The long wheel base and the weight of the bike make for a solid and stable ride at speed on the freeways will make you a lot less tired at the end of the day. Make sure you have plenty of room to move about and stretch out while riding, and a radio or MP3 player helps the passenger to while the way away. I myself, at 6 foot, found the Goldwing to be too cramped. The power and smoothness were outstanding, as was the engineering. My Harley was ok, but small and cramped for Robin, it had character, and was a classic. The power was ok, but in traffic was always running hot and you would always have to keep an eye on it. The BMW's, to me, don't really look like motorcycles, and are just to expensive to maintain. Like I said before, just my 2 cents worth. If I toured by myself, after all this said, it would be on the Triumph America!
