Congrats on your new Goose. Read your entire narrative over on Medium. Very well written.
I have an ‘07 Norge as well, and find it to be quite capable over a pretty broad range of riding. Mine is my winter commuter as I find the shaft drive much more preferable in the rain. Zero worry about rusting chains or road debris eating up a sprocket.
Also, and you didn’t mention it in your article, the heated grips make winter riding that much more enjoyable, and rain riding that much more tolerable. The massive fairing in front of me efficiently reduces the amount of cold air blast/rain hitting me.
I too have a full water proof set of gear and for the 1st time it failed me on Monday. At least the pants did. The gloves…more my fault than the gloves as I had the gaiter on the outside of my jacket sleeves rather than in them.
I ride year round as the temps in Northern California seldom dip below 32 F. The rain however is normally abundant making for good rain riding skills if one chooses to take advantage. Having lived in the UK, I developed rain skills pretty early on, and use our rain to continue to hone them.
I find the Norge to be exceptional in the rain. Not ever had issues with the rain causing any electrical problems…though I do get some moisture behind some of the light lenses and the gauge cluster. Minimal, but it’s there.
Mine had the “startus interruptus” mod but I still ran a heavy duty, second ground cable to back of the engine. Something I highly recommend. Not had a start issue since.
Only other mod I’ve made to the engine peripherals is a remote valve & tube for the stepper motor. This allows me to retain the stepper motor for use on start up, but also the ability to shut down its air supply once warm.
It stops the crazy idle issues when the engine gets up to operating temperature. All for now, enjoy your Norge!!
