I believe the XL1000V Varadero is not sold in the USA, so thought I'd give you a look at my SH and its sibling. The Vara has the same mechanicals, by and large, but is injected rather than carburetted, and I believe the cams are softer.

The Vara's gearing in top is much the same as the SH's, comfort over long distances two-up is great, and of course it's a ripper on gravel.

 

Very nice, thanks for the pic

 

Taller relative, but not better looking.

Congrats on the Vara!

 

Yep, the cute duckling and the ugly swan, huh?

 

On a group ride I ran into one here in Texas. The fellow was from Mexico and and about 55k kilometers on it. He really liked it but just shook his head at the sight of superbling loaded for touring.

 

I wonder if the pipes on the Varadero would fit on the Superhawk!

 

Honda V-Strom?!

 

Yep, more or less the Honda V-Strom. Bigger fuel tank, though - 28 litres (7.7 US gallons), so its range before needing to think about fuel is usually 220 miles plus. Lots of the folks in Europe cruise them at 180kph plus, though the top speed is not as good as the SH's.

 

Hey superbling that bike looks bad ***!

 

Hmm, I am smelling a ECU and FI swap project.. if only I had the $$..

 

Yea, I was wondering about the FI swap myself. Saw one of these in Daytona bike week. Why won't Honda give us some of this stuff? Boy, those front forks look mighty spindly, though...

 

The fork staunchions are the same diameter as the SH's, I believe. I've covered 2000km on gravel in the last couple of months on the Vara, and 1700 on sealed roads. Not a hint of fork flex, though of course you notice the long travel.

 

[QUOTE=superbling; He really liked it but just shook his head at the sight of superbling loaded for touring.

Outstanding picture of the bling-beast herself! Fully loaded is good too!

I finally put the stock weights in the Heli's and mounted the 11.75 Stainless bar ends that were such a wash on the stockers and it was amazing. We were out for an hour and a half before my fingers got a little numb. I wiggled things around for a little time and I was right back.

 

http://www.themotorbookstore.com/honvt19xl19.html

I assume they must be very close to have the same repair manual!?

 

Would this actually be possible?

 

Nope.... checked on it a few years back and was told they would not fit

 

Nice......but I would still rather have the 'Hawk.

 

PJay - how does the FI compare with the carbs on your bikes?

 

didn't the verado come with a detuned mapping for better lower and mid range revs? I thought that is what I heard, so does power commander come sell a verado chip?

 

Nope... The ECU is waaay off... wont work at all unless you rip out most of the wiring harness and then you'd still need a PCIII and a lot of work to get even close... The FI is to weak... So nope... No go...

Yeah I did all the math and figured it all out, had all the parts... And it didn't add up... So I scrapped that idea...

Try a RC51 FI and a microsquirt to control it and it might work...

 

I did an Iron Butt (1785 km in 24 hiurs) with one almost exactly one year ago. Top-heavy and tall, but extremely comfortable and pleasant long-range tourer. ABS brakes too. Would I buy one? Not sure as Honda Canada was selling them for $2K more than the V-Strom.