The more things change...

Went to the Long Beach Motorcycle Show last weekend. It was a good show. Saw the bikes I wanted to see and got some good answers to questions I had.
One good answer was from the Nolan helmet people. They have a newer version of the bluetooth helmet set up that I have. The fact that I have to buy the newer unit is not the good news. The good news is that they are now able to stream stereo through bluetooth. As soon as someone, Garmin are you listening, makes a device that streams stereo through bluetooth then we might have something. I am sure that it will come and probably before next summer.
As for the quest for the perfect motorcycle, it continues. My GS is still for sale so I am not in a big hurry to spend what little money I have left on a new motorcycle. I have come almost full cirlce and am going to test the new K1300GT when it is available.
Rode the 2008 Ultra Classic on a warm fall day. I liked the bike a lot. It rides good. It is comfortable on all types of paved roads. My plan is to test ride the 2009 as soon as they get one in the rental fleet. The huge disappointment was the heat coming off the back cylinder. When we got back near the dealer the temperature was around 80F. We had been on the freeway for about 40 minutes. The bikes needed gas so we pulled off the freeway and headed for the nearest station. Sitting in traffic for just a couple of minutes my right leg was on fire. I had on Levi's and I thought someone was holding a torch to the underside of my leg. This was a complete deal killer for me. When we got back to the dealer I spoke with the rental guy and he showed me an 09 and explained what they had done to eliminate the heat problem. I still love the bike but I will not buy one if they have not fixed the problem.
So my buddy and I go dealer hopping to see some other new bikes. We stopped in at the Kawasaki dealer to see the Concours 14. Very nice looking bike. It was rated tops in its class in a recent comparo. So when I got home I started looking on the net to see what people thought. Review after review can't say enough good things about the bike. So I move on to the blogs. Everyone in a moderate to cool climate loves the bike. Those in warm climate love it as long as they are moving. So now the world has turned 360º and I am back to the, all be it improved, BMW K bike and this.
This is the 2009 FXDC or Dyna Custom. This would be the around town bike. It fulfills my need for owning a Harley and gives me a great around town bike. It does not suffer as much from the heat problem as it does not have all that body work like the Ultra so the heat has someplace to go before it lights your body on fire. Biggest downside is you cannot get it with ABS brakes and I am a big fan of ABS. Simple bike and about 40% of the price of a new Ultra Classic.
The one problem I would have left is the K bike almost fulfills the need for speed but does not have the "Wah" of a Ducati. At age 61 I should have learned by now that no one vehicle does it all.

More to follow...