Hi,
I am a newbie who has recently has picked up 2 ST1100's, and now my son-in-law has just gotten his motorcycle license and is looking for a bike. I am a little concerned that the ST1100 is too big for a beginner bike, so I would like something similar but smaller.
Do any of you have the PC800 and if so, how does it compare with the ST1100? Are there any quirks with the bike that I need to be aware of?
Any opinions would be welcome.
Seth Anderson
I've had (2) PC800 Pacific Coasts. As ugly as they are, they grow on you pretty quickly.
I purchased my first one new in 1989 I believe. I sold it about 3 years ago, with over 300,000.00 miles on her!
She was still running strong, with very few problems.
Like our ST1300's, the PC800's did have a few quirks, however, once you bonded with them, and learned how to
live with them, the bike is as reliable as a rock!
They use a modified Shadow engine. They don't have alot of power, but they can easily handle two riders and luggage
for just about any kind of trip you may want to go on.
The engines tend to seep alot of oil around the heads and tranny, due to poor castings.
The shifter dogs tend to wear down and I needed to replace both of mine after about 100K miles.
They will refuse to run with a K&N filter installed.
They are very sensitive with carb sync. and had to be adjusted about every oil change or 3K miles, or you'd get a small hesitation
on the take off. Both mine were CA model's and ran lean. By opening up the air screw to 2 3/4 turns, it helped greatly.
They love Metzeler 880 tires, can carry ALOT of stuff in the trunk, and are all day comfortable, much more than either of the ST's.
The plastic body work is a pain in the butt, and tends to crack if you look at it. Every time you have to change the battery, or service the bike, you run the
risk of breaking the hard plastic tabs. Lots of PC800's are held together with popcycle sticks and epoxy. Check to make sure your not purchasing a damaged one.
Body work is VERY expensive and getting hard to find! The only major problem is electrical stuff. The stators and electrical bits go south around 80K miles.
With all that said, they will run forever, if you change the oil every 3K miles (I used HDEO-Delo400 for the life of the 300K mile one with no engine wear), sync the carbs every oil change, and be VERY carefull when working on the plastic parts.
Hope this helps.
Igfar
