I spent two years looking at bikes after a 14 year layoff while my kids were small. Narraowed my search down to 4 bikes; Yamaha Venture, Valkerie, BMW1200CL, and the Goldwing. They were the bikes with the high milage engines, solid reliability, and designed for long distance touring. DonĀ“t ask about Harleys... my dad owned several and the 1950s technology does not appeal to me after watching my dad spend more time in the shop than on the road. I ended up buying the Venture and rode it for 67,000 miles and then traded it in on the Goldwing. Huge difference and improvement in handling. The Goldwing does everything so easy and the power shames the other 3 bikes I looked at. Go with the goldwing for incredible performance and comfort. The range of assessories are quite impressive and you can find attachments for GPS to cell phones. The after market for Goldwing assessories is a alive and well and the healthy bike sales will see the industry loading this bike up with anything you could want. Unfortunately, avoid the Valkerie and the BMW 1200CL since they are out of production now and parts/assessories will become an issue in the years to come.