I considered them hard when I bought the White Whale. Yea, the lack of modernization and upgrades is what kept me away. Same with the Venture/Royal Star.
I used to mail them to anyone that pm'd me an address and color and quantity for free. But that ended when you made fun of my ass. At least for you anyway.
But a very capable touring machine. Very comfy, tons of storage and eats miles. But top heavy as hell and this annoying whine in the tranny. Bad bevel on the gears.
New big tourer this summer from Yammie. Very modern inline 4 built almost totally on biker feedback. There are some leaked blurry pics out there.
Looks like the are going after the Goldwing crowd. They might get me in a year or two if they nail it.
Textile is hot. Leather is hot a hell. Welcome to motorcycling, it is an outdoor sport. Sometimes it is hot, sometimes it is cold..sometimes it rains and I'll be damned if sometimes it doesn't snow. Layers is the key, take them off and put them on.