Powerpark is a wonderfully misleading name. In one sense it is accurate, but in another quite wrong. There is no power (unlike the BMW K1200LT) other than using the bike`s reverse gear. The stand is nothing more than a shorter than standard centre stand which is the right height to allow the rear wheel to remain in contact with the ground when the bike is on the stand.

I wanted it because I had strained my back during one of my off-road exploits and I just could not find a non-painful way of lifting the Goldwing onto the centre stand, plus I figured that as I am not getting any younger, it would become increasingly attractive as old age wreaked its havoc on my muscles.

It does take a little practise to get comfortable with using it but I have to say it`s very nice in use and getting the bike on the stand is now a doddle – plus it`s a ride-on/ride-off stand and that is nice too.

The only drawback is when wanting to turn the wheels, front or back, for e.g. cleaning. As both are in solid contact with the ground, you need to insert a couple of bits of one inch thick wood under each leg of the centre stand – accomplished by rocking the bike from side to side and kicking the wood as you do. The first rock is the easiest but with one leg on a piece of wood, the second is a lot harder and the bike needs a really good shove. I think a couple of suitably tapered wedges might make this job a lot easier

I had just one day at home when I got back from Ireland (just enough to dry out a very wet tent) before I took myself up to Rotherham so that Ian Cardwell could do some work on my bike. I had a number of relatively minor things to do – mostly I wanted attention for my fog lights that had stopped working (turned out to be only a fuse!! But I had looked at the thing and it seemed OK, honest) but then I added a few more “nice to haves” including Progressive fork springs and a “Powerpark” centre stand.

Ian quickly diagnosed the fuse problem with his continuity tester (note to self, must get one of those..) and having fixed the fog lights in short order, turned his attention to the centre stand. It`s an easy enough thing to do in principle but in practice it is quite difficult owng to the restricted access to the holding bolts – I am frankly glad I didn’t try it myself.

With that installed, the fork springs were next. Once I saw how these were done, I realised I could easily have done this job myself but as usual, it`s the old adage of knowing “where to hit it.”

One thing I had wanted Ian to fix was my cruise control that had stopped working a while back. The main light, indicating it was active would come on but I simply couldn’t set it. Apparently there are four microswitches (front brake, clutch, rear brake and gear shift) that can be the culprit for this problem. Ian reckons it’s the rear brake that is mostly the one to blame. However, in all the Irish rain, mine had started working again, so I can only conclude that perhaps some dirt had been washed away from a switch and that allowed it to operate again. I am glad to say that it is still working after my return home.

Ian finished up at about midday and after refusing his kind offer of lunch, I set off home. I noticed the difference the fork springs made in the first hundred yards – they are truly a fantastic improvement over the originals. No longer is a minor roughness in the road surface a cause of irritation – the Progressives simply iron it out. Equally I can ride harder into the corners than I ever felt comfortable doing before, the front seems so planted. I shall definitely go for the Progressive rear spring (and probably shock) if Honda don`t introduce a Japanese `09 model of the Wing – in which case, I could be tempted to go for that..