My comments were not intended to be an exhaustive review but, with relatively minor differences, my comments generally seem to echo those of others across production years for these bikes which had relatively long production runs with generally modest revisions - so I'm not sure the date of manufacture is all that useful with these particular bikes - at least the LT and GW. But for your edification and reading pleasure, here you go:What year bikes are we talking about? I think you have three different manufacturers mentioned but no years mentioned.
The OP needs to keep that in mind. Any product you compare one has to know when someone is giving an opinion if it’s a current model or are we talking 10, 20, 25 or 30 years ago model.
Motor vechicles advance just like cell phones
The K1200LT was in production for around a decade with only minor changes. Mine was an '04 - members of an owners group I was part of had bikes that ranged in years from late 90s to 2008 and overall experiences were similar to mine, though some experienced the final drive problem that I referred to. I put over 130,000 miles on this bike and probably could have put another 130,000 on it but my riding became shorter-distance oriented and I decided I needed something smaller (physically) and traded it for a GS.
The last generation Gold wing was produced from 2001-2107 IIRC with relatively minor revisions along the way - mine is an '04. Again, owner experiences from riders across this spectrum seem to be similar based on my owner's group acquaintances. I have put 24K miles on this bike since I purchased it used. Despite its age (about 20 years) this thing is remarkably tight and problem free - well, "it's a Honda"! Gives me a smile whenever I get on it.
The Road King was an '04 which I sold after less than a year. No problems with it in that short period, but between the limited lean angle, lack of refinement, limited long distance wind protection and marginal suspension, I traded it in on the LT within a year and never looked back
The cell phone analogy is quite a bit of hyperbole, but I get your drift...