Best Touring Bike: Honda Gold Wing

This isn’t just a motorcycle, it’s an institution, a rolling example that more can be more, kitchen sink jokes be damned. The Gold Wing has been winning Ten Best awards–16 in all–longer than some CW staffers have been alive, way back to 1977 when it was a naked roadster that made fairing-meister Craig Vetter a millionaire. When someone at Honda got smart and started equipping the Wing with the touring paraphernalia that owners were adding anyway, the modern big rig was born. Purists and pundits–given fresh ammo a couple of years ago when an airbag was added to the bike’s long list of features–may well scoff. Yet, the amazing thing is not how much of a two-wheeled car the Gold Wing has become, but how much motorcycle remains.