This article was originally published in the February 2001 issue of Cycle World.
Honda has a new flagship, the GL1800 Gold Wing. That fact will be cause for celebration among fans of the long-running model, which has dominated the luxury-touring class since its 1975 inception, yet has soldiered on unchanged since 1988. And why should it change? So successful has the GL1500 been over its 13-year production run that all but two of Honda's rival manufacturers have abandoned the class. And of those remaining, only BMW, with its Ten Best-winning KI200LT, is a serious contender, Kawasaki's Voyager XII largely a holdover from 1986.
Considering that the combined membership of the two U.S. Gold Wing owners clubs totals some 85,000 members, clearly this is an important motorcycle, and one deserving of more than an ordinary road test. So when American Honda invited Cycle World to the GL1800's official unveiling at the Marysville, Ohio, factory at which it is built, we knew that simply riding the bike back to California wouldn't do it justice We needed to do something big.
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And so we did. We resolved to take the Wing on a Four Corners Tour, hitting the farthest-flung cities in the states of Washington, California, Florida and Maine. Rather than having one rider go the whole way, however, we opted to do it Pony Express-style, with a team of riders passing the bike off to one another. When all was said and done, the trip encompassed 12 riders (or more accurately, 11, one of whom rode the first and last stints), 12 days and 12,000 miles. One extra day was set aside for performance testing at Carlsbad Raceway and an oil and tire change at American Honda headquarters in Southern California, and we changed the rear tire again at a dealer on the East Coast, just to be safe. But aside from that, the Wing was a perpetual-motion machine, earning only brief respites in the wee hours of the morning between when one rider went to bed and the next arose. Which, as some of our weary testers would tell you after their 1000-mile days, was often no more than a couple of hours.
Leg 1: 1150 miles Brian Catterson
The old joke about Ohio goes, “What’s round on both sides and high in the middle?” Well, today the answer was me, because I had round wheels both in front and back, and I must have been high to think I could hit five states in one day.
The original plan called for me to leave from Marysville, but Honda’s press ride had detoured us southeast to Marietta, spitting distance from West Virginia. So it would take me a couple of hours just to get back to where I was supposed to start my 1000-mile day.
I took the interstate across the I-states—Indiana, Illinois and Iowa—aye, aye, aye! I asked some locals about curvy roads and was told that I-70 bends a little where it veers around Indianapolis. In other words, it was straight, straight, straight, with not much in the way of scenery—unless you find farm fields attractive, which I don’t. Suffice it to say I won’t be eating Corn Flakes any time soon.
Fortunately, the Wing is a veritable living room on wheels, with a La-Z-Boy of a seat and a better entertainment system than I’ve got at home. In addition to the standard AM/FM radio, our testbike was equipped with the optional $143 rear speaker set, $926 CB and $1092 CD player. Made by Panasonic, the six-disc changer resides in the bottom of the trunk and pops up with the push of a button. On a positive note, this means it doesn’t intrude upon trunk space, as on the BMW K1200LT. On a negative note, it means the contents of the trunk have to be removed to change discs.
Back in my rock-n-roll youth, we used to joke about turning our amplifiers up to 11—well, the Wing’s goes up to 30! But while power has been increased from 15 to 25 watts, the stereo could still use more juice. The quality of sound emitted by the four speakers is good while parked (just the ticket for tailgate parties) and decent around town, but at highway speeds the music scatters into the wind.
Honda set us up with a matching set of Arai Signet helmets equipped with its accessory speakers and microphones, and these sounded better than the external speakers at high speeds. Yet all still was not perfect because we had to choose between hearing the music along with a disturbing amount of wind noise or wearing earplugs and having the music stifled along with the wind. I settled on the latter, and turned the volume up to 27—any higher and the music distorted. The ultimate solution would probably be a set of those custom-molded earplugs with the tiny speakers inside.
With little else to do, I soon had the skip-free sound system dialed-in, selecting the optimum bass, treble and ambiance settings, and disabling the automatic volume control (which reduces the sound level as you slow down) and the annoying beeps that let you know you just pushed one of the many buttons. I even figured out that by activating the intercom, I could sing along with my favorite tunes. Karaoke on wheels!
To say I went stir crazy after 18 hours in the saddle would be an understatement. I must have looked quite the sight going down the road singing at the top of my lungs, with the cruise control set so my hands were free to keep the beat or play air guitar. And then there were the voices in my head, one of which interrupted my mobile jam session to say, "Breaker, good buddy, is that the new Wing? Sure looks suh-weet.
Imagine the All-Points Bulletin: “Be on the lookout for an escaped lunatic riding a red motorcycle.” Only the joke was on them, because our GL1800 was only Illusion Red some of the time. Thanks to the innovative ChromaFlair paint system developed by California-based Flex Products (which adds $500 to the red bike’s price), the Wing’s color changes depending on the angle from which it is viewed. The red gives way to subtle hints of gold and blue-enough to establish plausible deniability in a court of law. The other available colors are basic black, pearl blue and youthful yellow, which along with Honda’s vast range of accessories can transform the Wing into a classic chrome-covered full-dresser or a carbon-clad GT sport-tourer. The latter configuration, incidentally, was inspired by a 30-something couple that Honda reps met at the Aspencade Rally, who said they loved their Wing but were embarrassed their neighbors might see them riding an "old folks' bike." What, blaring Metallica over the stereo didn't work?
Leg 2: 985 miles Don Canet
Hey, bub, wanna run ’em?” I said, with a nod of my head toward the red traffic signal. The guy I’d pulled up alongside answered with a look of, “Yeah, get real, pal!”
A couple taunting blips of the GL’s throttle proved good bait. Out of the comer of my eye, I could see the shiny new sportbike edging closer to the crosswalk line with its rider crouching forward in anticipation. Poor sap must’ve felt a moment of buyer’s remorse as my antennae-totin’, bag-laden barge lunged out of the hole and pulled an advantage that lasted...well, halfway down the block, anyway.
Okay, I admit this scenario never actually happened during my 16-hour stint aboard the new GL1800, but it certainly could have. I kid you not: Honda’s new “Wild Wing” has some serious muscle. We’re talking 105.6 foot-pounds of torque at 4250 rpm and 97.8 rear-wheel horsepower at 5300 rpm from the fuel-injected 1832cc flatSix, surpassing the old GL1500 by nearly 20 horses and 15 ft.-lbs. of oomph. Locomotion kicks in right off idle, with enough punch at 1500 rpm to loft a respectable low-gear wheelstand by merely snapping open the throttle.
All this power comes in handy for more than smoky burnouts and power wheelies, of course. Wingin' along the desolate Wyoming/Montana interstate with the cruise control set as high as 100 mph was an absolute breeze. The GL feels very planted and reassuring at such speeds, although a lazy wallow developed near the bike's 127-mph top speed as measured by the CW radar gun. But this may have been due to our unevenly balanced load, thanks to the expansive emergency kit located in the left-side saddlebag-did we really need to pack three flat-tire repair kits?
A visit to Carlsbad Raceway a few days later validated my fantasy sting on unsuspecting sportbike pokes. The GL’s rangy 66.6-inch wheelbase and 864-pound weight (without fuel) hooked-up well for hard launches and an unbelievably quick 1.22-second 0-to-30 mph time en route to a 12.34-second/105.84mph quarter-mile. Again, that’s a full second and 8 mph quicker than the GL1500 SE. This new Wing will eat the average mega-cruiser for lunch.
Aside from acceleration, the Wing’s improved handling left the strongest impression on me at the end of my OneK Day. The last few minutes of my ride were filled with sweeping bends as I crossed the Continental Divide east of Butte. If I ever again have to ride 950 miles to get in a few good curves, the GL1800 will be my sportbike of choice.
Leg 3: 995 miles Brad Zerbel
Butte, Montana, 5:47 a.m., and it’s 36 degrees outside. CD changer loaded, check. Heated handgrips on, check. Electric vest plugged in, check. 1-90, here I come.
The sun slowly rose at my back somewhere past Missoula, and as I neared the summit of 4680-foot Lookout Pass, the Wing was having no problems negotiating the fast uphill sweepers. But it wasn’t getting any warmer, and I was worried about ice on the road. Can you put tire chains on a touring bike?
My time in Idaho was brief as I crossed at the panhandle. A highlight was riding by beautiful Couer d’Alene Lake, so peaceful-looking with the morning sun reflecting off the water. Onward to Spokane, Washington, and time to get off the interstate and head west on U.S. 2. Then, it started raining hard enough to put on the raingear.
Though the first section of this road was very straight, it rolled up and downhill through farmland, making an otherwise boring stretch fun. Past Wenatchee the rain halted and the sun came out, so I stopped in the Alpine-esque village of Leavenworth (really!) to strip off my rainsuit. This is where the ride got really fun-and expensive! A curvy road through the National Forest had the Chiwawa River to my left and majestic mountains on both sides covered with trees, some in fall colors. After gawking at the beauty of Mother Nature for a while, I decided to wick it up and find out about the Wing’s new sporting qualities. This bike really hauls ass-I never even had to take it out of Overdrive to pass. Maybe the GL1800 creates a new class: Power Touring. That searing insight was lost on one of Washington’s Finest as I came through a wet downhill sweeper at well over 80 mph. Busted! Oh well, you play, you pay. Maybe Canet can give me some advice on how to expense a speeding ticket...
I toned it down after that and continued toward Everett and 1-5, where I turned north. Made it to Blaine, the northwestern-most town in the 48 contiguous states. Back on the road for the final flog to Portland, during which I hit more rain going through Seattle (who’da guessed?), but my recently Scotch-Guarded Aerostich suit kept me dry, so no need to stop except for more gas, which at 35.5 miles per gallon was coming at 220-mile-plus intervals.
I rolled up to the hotel in Portland at 10:20 p.m. After 17 hours on the road, my tour of duty was over. I was ready for sleep, but I swear I heard that Gold Wing say, “Where to next?”
Leg 4: 1080 miles David Edwards
Secrets of the 1000 Mile Day Secret #1: Baby powder and lots of it, all over, but especially on the feet, seat and your good friend, Mr. Pete.
Secret #2: Your mother was right, always wear good underwear. For cold-weather riding, I like expedition weight tops and bottoms from The North Face, expensive at about $50 per piece, but hey, what price warmth?
Secret #3: Suit yourself. After the thermal underwear comes an all-weather riding outfit-forget an intermediate layer of street clothes, it’ll just bulk you up and doesn’t provide much warmth. For this trip I had a new First Gear Sirocco two-piece, nicely done (exception of the fiddly cuffs) with crash pads all over and thermal liners top and bottom.
Secret #4: Take advantage of Thomas Edison. Electricity is a wonderful thing, especially when it’s routed through one of Aerostich’s Unobtainium heated jacket liners. I used the Windbloc model, warmest of the two versions offered, which took the place of my Sirocco’s standard liner. An optional rheostat let me regulate heat from a faint glow to full roast. While you’re on the horn to Aerostich, order up one of their nifty thermal bandanas-your protruding Adam’s apple will say thanks.
Secret #5: Avoid agony of de feet. Thin silk undersocks, heavy New Zealand wool oversocks and a set of insulated, waterproof touring boots (sportbike stuff is too thin, as are cowboy boots, Mr. Girdler) equals warm tootsies and no stopping at the next underpass to shrug on rubber booties. With the above riding gear, the mid-30-degree rain showers that dogged me for my first 500 miles were a non-issue.
RELATED: 2018 Honda Gold Wing Fast Facts
Secret #6: Meals on wheels. Crack open a menu on a marathon like this and you’ve lost 50 miles. Better to piggyback gas stops with soda-pop slugs and a few bites to eat. Nuthin’ better for the latter than cold pizza. Order one the night before (small or medium, depending on your caloric requirements), pack it in the top trunk and you are road-ready, my friend. Choose toppings wisely and you’ve got the four major food groups in one yob-stuffing wedge. Refrigeration not needed if, like me, you’re cutting through Oregon’s Siskiyou Mountains in 36-degree air.
Secret #7: Pick a good riding partner. That the new Gold Wing most certainly is. Mondo applause for the seat-skinny at the nose, fat under your arse, just like the tractor saddles fitted to old Indians and Hogs. Good range of height adjustment on the manually activated (what, no button?!) windscreen, too. Plus, it stays put, which the old Wing’s didn’t always. (For those intent on doing a little aero tailoring, optional taller and smaller windscreens are available, as are add-on wind wings, which may help with spillover around the hands.)
All is not perfect, though. As in a cruise control (now electrically modulated rather than run by vacuum hoses) that skips a long beat before kicking in. Also, why are the $296 heated handgrips and $36 power accessory plug optional? These are standard-issue on the Gold Wing’s chief competitor, BMW’s K1200LT. C’mon, Honda! And on this clean-sheet mega-tourer for the new millennium, where the heck is the GPS screen, huh?
In the main, though, Honda got it right Big Time. Faster, sportier, more nimble and better braked, this is one serious road tool-no matter what the road.
Leg 5: 875 miles Allan Girdler
“Maps?” I mumbled to myself when the Grand Slam instructions were handed out, “I don’t need no stinkin’ maps.”
Nor did I. Riding ’round the country might have covered new territory for the other guys, but my assignment, going from the office in Newport Beach down to America’s southwest comer then due east to El Paso, is practically my backyard. Done it scores of times on my way to the desert, the races, even to Daytona Beach.
Thus on the appointed day, I rolled out of the sack, met photog Brian Blades, rode to San Ysidro (town motto: Where the Surf Meets the Border Patrol), posed for photos and collected a cheesy souvenir as per instructions.
Then I rode north into San Diego’s rush hour, where I learned you can indeed split lanes with a 900-pound dresser, and from there all it took was remembering to turn right at I-10. Thirteen hours later, I was in Texas.
Does this sound like much of an adventure, a challenge to skill and courage? Clearly, it was nothing of the kind.
What my stint proved was what it was supposed to prove, that the new Gold Wing will take you as far and fast as you care to go, which is precisely what the machine is supposed to do.
Reporting as one of the few motorcycle journos with enough experience to remember when Gold Wings came into the world bare-naked, there are some aspects to the new GL1800 that seem not as user-friendly as I’d like, though. The fairing doesn’t really shelter the rider’s hands, for instance, while the windscreen delivers a cold wind to the back of the neck, and the rider’s feet are in the airstream. Ambient temperatures as displayed on the dash-mounted LCD ranged from 43 to 66 degrees, yet cowboy boots and thick wool socks notwithstanding, my feet were cold for 10 of the ride’s 13 hours.
And call me a Luddite, but what use is a Weather Band on the radio when you’re riding across New Mexico and can see the storms to the south, clouds ahead and blue sky to the north? Can it move the storm or the interstate?
Or, count up the controls on the tank panel and the handlebars, most of which aren’t lit at night. Sounding the (otherwise excellent) horn when you meant to dim the lights doesn’t meet the definition of road courtesy.
Still, Honda’s on the right track here. As a man who owns a Sportster and an XR-750 street-tracker, I’ve always believed that it’s much more pleasant to follow the contours of the land rather than just bulldoze your way through.
The beauty of the new Gold Wing is that you can do both.
Leg 6: 1040 miles Larry Little
That's right, you're not from Texas, but Texas wants you anyway, crooned Lyle Lovett as I Winged it across the Lone Star State. With his appropriately titled album, Live in Texas, spinning in the bike's CD player, I felt right at home spending all day in his native land-shoot, after 1000 miles I was damn near a resident!
I volunteered for the El Paso-to-Houston leg via Big Bend National Park, virgin territory for me. By mapping out 600 of my 1000 miles not on I-10, I was entertained and absorbed by a lot of local color-and stellar roads.
The necessary early-morning start led to my first impressive discoveries about the new Wing, namely reverse gear and those amazing quad-headlights (augmented on our testbike by a pair of optional $276 fog lights down low). Leaving the hotel in the pre-dawn darkness, I simply punched the button marked “RVS” next to the starter button, then held down the starter button itself and, voila, backwards we went out of the parking space. This is much simpler than the previous arrangement, where the reverse lever was in a far less convenient location on the bike’s left side. As for those incredible headlamps (no doubt appropriated from a Boeing 777), they provide such incredible candlepower that you’d have to hustle nearly all of the ponies out of the Wing’s 1800cc to overdrive the available illumination.
The beauty of my route was that it included substantial amounts of backcountry two-lanes where the Gold Wing’s newfound speed could be fully appreciated. Without disclosing any incriminating details, let’s just say that the wide-open spaces of West Texas were gobbled up at a rather rapid rate, with full appreciation of the bike’s high-speed stability.
Completing 1000 miles in one day does have some drawbacks, though, as I was forced to ride right past the Judge Roy Bean Museum in Langtry. For those of you short on Texas history, the good judge was “The Law West of the Pecos.” The law today is a bit different in Texas. One of the side benefits of riding rural routes close to the Mexican border is gaining an acquaintance with our very own U.S. Border Patrol, which conducts brief citizenship queries at roadside stops literally in the middle of nowhere. On the fifth such speed-sapping stop of the day, I prepared my best “U.S. resident, sir” reply, but never got a chance to utter it. As I rolled up to the stop line, Border Patrol Officer Garcia took a look at me, then the bike, and exclaimed, “Hey, it’s the new one!”
Turned out Mr. Garcia is a loyal CW subscriber and a Yamaha YZF-R1 owner. After most of a long, lonely day in the Wing's saddle, it was great to find a fellow rider who could share my appreciation of the new GF in both sporting and touring terms. But honest, Officer Garcia, I really didn't have time to let you take it for a spin.
Leg 7: 1050 miles Paul Dean
Thank God for off-ramps. Were it not for those abbreviated strips of access road between the superslab and the Real World, I would have come away from my stint on the new Gold Wing without a clue as to its cornering capabilities.
One way or another, you see, a road trip from Houston to Tampa involves at least 1000 miles of highways that flirt with the upper rim of the Gulf of Mexico. While that area of the country can lay claim to many fine qualities, curvaceous roads and perceptible altitude changes are not among them. So, given that my mille miglia had to be covered in a single day, I simply jumped onto the I-10 in Houston, straight-lined it to Tallahassee in the Florida panhandle, then pointed the Wing south on U.S. Route 19 for the final 250 miles into Tampa, yet another arrow-straight run on a four-lane road. I'd love to have taken a more interesting route-maybe cruised through the little town of Sopchoppy on U.S. 319 in Florida, just so I could say I'd been there; and I wondered what kind of place Krotz Springs might be north of Lafayette, Louisiana-but side trips aren't an option when you're trying to rack up a 1000-mile-plus day. I did get to ride through Weeki Wachee, however, so my desire to visit towns with names that make you smile wasn't completely unfulfilled.
After departing Houston, I didn’t get very far on I-10 before I began eagerly anticipating every upcoming gas stop-but not to stretch my legs or give my butt a respite; the Wing’s spot-on ergonomics never caused me the slightest physical discomfort. Instead, I looked forward to those refuelings because they allowed me to depart the interstate and toss the Wing over into some actual turns, even if they were only hundred-yard-long on/off-ramps likely slathered with spilled diesel fuel, anti-freeze or transmission fluid. Matter of fact, when I found one particularly nice cloverleaf exit, I made a half-dozen hot laps around all four on- and off-ramps before continuing down the road. Hey, beggars can’t be choosers.
During those oh-so-brief comer strafings, I was quite impressed with the Wing’s turn-and-bank prowess. Dimensionally, the 1800 isn’t much different from its predecessor, but functionally, it’s in an entirely different league. Whereas the 1500 rarely lets you forget you are at the helm of a big, cumbersome machine, the 1800 constantly tricks you into thinking it’s hundreds of pounds lighter and many inches smaller than it actually is. It steers easily and precisely, and it’s amazingly responsive and stable when flicked over into a comer. Honda hopes to attract a younger audience with this big rig, and the 1800’s sporty handling ought to go a long way toward helping the company achieve that goal.
That sportiness could prove to be somewhat of a double-edged sword, however, because the 1800 pays a price for its added cornering competence with a slightly more coarse ride. The springing at both ends is close to ideal, so there never is any bottoming (especially if the electro-hydraulically adjustable shock-spring preload is properly set via the buttons on the fairing), and the ride over most pavement imperfections is what you would expect on a super-tourer. But the fork seems to have a bit too much high-speed compression damping that makes itself apparent over abrupt, sharp-edged bumps. The handlebar shudders, some of the plastic pieces in the fairing creak and clatter, and much of the resultant impact is passed on to the rider’s hands and forearms. It’s certainly nothing that would keep me from owning an 1800, though. Despite this flaw, and a few others, this still is the best American-style touring rig ever built.
Leg 8: 860 miles Steve Anderson
It always happens after a long day. I was looking right at movement in the parking lot beside me, when a driver in a minivan-just ahead and to my left-cut in, hit her brakes and turned right. No big deal, except I didn’t have the front brake lever covered. The rear comer of the van loomed large. I stomped on the brake pedal, and the big Wing slowed hard before my hand ever encountered the brake lever. Near-miss avoided; Honda’s LBS did its job.
And it’s about time. Testing done by this magazine years ago confirmed that Honda’s Linked Brake System as fitted to the CBR1000F helped non-expert riders stop sportbikes more quickly, and sportbikes are more likely to be piloted by the proficient than cruisers or touring bikes. Now, similarly complex hydraulics on the new Gold Wing ensure that using either brake control-pedal or lever-engages both front and rear brakes, with the rear pedal being biased toward more back brake, the hand lever more front. What this means is that instead of stopping in 300 feet from 60 with brake pedal application alone, like most motorcycles, the new Wing will stop in less than half that distance. And, perhaps best of all, the rest of the time you don’t notice there’s anything unusual about the brakes.
The Wing is like that; it works so well that it blends into the background, the perfect servant that assists without calling attention. And as if LBS wasn’t enough, our testbike was equipped with ABS, a $1000 option.
My day on the bike started early in a hotel near Tampa’s airport, proceeded toward Key West on a few hundred miles of interstate, then dodged off on the Tamiami Highway, a long straight unrolled across the Everglades. Hawks and egrets soared and perched, and an alligator basked on a log six feet off the road. On a crisp Florida morning, the miles rolled by quickly and comfortably.
On the road, the Wing got the thumbs-up from fellow Honda riders. At stops, there were a few admirers coming up to ask about it, but just a few. While handsome, the new bike carries so much of its predecessor’s DNA that civilians don’t notice the difference. Motorcyclists do, though, particularly the new aluminum frame. Lighter by 25 pounds than the steel frame it replaces, it’s also simpler and far stiffer. Fabricated from just 31 pieces (some quite complex), the new frame cuts the parts count of its predecessor by 75 percent, making manufacturing easier and helping to make up for more expensive welding and material costs.
On the narrow streets of Key West, the new Wing felt more wieldy than the old one would-and only in part because of the weight decrease. The new bike carries its weight low and the engine pulls phenomenally smoothly-subtle differences that make low-speed maneuvers easier. Steering lock, too, is generous, rivaling that of a Harley FL, so feet-up U-turns in tight quarters can be executed without concern.
Not that the new bike is perfect. The luggage lids, activated by the hidden levers under the rear of the top box, didn’t always want to latch completely with near-full bags. It was something I’d usually notice when I was ready to ride off, and the Acura-like LCD on the dash showed an open side bag. So clamber off, find the appropriate lever, open the offending bag completely, and make sure both latches grab this time. I got tired of the procedure after about the third time, but never became so familiar with the bike that I got the bags to close every time.
But the Wing made up for that flying low on I-95 toward Daytona long after sunset. After 800 miles of riding, it was still comfortable, and I was amazed at how fresh I was after 18 hours on the road. Honda has done it again.
Leg 9: 950 miles Mark Hoyer
I've never really been all that hepped-up on this long-distance stuff. So it was clear after I hung a left at Savannah, Georgia, that my brains were going to crack well before my ass, even with the latter's already noticeable and longstanding fissure. Because while sitting down for 1000 miles poses some interesting difficulties, not least of which is actually sitting down for 1000 miles, on the Gold Wing the critical interface was about as painless as could be. Not much else to endure, then, except being left alone with myself.
Leaving Daytona Beach, a town crawling with cops, I had to set the cruise control at 40 mph until I got off Florida's coastal Al A two-laner and out on the real highway. Gotta go! Gotta go! Hard to make yourself go so slow when you need to go so far. The highway in question was 1-95, the East's great north-south artery, on which I'd be moving most of the way.
The only relief from the Big Straight was my brief foray into the country, to a town called Statesboro in Georgia, for a tire change at the area Honda dealer. Lehman the mechanic was delighted it was so easy to whip off the rear wheel from the single-sided swingarm.
Simply jack the bike up on the lift, undo five lugnuts and the rim comes off in a couple of minutes. And out in the real world, it wouldn’t be much more difficult, involving only the additional removal of a panel behind the license plate and one small crossbar.
The whole operation took about 45 minutes, whereas with the old 1500, a rear-tire change was billed as 1.5 hours’ work, during which time the rear half of the bike practically had to be stripped off. For the record, this was the second rear-tire change of our trip, and though each Bridgestone radial was noticeably squared-off, it still had center tread left. We’d estimate an easy 7500 miles in regular use, with a shot at 10K if you don’t romp into the throttle too often. Good luck with that!
Honda of Statesboro’s quick work put me on the road again without enough non-riding stimulation to refresh me. So I was right back to feeling like at any point I could fall apart. Music wasn’t cutting it anymore; after six hours of tunes, my ears were tired. The CB and Weather Band were both big zeroes. Just me and my tweaked psyche now, and I still had nine hours to go!
I focused on the drive to finish, because that's the most important thing about this kind of trip: You have to need the mileage. Otherwise you'll search for, and find, infinite reasons to stop. Stopping is easier, especially as the muscles in your neck begin to seize, your knees ache and if you have to wait 200 miles to piss again, you'll simply go nuts. And wouldn't a nice meal be...nice? Can't do it. After too many candy bars, I settled in late afternoon for a sweaty gas-station hot dog, rolling attractively on metal rollers under hot lights. It tasted like a Slim Jim left in the sun for a month. I used a lot of ketchup, reasoning that since the USDA during the Reagan Administration categorized it as a vegetable in school lunches, the meal would be more rounded. It tasted good because of the hunger, and took the edge off my headache as well as giving the aspirin something to soak into besides my stomach lining. But the odometer had been still too long, so I chewed fast and swallowed dryly to hurry back onto the bike.
Through all this, the Gold Wing was an unobtrusive, supportive companion, meeting me kindly in all the right places. Best of all, though, was the split nature of the beast: Twist the loud handle and that ripping 1800cc Six barks great sounds, both from the intake and the exhaust. Quick, full-throttle blasts from 80 to 100 mph were invigorating, helping to break the monotony and keep my head clear. But just as nice was setting the cruise-control at 80 mph and kicking back-that silky-smooth pancake-motor as quiet as can be, making the big bike disappear like a comfortable piece of clothing.
Still, I imagine I’ll be waiting a long time for Honda to release a larger-displacement, better-handling, more comfortable psyche to replace this rusty, dated junk I’ve been carrying around in my skull for so long. No, the only thing I really could find wrong with the new Wing was me.
Leg 10: 870 miles Paul Seredynski
I was extremely anxious to ride the new Gold Wing, as I recently logged 13,000 cross-country miles on BMW's K1200LT for CW's upcoming Motorcycle Travel & Adventure special. Before the ride proper, though, magazine duty called. I met photographer Tom Riles and last-legger Hoyer at 6 a.m. on the Sunday before the presidential (non)election and D.C. was eerily quiet. After photos by the monuments, I departed for Bangor, Maine.
I hopped on 1-95 to the Delaware Memorial Bridge and the New Jersey Turnpike. Near the turnpike’s end, I took the Lincoln Tunnel into Manhattan for some snapshots on Broadway.
Escaping north up Manhattan’s West Side Freeway, on a parkway course to Connecticut, I was overtaken by a baritone accompaniment to the new Wing’s sharper tenor snarl. The unmistakable purr of another uid-cooled Boxer Six arrived as the latest version of Porsche’s 911 slid next to the Honda. An octave apart, we teamed up to dice traffic, cutting three-lane helixes along the Hudson before diving beneath the ramparts the George Washington Bridge. I hit the backroads of my native Connecticut, then continued north to 1-91 through Massachusetts and into Vermont, where I picked up 1-89 to Montpelier. From there, it was a straight shot east on U.S. Route 2 to Bangor.
Vermont and New Hampshire were a winter wonderland: snow flurries with temps between 34 and 40, a slick road bordered by evergreens coated with several inches of fresh white stuff-and the branding-iron handgrips still only set about halfway. Fueling at the New Hampshire line, a guy asked, “Don’t you think it’s about time you put that thing away?”
“Hell,” I replied, “we just uncrated 10 days ago.”
He eyed the odo’s 10,000 miles and walked away shaking his head.
Here’s my 2-cents comparo between the Beemer and the Wing: Honda’s new big-block is all ate up with motor and will stomp BMW’s K-bike in any grunt match. Both haul ass when spun up, but the Wing rules for low-rpm lunge. The Honda’s chassis is more solid, and its brakes, seat and lights superior. The way-low seating position is more reassuring than the somewhat tippy K-bike (especially to those of us lacking a Germanic inseam), and few bikes that weigh half as much are as stable at parking-lot speeds. The flat-Six sounds cooler.
The BMW has better fuel range and wind management-and features the Wing should have at a similar price (heated seat and grips, electrically adjustable windscreen, more versatile trip computer, etc.). Once above 20 mph, the BMW feels nimbler, and its Telelever front end is still the touring-bike benchmark. The K-bike looks cooler.
The Honda is an all-around friendlier machine that will appeal to a larger group of riders, not just those who seek agility over other traits. Unless you prioritize twisting-road performance, the Gold Wing is the machine of choice.
Leg 11: 960 miles Matthew Miles
Got moose? Maine does. At last count, 29,000 of ’em. So when a convenience-store clerk told me the 106-mile stretch along Route 11 from Fort Kent to Sherman Station was breathtakingly scenic, but that I should keep my eyes peeled for antlered types, 1 knew this wasn’t just friendly conversation. After all, the typical adult bull weighs around 800 pounds, stands 6 feet tall at the shoulders and is 9 feet long. Point being: Don’t haul ass through the woods!
By the time I reached tiny Fort Kent, the ambient temperature was in the low 30s, and the omnipresent rain had turned to sleet. Moose or no, the conditions weren’t great for riding. Nevertheless, I had a barely subdued scrap with a logging truck, the driver of which no doubt ranks as the Freightliner equivalent of a Top Gun jet-fighter pilot. Through the tight twists and over the blind rises, though, the muscled-up Gold Wing never broke stride. Impressive.
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Past Sherman Station, I hopped back on I-95 and made a beeline for Augusta, where I transitioned onto the Maine Turnpike. It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was finally peeking through the clouds. For the first time since leaving Bangor, I turned the handgrips down a couple of notches.
Heated grips are great. Because they’re optional on the Gold Wing, though, the stepped, right-side-mounted rheostat isn’t backlit, which makes it tough to locate at night. Also, it seemed to me the right grip got hotter than the left. No big deal, right? It is if you’re 800 miles into a 1000-mile day and you’re, well, freezing.
Speaking of frozen digits, it’s too bad Honda opted not to incorporate foot-warming vents, as on the previous GL. Even with wool socks and GoreTex boot liners, my toes were ice.
Despite the cold, I enjoyed an epic early-evening ride through New Hampshire and Vermont. After blitzing halfway across New York, I made it to Syracuse shortly after 1 a.m. Didn’t see a single moose all day, which is fine by me.
Leg 12: 600 miles Brian Catterson
The digital thermometer on the Gold Wing's dash read 29 degrees this morning, a fact confirmed by the thin layer of ice on the seat. It was Tuesday, November 7, Election Day, and while many Americans would be headed to the polls to vote, I was nominated to ride the Gold Wing back to Ohio to complete our Four Comers Tour.
Cold or no cold, I’m confident I had the most pleasant ride of the trip this day, for the simple reason that it was relatively short. I could have hopped on the freeway and gone the distance in seven hours, but instead, I surveyed the map and picked a route that went diagonally through the scenic Finger Lakes region of upstate New York and the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, twisting two-lane most of the way.
I tried brushing the frost off the seat but it wasn’t budging, so I turned the handlebars to full-lock so that the throttle was just above the seat, set the heated handgrips on full-blast and watched a puddle slowly form in the center. Up to that point I’d considered the heated-seat option on the BMW K1200LT kind of frivolous, but I would love to have had one then.
Despite experiencing the coldest temperatures of our trip, I was fairly comfy during my initial jaunt south down 1-81 toward Cortland, thanks to my electric jacket liner and the aforementioned heated handgrips. The thing about the grips, though, is that if you wear thick winter gloves, you can’t feel the heat very well, while if you wear lighter gloves, your palms feel warm but the backs of your hands get cold. Why is it no one makes gloves designed specifically for heated handgrips? Or, for that matter, heated footpegs, because let me tell you, my toes were far from toasty.
It was enough to make me wish Honda hadn’t re-engineered the Wing’s cylinder heads to allow for extra foot room. wouldn’t have minded an exhaust header touching each of my boot tips.
A funny thing happened as I made my way slowly through downtown Ithaca. A man on the sidewalk noticed the Wing, pointed approvingly, then hugged himself in the universal symbol for, "You must be freezing your ass off." Thing was, at that very moment I was thinking about turning down my liner's rheostat because I was getting hot!
I wended my way through Amish Country, doing my best to avoid horse-drawn buggies, toward Watkins Glen, home of the legendary roadrace course that used to host Formula 1 and now runs NASCAR, but which has too many guardrails ever to be used for motorcycle racing. There, on the twisty roads around Seneca Lake, I had a rare opportunity to sample the GL1800’s backroad prowess, and it is definitely a cut above that of the old 1500.
At the previous week’s press intro, I’d seen the new Wing’s twin-spar aluminum frame displayed bare on a table, and if someone had asked me what model it was from, I would have guessed an RC45-it’s that racy-looking. As a result, the GL1800 feels much sportier than the 1500, with a new level of tautness and steering precision.
Honda has finally seen fit to equip the Wing with wide wheels shod with radial tires, and these are much more compliant than their bias-ply predecessors. And with the tires now absorbing small pavement irregularities, the suspension could be made stiffer, which in conjunction with the anti-dive system fitted to the left fork leg greatly combats fore-aft chassis pitching.
As always, cornering clearance is an issue, but by the time the footpegs (and after that, the fairing lowers) touch down, you’re going far faster than any land-yacht has a right to. The only real fault I could find with the handling was a front-end shimmy familiar to most Gold Wing owners, which grew more pronounced as the front tire wore. But that’s not so much of a problem as it is a characteristic, attributable to the Wing’s rangy wheelbase and pronounced rearward weight bias, exacerbated by the weight of the topped-off luggage.
A weird sense of déjà vu overcame me as I navigated 1-70 between Zanesville and Columbus, Ohio. Twelve days earlier I’d ridden this same stretch of road in twilight, and now here I was again. Only this time it was dusk, not dawn, and the Gold Wing’s odometer showed more than 12,000 miles. Still going strong.
Building a better Gold Wing was never going to be easy. Honda’s design team had to somehow upgrade the GL to appeal to a new generation of younger, hipper buyers without alienating the faithful. And in that respect, they hit the nail on the head: Judged purely as a motorcycle, the Wing is better than the old one in virtually every respect.
True, it could be argued that Honda missed an opportunity by not lavishing the GL1800 with some more high-tech gadgetry-say, a global-positioning system or heads-up display. With today’s technology, it ought to be possible to take a hands-free call on your cell phone while browsing the Internet! as always, cost was a concern, and at $ 17,499-or $21,919 equipped with our testbike’s many options-the GL1800 already expensive. Better to leave something to the aftermarket-or for inevitable SE model.
Returning the bike to Honda at Marysville, we were met by Tom Briggs, Staff Engineer of New Model Development, and one of the key men in charge of Gold Wing production.
“So, how did it go?” he asked. “Fantastic,” we replied. “The bike never skipped a beat.”
What more could you ask from a touring bike?