New Gold Wing

'The 2018 Gold Wing is a stunning bike and for the first time in a long time, it has the balls to back up the baubles. If you see one in your mirrors this summer, be polite because there’s a good chance that the next thing you’ll see are its tailpipes.'

https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesoci...ld-wing-2018-review-price-specs?cid=sm_000004

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Comes in at £27k apparently.... Which buys a fully specced mothershipped K1600 with all the special bits on it.... and 5k in the back pocket for a wonderful holiday on it..

The upside is that the Wing will probably lose 10k in 10 years, the K16 will lose 8k in 8 days.... More actually....
 
Comes in at £27k apparently.... Which buys a fully specced mothershipped K1600 with all the special bits on it.... and 5k in the back pocket for a wonderful holiday on it..

The upside is that the Wing will probably lose 10k in 10 years, the K16 will lose 8k in 8 days.... More actually....

If it costs £27,000 then it'll lose £4,500 immediately in tax. So pre-reg models should be around £22.5k new.

Still a lot of cash for what it is.
 
I tried the Auto twice in Florida, Honestly did nothing for me.
I was small spins and I know doing an across continent trip would be different.
But I was thinking a 2 wheel car. Performance was nothing to shout about.
IMO the BMW six is the proper job, thrilling to ride.
 
I tried the Auto twice in Florida, Honestly did nothing for me.
I was small spins and I know doing an across continent trip would be different.
But I was thinking a 2 wheel car. Performance was nothing to shout about.
IMO the BMW six is the proper job, thrilling to ride.

Thanks for that Patz


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
I tried the Auto twice in Florida, Honestly did nothing for me.
I was small spins and I know doing an across continent trip would be different.
But I was thinking a 2 wheel car. Performance was nothing to shout about.
IMO the BMW six is the proper job, thrilling to ride.

It may well be but I wouldn’t spend £20k+ on a BMW bike with their current poor build quality etc.

You just know the Honda will never fail you and won’t start rusting 5 minutes down the road from the dealer after purchase.
 
It may well be but I wouldn’t spend £20k+ on a BMW bike with their current poor build quality etc.

You just know the Honda will never fail you and won’t start rusting 5 minutes down the road from the dealer after purchase.

True Honda durability, people buy Wing for the long range ability not speed thrills. Just with the hype and the Honda guy telling us not to put it in sport unless you are gripping the bars firmly.
Anyway I only had 2 x 20 minute spins on the bike.
 
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Honda UK have been over on the island running a demo weekend.I had a go on the new Wing.
What a bike !!! From memory, so much better than the previous one.
Very comfy seating position.Controls all work well.The audio system is VERY powerful.
Love the motor.Pulls so much better than before, especially as there's 45 kgs less to lug around.
Shame they didn't have the DCT version to try,as even the Honda guy said it's so much more of a complete package than the manual.
Handling seems very planted, with the new double wishbone at the front giving a smooth ride.
Only complaint would be that the panniers are a bit small if you plan two-up touring.
I'm not ready for one yet but I can see me owning one in a year or two when I have more time off and spending a fair bit of time based in Brittany.

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Thanks for that Arsey - I missed out on the dealer day test rides this time around - but I think I will make a trip to find one to try. One hell of a lot of money but I agree that the quality is going to be significantly better.
 
So has anyone bought one of these new Goldwings yet?
 
They were running the new Goldwings as marshals’ bikes at this year’s Festival of Speed. In a (very rare) bikermate way, I chatted to one of the riders about it.

Leaving aside a bit of possible Honda bias that might have crept in, he was - as far as I can tell - pretty honest in his summation. It’s a pretty good bike, if you want or like that kind of thing. The automatic gearbox is now very good. The low set foot pegs will scrape and maybe even snap off if you go for it. Very comfortable. The reverse gear works well. It is all but silent. It is well built. Their bikes were all Honda’s standard matt silver wrapped, just to make them the same. The wrapping was good, I must say.

It’s heavy, for sure.

It’s - to my eye at least - a good looking bike, way better than the overblown thing the Goldwing had morphed into over the years. It now makes the 1600 GT’s styling maybe look a bit old. The info-tainment screen is very nice and seems to work well. The panniers are integral. The top box is probably removable but probably not worth it.

The 1600 GT is probably better overall.... if you want to hoon ‘properly’. But for a very decent, very comfortable A to B, big distance bike for when you really don’t need to hit every apex every time at 125 mph, the new Goldwing may well fit the bill.

They are NOT cheap.

Some pretty good (honest enough, I guess) reviews here:

https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/2018-honda-gold-wing-tour-first-ride-motorcycle-review

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The 63-year-old married retiree on his third Wing riding coast to coast on the reg probably has a pretty different list of needs than the single 38-year-old IT guy who jams Slayer while trying to make the most of the occasional three-day-weekend.
is maybe not too far from the mark.
 
I had posted my brief review in the V Twin Gnarley Bar and it's really more appropriate here.

Yesterday at the Honda shop I was asked if I'd take their demo GW out and put a few miles on as they can't sell it until it reaches 2,000, needless to say I obliged. This one was a 6-speed manual sans trunk version with the short shield however they'd just added a trunk as an accessory. For reference I've owned an earlier GL1800 and the bike I was on that day was my Africa Twin.

Sitting on the bike brought back just how low the COG is on these bikes and this one definitely felt lighter and easier to upright off the stand. Seat and seating position is vastly improved over the previous version with more knee room and the seat not so shallow. Seat/bar/peg relationship is relaxed and comfortable. The engine itself is very quiet with a deep, throaty, exhaust note. The steering felt just slightly heavy and numb, not nearly so much as on a BMW K1200GT but I noticed it nevertheless and don't recall it on the previous Wing. It's one of those things you just adapt too.
For me the suspension on this bike is nothing short of amazing the way it absorbs bumps, this is the smoothest riding street motorcycle I've ever ridden. It was interesting to watch the top front suspension links rapidly moving up and down absorbing irregularities in the rough road while the ride was so smooth.
What more can I say about the power and torque? If you've ever ridden a 1800 Wing you already know there's lots of both and it comes on very smooth with no snatchy throttle or flat spots in the curve. The new 6-speed transmission seems geared perfectly with a nice spread between gears. On the previous 1800 Wing I was often trying to shift to a nonexistent 6th gear, the motor put out so much torque it really could have benefited from a taller gear. No longer an issue on the new Wing in 6th at indicated 60 mph it's loafing at 2,000 and at 3,000 you're purring along at 85. Redline is 6,000.

I hopped on an Interstate road to see how it felt at speed riding about 25 miles at 85mph with a spurt over 100 through some gentle S curves and it was absolutely stable even in sections of cracked up pavement, felt almost like riding on air. The windshield felt perfect anywhere from low to about 1/2 way up which is where I ended up leaving it which allows indirect air to my body and head with no buffeting and it's pretty quiet too. As it raises up much above 1/2 it generates negative pressure which pushes your head forward which is tiring to fight against.

Back on a curvy primary road and even with it's low COG I am aware of it's mass and slightly heavy steering and compensate by picking the correct line through curves and riding smoothly, which I should do anyway it's just on a large bike it becomes more important.

It was 93 yesterday and engine heat was quite well controlled really no more, if as much, reaching me than on the Africa Twin. The seat itself felt a little warm but I'm not sure it was heat from underneath warming it or just from me sitting on a big vinyl seat on a hot day?

Am I buying one? Not sure, suppose I could trade the Road King on one. Where would this bike fit for me? I seldom carry a passenger so I'd want the version without trunk and probably with the DCT 7-speed since I like the DCT so well on my AT. Base Wing 6-speed is $23,500 with DCT adding $1,200 so $24,700 list price. (DCT also features a reverse gear.) Oddly it doesn't come with center stand but it's only a $90 option so check that box too. For now at least I'm exercising motorcycle purchase restraint though. :D

 
The fully dressed automatic version in the UK is, if I read it correctly, close to or north of £30,000

I’m getting to like my 1600GT more and more.
 
Quite a price spread on these bikes. Gold Wing "Tour" (with the trunk) and auto transmission is $27,700, the same with airbag is $31,500. Minus the dealer's liberal discount of course.:D But then must add sales tax which varies state by state, 6% in my case.
 
I want one of these, but £30,000 is putting me right off !!!
 
Why shrink the luggage capacity on a bike designed for touring?

And if you decide to pop out for a day trip you can’t get 2 helmets in the top box (something I did a lot on my K1200LT).

A lovely bike to look at and I am sure it rides very well but for me that ruins the bike.

SB
 
Why shrink the luggage capacity on a bike designed for touring?

And if you decide to pop out for a day trip you can’t get 2 helmets in the top box (something I did a lot on my K1200LT).

A lovely bike to look at and I am sure it rides very well but for me that ruins the bike.

SB

This is also a pain on the K1600GTL - it has a decent sized top box - but just a half inch too low to get a full face lid in it, better still - 2. You can get one in each side pannier, but then you have to have it fully dressed for just days out, which you just have to live with as I ride 2 up 90% of the time.

I'll have to have a go on one, but at around 100hp compared to the 160 I have on the GTL I can't see me switching, the GTL is an awesome bike, it has it's flaws like all bikes, but that engine...……….:drool

James
 
This is also a pain on the K1600GTL - it has a decent sized top box - but just a half inch too low to get a full face lid in it, better still - 2. You can get one in each side pannier, but then you have to have it fully dressed for just days out, which you just have to live with as I ride 2 up 90% of the time.

I'll have to have a go on one, but at around 100hp compared to the 160 I have on the GTL I can't see me switching, the GTL is an awesome bike, it has it's flaws like all bikes, but that engine...……….:drool

James

Is the top box on the K smaller than the large one on the RT then. I can get a full face helmet in my top box, you just lay the helmet on its side.
 


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