Honda Goldwing

Wow; it’s all I can say right now. Everything about the Goldwing is just ‘wow’. No wonder it has a huge cult-following all over the world.  So it’s big and stupidly heavy, but it’s so stable and yet so smooth. This is as close to a teleport machine as you are going to get. Put in some fuel, throw the missus on the back and head off into the sunset.  This would be the perfect bike for a cross continent trip – sticking to tarmac, that is.

The Goldwing hits the scales at 405kg dry. Yet once moving, it handles well and turns effortlessly. It loves the open road just gliding from one turn to the other. Power is available in top gear from literally anywhere and this is thanks to the 1832cc 6 cylinder engine. And boy does that engine make the best noise when you are hanging on the throttle. It sounds just like a GT3 Porsche!  Acceleration is not earth shattering, but it does get up and go very quickly for a motorcycle that most onlookers describe as a car with 2 wheels. It makes 88kw and 167 nm from the boxer 6 and it’s driven by a smooth shaft drive.

Wind, rain and sun; it’s what riding a motorcycle is all about. The Goldwing does such a great job of protecting you from those elements; I can understand why it’s so popular in Europe and the US. We’ve had some pretty nasty south easterly winds in Cape Town recently and this bike just laughs at it. Everybody who rides knows about the slight off camber lean when it gets windy. This just holds its line and asks for more wind, and even then, all you have is a little push from the side with no wind whatsoever coming from the front, all taken care of by the huge height-adjustable screen.

The gearbox is a 5 speed with overdrive and electric reverse. I only used the reverse 2 times or so and most of the time it’s not needed. Rpms are car-like at cruising speed and the Goldwing would probably top out around 210kph, at which it should still be pretty stable.

The stopping power is taken care of by dual 296mm discs with 3 piston callipers on the front and a single 316mm disk on the rear with 3 piston callipers on the rear. Stopping power is impressive for something of this size.

The front suspension features a 45mm fork with anti-dive and a total of 140mm travel. The rear a pro-arm single sided swing arm with electronically preload adjustment with 2 memory pre-sets, controlled from the dash, has a total travel of 104mm.

Now, getting to the gadgets, which most motorcyclists aren’t used to having. Firstly, it has cruise control. Works exactly like a car, with a deactivation when you get on the brakes. Works lovely on the open road, would have been better if the throttle was fly by wire and not conventional cable. You can feel the throttle turning when the bike accelerates. It’s not a biggy, just my personal preference.  The radio is a 2 speaker unit which is controlled from either the centre area or the left handlebar, with volume control and radio station seek. It also has an intercom which is a simple plug-and-play with your headsets. There is a line in for Mp3 players sitting in the left front cubbyhole.  There are also heated seats and heated grips, both controlled from the dash, and the pillion seat heat is controlled from the rear respectively.

 

Luggage space is pretty impressive. The top box takes 2 full face helmets and the side panniers will take a big rucksack (or camera bag) on the one side and 2 heavy leather jackets on the other. It might be a tight squeeze, but it will fit. The topbox is also controlled via remote, so it can be conveniently unlocked with the press of a button. The sides, unfortunately, need to be pulled open from underneath the topbox.

There has always been a comparison between the Harley Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic and the Goldwing. The Goldwing lacks the character of the Electra Glide, but makes up for it in comfort, handling and wind protection. It’s also much faster and consumes more fuel. On average we got 270km on 20liters of fuel. Not bad for a 1800cc boxer 6.

The Wing is just one of those bikes you need to ride, even if it’s just once in your life. I completely understand now why they have a huge following!