The all-new 2018 Honda Gold Wing, shown here in the top-line Tour DCT Airbag version, comes in four additional model variations with and without a top trunk and 6-speed manual or 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT). Compared to the similarly-equipped 2017 model the new bike is said to be nearly 90 pounds lighter.
Honda?s iconic Gold Wing dominated the heavyweight-touring category for many years thanks to its combination of smooth, stump-pulling power, excellent handling for its size, luxurious, wind-protected comfort for two and class-leading convenience features. Ironically, the first Gold Wing lacked such well-defined direction. Honda intended the 1975 GL1000 flat four to be the ?King of Motorcycles,? a do-it-all machine with unsurpassed smoothness, power and handling that would showcase the company?s engineering prowess and hopefully steal the superbike crown back from Kawasaki?s mighty Z1 900, which wrested it from the Honda CB750 in 1973. Though the Wing didn?t quite trounce the Z1, as fate would have it there wasn?t a large, smooth, reliable and comfortable bike like it on the market in the late ?70s, and long-distance riders quickly promoted the Gold Wing to the king of touring motorcycles. The bike spawned an entire industry of accessories like fairings, luggage, lighting and seats around it, and as the years passed it became more and more integrated and capable, right up to the latest Gold Wing GL1800 flat six that has soldiered on relatively unchanged...