Re-Cycling: 2001-2010 Honda Gold Wing
Rider magazine, February 2001.
Nearly concurrent with the birth of the magazine you’re reading now was the introduction of a motorcycle that would become virtually synonymous with two-wheel touring, Honda’s Gold Wing. The first Wing, the GL1000, grew larger and gained displacement over the years until in 2001 it reached what some riders considered the apex of its evolution, and others saw as an unfortunate step past perfection.
Nobody complained about the engine, a smooth flat six with fuel injection, two valves per cylinder, a hundred horsepower and a torque curve that seemingly had no beginning and no end–it was just always there, whenever you twisted the loud handle. The shaft drive that had been standard since the beginning was now incorporated into a single-sided swingarm for easier rear-wheel service. Also standard was a reverse gear–not just handy but almost mandatory for maneuvering the nearly 900-pound Wing in tight spaces–and linked brakes, with ABS an extra-cost option. From Rider, April 2009.
Where the GL1800 significantly departed from the script written by its ancestors was in the handling department. Its grace and stability at speed was almost physics-defying, giving many touring riders their first taste of dragging hard parts in the corners well before the chassis sent any alarms upstairs. The frame itself was made of aluminum spars hefty enough to support bridges, and used the engine as a stressed member. Some 2002-model frames...
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