Sitting astride a 1975 Honda Gold Wing GL1000, a motorbike solely a pair years youthful than I’m, my eyes took within the Sweet Blue Inexperienced paint on the “tank” (it’s only a cowl since gasoline is saved beneath the seat), the marginally sun-faded twin gauges, and the colourful indicator lights nestled between them.
My nostril smelled unburned gasoline. The 999cc flat-4 engine, which had been operating steadily for the higher a part of an hour, was operating wealthy.
My gloved palms held the ribbed rubber grips, and my proper hand twisted the cable-actuated throttle to rev the engine. Butter {smooth} with a throaty burble from the dual pipes.
My left foot pressed the shifter down into 1st with an audible clunk. I eased out the clutch, which had a really slender friction zone, with as a lot finesse as I may muster, not desirous to stall it in entrance of an viewers.
I used to be within the last pairing of journalists who would journey a first-year Gold Wing and a current-year Gold Wing – a fiftieth Anniversary Version resplendent in Everlasting Gold, a colorway impressed by iconic GL1200 and GL1500 paint schemes – back-to-back at Barber Motorsports Park, a fantastic racetrack that twists and turns amongst rolling inexperienced hills close to Birmingham, Alabama.
Two weeks earlier, I had spent almost a full day chasing Senior Editor Kevin Duke across the Winding Highway Course, a 4.5-mile take a look at monitor on the Honda Proving Heart in California’s Mojave Desert, on an an identical Everlasting Gold GL1800 for our video “Suppose You Know the Honda Gold Wing? Suppose Once more.” Test it out beneath.
At Barber, I needed to journey the GL1000 first so I may begin in the beginning of the Gold Wing story. However that additionally meant I’d get my first-ever journey on a 50-year-old bike (earlier than this, the oldest Wing I had ridden was Rider’s former photograph wagon, a 2000 GL1500 SE twenty fifth Anniversary Version) whereas additionally on my first-ever journey across the Barber monitor, a difficult circuit with a number of blind crests that had an impediment course of distracting visitors cones left over from a Porsche driving faculty that had simply completed for the day.
Associated: 50 Years of the Honda Gold Wing
As I pulled onto the monitor and commenced to speed up, my first anxious thought was Don’t crash! The GL1000 was a fantastic instance of a 50-year-old basic on mortgage from a personal proprietor, and I didn’t wish to be that man.
My subsequent thought was This factor feels small! With no fairing and no windscreen, the GL1000 all however disappeared from view, and the 640-lb bike felt gentle and slim between my knees.
After finishing the primary half-lap, as soon as I noticed that the purple sprint gentle that got here on each time I utilized the brakes was regular and that the gearbox wanted to be handled with care to keep away from chirping the rear tire throughout downshifts, I got here to understand how a lot of the unique Gold Wing DNA has been handed down over 5 many years and 6 mannequin generations.
The primary-year GL1000, which, within the phrases of Massive Venture Chief Hisaho Nozue, was designed to be a “grand tourer with aristocratic magnificence,” had all of the traits that grew to become Gold Wing hallmarks: a smooth-running liquid-cooled flat engine; beneficiant low-end torque; simple however regular dealing with because of a low middle of gravity, courtesy of the engine configuration and underseat gasoline tank; shaft last drive; and long-haul consolation.
My two laps round Barber amounted to lower than 5 miles on the GL1000, however I’d gladly have ridden it cross-country.
Swapping over to the 2025 Wing was revelatory. Sure, it felt extra acquainted since I’ve put 1000’s of miles on sixth-gen GL1800s. But it surely was a quantum leap, a sudden time warp from previous to current, from analog to digital. The 1975 Wing was extremely refined by up to date requirements, nevertheless it appeared crude in comparison with the modern-day GL1800. And the way may it not be, given the large period of time, effort, and assets dedicated to the Gold Wing’s evolution over the previous 50 years?
As succesful as both GL was on a monitor, that’s not their pure habitat. Touring, at no matter velocity, is the alpha and omega of the Gold Wing. To let the 2025 Gold Wing really shine, we packed our GL baggage liners, loaded them in trunks and facet instances, and hit the highway for 2 days.
Earlier than leaving the resort car parking zone, we paired our smartphones and Bluetooth headsets with the bikes. Wi-fi compatibility with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is new for 2025, and there’s no longer a built-in nav system since most individuals use Google Maps, REVER, or different smartphone apps for routing.
Our crew saddled up on a mixture of fiftieth Anniversary Gold Wings – the usual “bagger” mannequin and the trunk-equipped Tour mannequin, each 6-speed manual-transmission and 7-speed automated Twin Clutch Transmission variations.
We spent our first day using south via Alabama on nation roads. Our tempo was relaxed, and with nothing new to determine – I already knew what all of the buttons have been for and tips on how to change settings – I left the Wing in Tour mode and let the DCT do the shifting for me. One in every of Honda’s PR guys led the journey and the music on my iPhone was on shuffle, so I didn’t must determine the place to go or what to take heed to; I simply sat again and loved a worry-free journey on a light, sunny day.
The languid tempo afforded me the headspace to consider the Gold Wing’s legacy. Whereas there are different bikes which have left their mark, there are few bikes – maybe none – which have had such a big impression on the trade at massive. The Gold Wing actually wasn’t the primary touring bike, nevertheless it was the primary to rework and broaden the idea of what touring may very well be.
Because of brisk gross sales within the ’70s and ’80s, the Gold Wing nearly single-handedly created and supported a thriving aftermarket. Throughout that period, the Gold Wing grew to become the gold commonplace of luxurious touring, a lot in order that competitors from different Japanese OEMs – within the type of the Kawasaki Voyager, Suzuki Cavalcade, and Yamaha Enterprise – got here and went. In later years, BMW’s Ok 1200 LT and Ok 1600 GTL offered a European different, however not a lot in the best way of significant competitors. And as spectacular as at this time’s Harley-Davidson and Indian V-Twin touring fashions are, they’ll’t match the Gold Wing when it comes to dealing with, consolation, and refinement.
Associated: BMW Ok 1600 GTL vs. Honda Gold Wing Tour Comparability Overview
The GL1800 that debuted in 2001 was a lot sportier than the GL1500 it changed, and the all-new GL1800 launched in 2018 was sportier nonetheless. But, even a quarter-century later, the Gold Wing nonetheless struggles to shake its stigma as an “outdated man’s bike” and a “sofa on wheels.” These labels are thrown round lots, most frequently by individuals who have by no means ridden a Gold Wing – the identical ones who get red-faced when they’re handed by a Gold Wing on a curvy highway. Whereas it lacks the cornering clearance of a devoted sport-tourer, the GL can maintain its personal whereas delivering all the luxurious it’s recognized for.
The farther south we rode, the flatter the terrain grew to become. In comparison with roads that go over mountains or via canyons, one may say the route was boring. However that’s lacking the purpose. I used to be pleased to cruise alongside with out worrying about blind corners or scraping pegs. On the Barber and Honda tracks, I appreciated the Gold Wing’s unflappable stability, monster 6-piston entrance brakes, and deep nicely of torque. On Alabama backroads, I appreciated the wind safety, consolation, and conveniences of cruise management, DCT, and Apple CarPlay.
We stopped for lunch in Troy, a quiet group in southeastern Alabama with a picturesque city sq.. A number of hours later, we crossed into Florida. We cruised down lengthy, principally straight roads via Apalachicola Nationwide Forest as late-afternoon gentle filtered via tall stands of slash pines. The solar had set by the point State Route 65 ended on the Gulf of Mexico. We turned proper on U.S. Route 98, crossed Apalachicola Bay in the dead of night, and dropped our sidestands in entrance of the Gibson Inn, a historic resort in Apalachicola.
We rose early and rode east on U.S. 98 alongside the Gulf Coast, crossed Ochlockonee Bay, and cruised via flat woodlands. After espresso in Perry, we turned south on U.S. Route 19. The highway was flat and the surroundings uninteresting, principally stubby palmetto bushes interspersed with the occasional auto/physique store or country-cookin’ diner. My reminiscence banks grew to become flooded with pictures from my teen years in Florida: rope-swinging from a cypress tree into the Suwanee River; swimming with manatees in crystal-clear springs; piling in a pal’s automotive to drive to Panama Metropolis for spring break.
We continued eastward to central Florida for a late lunch in Ocala. We lastly discovered just a few twisties within the Seminole State Forest, however they have been spoiled by commuter visitors. After 700 miles over two days, we arrived in Dayona Seashore.
Because the solar was setting, we rolled down Worldwide Speedway Boulevard. It was Friday, February 28, the primary day of Bike Week – the 84th annual version of the world’s largest bike rally. We crossed the Intercoastal Waterway and rolled via the raucous pandemonium of Primary Avenue, which was restricted to bike visitors solely and awash in sights, very loud sound techniques, and folk having fun with the scene.
Associated: 2025 Daytona Bike Week Recap
After we put down our kickstands for the final time and handed over the important thing fobs, I felt dissatisfied. I didn’t need the journey to finish. I needed to maintain going. Someplace. Anyplace.
The following day, we went to Daytona Worldwide Speedway, the place bike producers hosted demo rides, distributors had cubicles and tents arrange, and races ran all week. Honda had an infinite show space to rejoice the fiftieth anniversary of the Gold Wing, together with one instance of each mannequin technology: GL1000, GL1100, GL1200, GL1500, GL1800 SC47 (2001-2017), and GL1800 SC79 (2018-2025).
Going from mannequin to mannequin, Lee Edmunds, a former promoting director at American Honda, and Matthew Miles, a former editor at Cycle and Cycle World, gave us a historical past lesson in regards to the Gold Wing. Edmunds and Miles have been instrumental in compiling a guide in regards to the Gold Wing that will probably be given as a present to all prospects who purchase a 2025 fiftieth Anniversary Version. Former Rider staffer Jamie Elvidge wrote a number of chapters for the guide, and her essay “Love Letter to the Gold Wing” is reprinted within the Might 2025 situation.
It was an honor to be part of the Gold Wing’s fiftieth anniversary celebration. And it’s been an honor to put in writing yet one more chapter within the Gold Wing story, which has been central to Rider’s story for 50 of our 51 years.
2025 Honda Gold Wing Tour fiftieth Anniversary Version
- Base Worth: $29,200
- Worth as Examined: $29,700 (Tour DCT)
- Web site: Powersports.Honda.com
- Engine Kind: Liquid-cooled, longitudinal opposed flat-Six, Unicam SOHC w/ 4 valves per cyl.
- Displacement: 1,833cc
- Bore x Stroke: 73.0 x 73.0mm
- Transmission: 7-speed Twin Clutch Transmission automated (as examined)
- Closing Drive: Shaft
- Wheelbase: 66.9 in.
- Rake/Path: 30.5 levels/4.3 in.
- Seat Top: 29.3 in.
- Moist Weight: 845 lb (as examined)
- Gas Capability: 5.5 gal.
