Honda Gold Wing - the return of shaft drive

[Sierra1]

I highly prefer riding a motorcycle, about the only time I prefer 4 wheels is during bad weather, I currently have 96 months of consecutive motorcycle riding, mostly on Goldwing.

Wow! I'm the same, but my bad weather is not the same as your bad weather. For the most part Texas doesn't even get y'all's bad weather. I don't even ride below 45°.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Nice video but damn you Dirt Dad! I've had GoldWing on the brain for a year now and that didn't help!

Okay Donk, I put more negative info into Part 2. Maybe that will help you reisist getting a Gold Wing. Good luck.

 

[Sierra1]

So, am I understanding correctly that in sport mode, that throttle is touchy like the Tenere's?

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I'll say small throttle twists are noticeably more responsive on the Gold Wing than my SAS in Sport. I rode all my Super Teneres in Sport, and always ride my KTMs in Sport. Of all those bikes, the Gold Wing requires the least amount of throttle movement to get a big response.

Some people may call that twitchy, but that definition is far to negative for me. I just say it takes more practice to master the Sport mode throttle nuances.

It's a non-issue in any other mode. I've been applying Dougbug's words trying to use a lot more Tour mode, adding in thumb shifting when needed. That seems to be working well for highway riding. Sport is good off highway.

 

[Sierra1]

Don't get me wrong, I love the "twitchy" Tenere throttle. I just found it interesting that the 'Wing seems to have a similar style throttle. Which makes me wonder if folks would/will be sending the ECU off to get flashed to eliminate that.

 

[Cycledude]

Supposedly a couple outfits got big fines for flashing Goldwing ECM’s so there ain’t no place doing them anymore.

 

[Donk]

Glad you're enjoying it. Rode an Indian Challenger and of all the big busses I like that the best. Not that I'm buying anything that weighs that much right now.

 

[Donk]

Dirt Dad have you ever put a GPS on the GoldWing? Reason I ask is because a pesky naysayer was trashing the NC750X on another forum and when I posted a link of one doing 199kph he said that was all speedo error. Based on Hondas of the past it was sort of a hard point to argue so this morning I hung a GPS on the NC and went for a 100 mile coffee run. Shocker of shockers the speedo was dead nuts accurate. I didn't believe it myself so checked with a friend who owns same bike and he confirmed it. So then of course I got wondering about your GoldWing?

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I ride with Android Auto tuned on 99% of my GW riding time. The other 1% of time my phone has over heated and is busy trying to melt the side case...but I digress.

Anyway, I have GPS running all the time. I have never noticed any deviation that makes me suspect speedo error. I'm pretty sure I would notice. My commute is on an interstate that requires speeds that would expose an error. It's never even crossed my mind. And I'm a guy who has used SpeedHealers in the past.

The main thing about the GW speedo is it is not on the TFT. I found that odd, even bizarre at first. Now I understand. I've experienced enough TFT lock-ups, crashes, and random "you can't do that while riding" message frozen on the screen, that a TFT speedo would be a bad idea.

 

[gv550]

And, The Goldwing speedometer is analog, so you can't compare digits. My speedometer does read a bit fast, maybe 1 or 2 percent, nowhere near the error of my T12. My Harley speedometer on the other hand, is dead nuts accurate.

 

[Donk]

The GoldWing speedo is analog on the '18 and up too?

 

[Highwayman]

Congrats. You made the right choice. A buddy went the BMW 1600 route. I asked why not get the GW? Too many weird issues with them. The GW really makes more sense for its intended missions of touring. I'd much rather be on a GW crossing the country for both reliability and dealer network.

Last I talked to him he was having issues of burning a quart of oil every 1k.... And of course the BMW shuffle at both corporate and dealership levels. Gotta love the disrespect on a nearly 30k purchase.

 

[Sierra1]

. . . . Last I talked to him he was having issues of burning a quart of oil every 1k....

The RT I had was guzzling oil like that too. Oddly enough, at 60k miles, it used almost none. Which would have been awesome if the rest of bike hadn't been junk by that time.

 

[Highwayman]

The RT I had was guzzling oil like that too. Oddly enough, at 60k miles, it used almost none. Which would have been awesome if the rest of bike hadn't been junk by that time.

Thats crazy... Ive never had any MC burn through oil like that, not even my built HDs. Ive never had to add oil in any of my MCs between 3 k changes. The only "oil burner" I own is my old Chevy P/U and that goes through a quart every 3k.

I get the flat motors tending to burn more, but an inline six shouldn't be having issues. From what I understand theyve had issues with cylinder bores out of round as an issue.

 

[Donk]

The older RTs had cylinders and rings that were some kind of hard. It was not unusual for them to use oil up to 25-30,000 miles and then to just about stop (burning oil).

 

[Sierra1]

 

[Donk]

That kit is available for a variety of bikes at about $16,000.! It's scary to ride and the bike can still fall over. I flat out refused to do test rides on them at the shop after the first one.

 

[Sierra1]

I don't see the advantage other than on wet pavement. The 'Wing handles well and can probably lean further without the extra front wheel. I test drove one once and was amazed at how well it handled. Was quite "flickable" and easy to grind the pegs/boards.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

The Wing grinding hard parts in the twisties is one of the reason the SAS will never leave me. The big bike is a hoot in the curves, but does require a significant amount of body-english to have a spirited ride.

 

[Cycledude]

Speedometers on earlier Goldwings like my 2002 read quite a bit faster than gps speeds, at 60mph gps my Goldwing will show about 65mph, in later years that issue was was pretty much corrected.
My 2013 Tenere was off by about the same amount, 2014 and up Tenere speedometers are usually only 1-2 mph fast at 60 mph gps .