Honda Gold Wing - the return of shaft drive

[Tenforeplay]

I had the opportunity to ride a minty '22 DCT today. Beautiful bike. Took me 2 minutes to adjust to the DCT. After riding a bit I did realize that it's just too much of a good thing for me. Don't love the seating position and it is a BIG bike. Not a criticism just not the match I hoped it would be.

What is the comparison to?

 

[Donk]

It is only my feelings about the GoldWing not in comparison to any bike in particular. I suppose you could use the S10 as a benchmark as it's a bike we are all familiar with.
The seating position is unique to the GoldWing, not good or bad, I prefer to have my feet either under me or slightly more forward a la police bike and it's big no matter what you compare it to. Not that big is bad it's just a big bike.

If this helps, and maybe Dirt_Dad can comment, for me and those are the key words the GoldWing is not visceral enough. I don't get enough feedback from the bike. You are too insulated from the road, it's more Cadillac than Porsche. That may be a good thing for some people but not to my taste. Sort of explains why Dirt_Dad has and likes both the Super Adventure and the 'Wing? Dirt_Dad I hope I'm not putting words in your mouth, it's your thread and I just added my feelings about the GoldWing after riding one today. Thought I'd be buying it but it didn't flip the switch for me.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Curious what phone are you using? I have the cheapest Samsung Galaxy you can buy and it has never overheated. I keep it tucked safely away in my jacket pocket so no airflow either. I have yet to use it with AA on a 90°+ day though. Battery life lasts and entire days ride if you limit phone use mainly for AA navigation.

I keep my Zumo on for backup but never set it for navigation anymore. Just keep the display zoomed in far more than AA for a different view. Google turn by turn voice commands are far superior to Garmin and real time traffic alerts are much better as well.

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Samsung S22. It also never overheated until using it with AA on the wing. I've used it forever with AA in the car. No overheating. GW will kill it in about 90 minutes. So hot, I'm wondering if it will catch fire. If I don't plug it in, same overheating issue and the battery drains fast. I noticed yesterday, even plugged into the USB of the side case, the battery was slowly draining. When it got down to 6% I plugged it into my Samsung fast charge battery and it eventually started to charge again. The GW USB just isn't enough for all day.

I recently had to change phone carriers. I gave the sales guy a perfect opportunity to sell me a new phone. After telling him about my GW AA experience, he said anything he could sell me would end up doing the same thing with AA.

It is only my feelings about the GoldWing not in comparison to any bike in particular. I suppose you could use the S10 as a benchmark as it's a bike we are all familiar with.
The seating position is unique to the GoldWing, not good or bad, I prefer to have my feet either under me or slightly more forward a la police bike and it's big no matter what you compare it to. Not that big is bad it's just a big bike.

If this helps, and maybe Dirt_Dad can comment, for me and those are the key words the GoldWing is not visceral enough. I don't get enough feedback from the bike. You are too insulated from the road, it's more Cadillac than Porsche. That may be a good thing for some people but not to my taste. Sort of explains why Dirt_Dad has and likes both the Super Adventure and the 'Wing? Dirt_Dad I hope I'm not putting words in your mouth, it's your thread and I just added my feelings about the GoldWing after riding one today. Thought I'd be buying it but it didn't flip the switch for me.

Visceral is a good word. The SAS is as visceral an experience as a motorcycle could ever provide.

The GW is not that. For me, it is an an excellent alternative to driving a Honda Ridgeline 100+ miles a day in my commute. Plus, it's a comfortable, enjoyable bike to ride in general. Put it in sport mode and it will rival the SAS for power. It is satisfying to ride in twisties, but takes more effort to keep from scraping and that makes it less relaxing in that scenario than the SAS. I absolutely enjoy the GW, but the SAS will always be my favorite.

 

[gv550]

I have samsung s21, always plugged into the Goldwing whenever I ride, running AA and waze. The phone never overheats and never dies. The battery will slowly charge while riding. I do have the airbag model so the phone connection is in the trunk.
Also, replaced the stock shocks with Wilbers suspension, no more scraping pegs........ just saying.

 

[Donk]

Also, replaced the stock shocks with Wilbers suspension, no more scraping pegs........ just saying.

I get that suspension upgrades are about the best money you can spend on a motorcycle. I have no problem when budget and middle tier Japanese bikes need suspension upgrades right out of the box but a top of the line expensive GoldWing should not.

 

[Sierra1]

It's all subjective. Just like oil.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I have samsung s21, always plugged into the Goldwing whenever I ride, running AA and waze. The phone never overheats and never dies. The battery will slowly charge while riding. I do have the airbag model so the phone connection is in the trunk.
Also, replaced the stock shocks with Wilbers suspension, no more scraping pegs........ just saying.

I found that if the phone is down below 50% when I plug it in, the GW USB will slow the depletion of the batter, but not prevent it. Interesting that yours does not overheat. Mine is ridiculous. I'm surprised it hasn't melted through the side case. I'm glad the GW has the factory installed USB, but I'd much rather have it in the top case like yours, and not the side case.

Do the Wilbers give more ground clearance? That appears to be my issue with corners. I can't imagine how much more fun this bike would be if scraping was removed from the picture.



Overall, my first multi-day, 1500+ mile ride on the GW left me feeling there's work to be done. I once watched a video of someone who sold his GW and went back to a GS because the GW is just to limited on how much it can carry. I completely understand. Simple example, I sometimes bring home a sheet pizza on the SAS. That is impossible on the stock GW.

Side cases are short and medium width. Forget about removing the case liner from the Pelican, emptying 1/2 of it and putting it in the side case of the GW. Not going to happen. Honda does sell liners, so I hope I can utilize that in the future. The 1/2 full Pelican liner went in the top case and 25% of the top case was still available. The wrap around back seat limits space for a duffel bag unless verticle. Adding a top rack to the rear case will add the ability to carry some light weight cargo. I have a lot to learn for how to pack for a 2 or 3 week ride with DM in the future.

Navigation sucks on the GW. I was going to try to see if I could get by with Android Auto apps on a long trip. No #@$% way. I've been using varios Zumo models for close to 20 years now. Google Maps is fine for turn by turn, if you want to let it pick the route. But I found no way to zoom out to give me a north up orientation on the fly for spacial orientation. I suspect there are buttons to do that, but the sequence necessary using the little controls on the GW are far to intense, distracting, and prone to buggy behavior, that's it's not worth the risk of looking at the screen for that long. Zumo is very simple to accomplish that task. Forget about using Google Maps to create a route on the phone, then use it the next day. I tried multiple times, always failed. Is that operator error...? Maybe, probably, don't care. I'm not interested in taking a class to learn how to navigate a few hundred miles.
Navigation Grade: F-

The bike itself, in what was probably 800+ miles of rain and fog over the trip: A+
The weater was as low as 40 degrees (F), in pouring rain. Heated grips set to 4 out of 5. Heated seat set to 3 out of 5. Tourmaster synergy vest set to medium heat. Completely comfortable tempature wise. I'm not sure I'd say that on any of my previous bikes. I've done it many time at that temp in dry weather with no issue on the Super Teneres and SAS, but add in rain and fog, I was glad to be on the GW. Bike handled beatuifully. The only slip I felt was at 70 MPH, high speed corner on a mountain pass in MD. There looked to be a tar snake, next to the dashed lane marker. I was leaned a bit over, changing lanes to pass, and the GW did confirm that tar snake was a slippery as I thought it might be. The GW handled it fine and it was not really anything other than a, "yep, saw that one coming" kinda moment. The GW is an awesome mile muching machine in all weather.

 

[Donk]

That sounds very positive. I'd be curious if you did your suspension how big of an improvement it makes? Met a guy on a RoadGlide Sport at a local gas station. His bike did NOT look stock, in a good way so I asked about it. He said he got tired of dragging hard parts every time he started to enjoy the ride so had the suspension redone. He had a locally well known and top notch HD mechanic set it up for him. They added 1" of travel to the front and 2" in the back. Did away with the slammed look and now he says he can go as fast as he wants even with his wife on the bike. He's no poser, was a nice guy that knew bikes, has 20k miles on it this summer so he rides it. It wasn't too loud and didn't have big speakers! I'm not crazy about the handlebars but I can let that go. The bags are much higher off the ground than a normal HD so are the floorboards. If you can fix a Harley should be pretty easy to sort a 'Wing.

 

[SilverBullet]

... Forget about using Google Maps to create a route on the phone, then use it the next day. I tried multiple times, always failed. Is that operator error...? Maybe, probably, don't care...

I know you said don't care but it is really so easy. Create your route and after adding all stops click "Done". Then click the 3 dots in upper right corner and finally click "Add route to Home screen".

When ready to ride open Google Maps by clicking just created route link on home screen. Works perfectly every time.

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[gv550]

I found that if the phone is down below 50% when I plug it in, the GW USB will slow the depletion of the batter, but not prevent it. Interesting that yours does not overheat. Mine is ridiculous. I'm surprised it hasn't melted through the side case. I'm glad the GW has the factory installed USB, but I'd much rather have it in the top case like yours, and not the side case.



Do the Wilbers give more ground clearance? That appears to be my issue with corners. I can't imagine how much more fun this bike would be if scraping was removed from the picture.

There is plenty of discussion about phone heating issues on the GL1800 forums, several aftermarket solutions with mixed reviews. You can reroute your phone data cable to the trunk (same cable) and buy the airbag model phone holder for the trunk. You can not use the cable from the side case and you must use the same data port on the audio unit. I actually don't put my phone in the Honda phone holder, that's used for my documents, my phone just lays in the trunk on top of my hat or inside a glove. Just quicker and the holder is barely big enough for modern phones.
There are 3 aftermarket suspension suppliers, Traxxion, Hyperpro and Wilbers. All 3 are vast improvements over stock, better damping and sprung for your actual weight(s). Wilbers has several advantages, more hydraulic preload adjustment, manual preload adjustment front and rear, noticeable damping adjustments, rebuildable and serviceable. My bike had 54% sag with the stock shocks, very little damping (the front tie rods were literally bouncing all the time) by 50k kms. I installed the Wilbers shocks which reduced the sag to 45% (still a lot but I didn't want to loose the cushy touring bike ride) and gained quite a bit of ground clearance. At 150k I had the Wilbers serviced and I increased the manual preload by 2mm front and rear which raised the bike even more with only slightly stiffer ride. I also uncoupled the damping adjustment from ride modes so I can select any of the three settings in any mode, and front and rear independent of each other.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I know you said don't care but it is really so easy. Create your route and after adding all stops click "Done". Then click the 3 dots in upper right corner and finally click "Add route to Home screen".

When ready to ride open Google Maps by clicking just created route link on home screen. Works perfectly every time.

Sent from my SM-A326U using Tapatalk

I think I tried that once. May give it another shot. I've learned the "Share Route" doesn't work for me.

I see a Zumo mount in the future.

There is plenty of discussion about phone heating issues on the GL1800 forums, several aftermarket solutions with mixed reviews. You can reroute your phone data cable to the trunk (same cable) and buy the airbag model phone holder for the trunk. You can not use the cable from the side case and you must use the same data port on the audio unit. I actually don't put my phone in the Honda phone holder, that's used for my documents, my phone just lays in the trunk on top of my hat or inside a glove. Just quicker and the holder is barely big enough for modern phones.
There are 3 aftermarket suspension suppliers, Traxxion, Hyperpro and Wilbers. All 3 are vast improvements over stock, better damping and sprung for your actual weight(s). Wilbers has several advantages, more hydraulic preload adjustment, manual preload adjustment front and rear, noticeable damping adjustments, rebuildable and serviceable. My bike had 54% sag with the stock shocks, very little damping (the front tie rods were literally bouncing all the time) by 50k kms. I installed the Wilbers shocks which reduced the sag to 45% (still a lot but I didn't want to loose the cushy touring bike ride) and gained quite a bit of ground clearance. At 150k I had the Wilbers serviced and I increased the manual preload by 2mm front and rear which raised the bike even more with only slightly stiffer ride. I also uncoupled the damping adjustment from ride modes so I can select any of the three settings in any mode, and front and rear independent of each other.

A lot of good information, thanks. I created a DD account on a GW forum. I did the introduction, then never went back.

My phone overheated fast in the glove box with the data cable (your airbag). Slower when plugged into the USB in the side case. But even just running on battery in the top case it didn't make 2 hours before melting down. I've had good luck with the ice bag. I also purchased a $35 mini refrigerator to stick on the back of the phone. Haven't tried that one yet.

Good to have your first-hand experience with the suspension upgrades. It's going to be a while before I have that mod in my budget. I'll consider it something on the future radar.