THE MAGNIFICENT GOLD WING
HONDA
Honda's flagship touring mount, the mighty
Gold Wing, might be in a category all its own.
Unlike the current crop of American V-twin
cruisers, it stands alone as Honda's 1833cc
flat-six luxury land yacht, rebuffing the classic
cruiser form in favor of its own modern yet
sensible appearance. The Wing has come a long
way since its birth as a naked-style standard in
1975, and emerged last year as a new-from-
the-road-up luxury tourer, this time carrying
Honda's signature fully automatic Dual Clutch
Transmission (DCT). A first for the big cruiser,
DCT takes the task of shifting and clutch-work
out of the equation for a seamless ride, an
effortless experience that even seasoned riders
are warming to.
Back in 1972, still drunk with power in the
wake of the success of its groundbreaking
CB750 superbike, Honda put together an R&D
design team to find out what that next big
thing would be. Leading design was Shoichiro
Irimajiri, whose previous successes included
designing Honda's multi-cylinder MotoGP
engines and their Formula One V12 engine,
meaning any motorcycle to came out of that
think tank would be a performer. At first they
intended to go with a high-performance follow
up to the CB750 but after taking a hard look
at North America's penchant for long-distance
touring, they veered into that territory and the
Gold Wing was born. In the decades following,
the Wing has become one of the preeminent
leaders in the luxury bagger field, offering
innovative options such as Honda's intuitive
automatic DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission).
The upgrades continue for 2019, and Honda's
Gold Wing models now have two SmartKeys
and receive Navigation System software
updates that include voice route guidance and
points of interest that continue even after the
ignition is turned off and turned back on.
Naturally, Honda is also continuing its other
fine lines of cruiser options, including the
chopper-styled V-twin Fury, the simple and sleek
Shadow and the affordable Rebel machines,
available in 500 and 300 versions.
CYCLE NEWS CRUISER BUYERS GUIDE
