wagoneer12
28th April 2005, 18:33
2005 30th Anniversary Honda Goldwing Review
Before I start, let me describe my motorcycle experiences. My grandparents drove Harley’s in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I was born in 1970 and the only bike I remember them having was a 1977 Honda Goldwing. I remember taking rides on it when I was 8 to 10 yrs old. Fast-forward to 2004, after longing for a Harley for several years, a life changing event got me in motion to buy a starter bike. I looked at used Japenese, new Japenese, used Harley, and finally decided to skip the “starter bike” part and get on a new Sportster 883C in June 2004. Boy am I glad I did. I haven’t looked at non-Harley bikes since. Until my buddy asked me to drive home his new Goldwing for him.
As I wandered the dealership, I really started to see the differences between Harley Davidson and the rest. The Suzuki’s, Kawasaki’s and Honda’s (no Yamaha’s here) were extremely “chintzy” looking. I pushed on the “chrome” pieces and turn signals and was surprised to notice that about half the time, they gave in and were actually plastic! The fenders looked too plainly shaped. The plating on the wheels was crap. I was surprised at how low quality they actually were once you started looking closely and touching things. I still think Big Twins are a bit overpriced, but the Sporty is a bargain, especially compared to the “Jap Crap”.
On to the Goldwing. This thing was 19,000 dollars to get it out the door. IMO that would buy a pretty decent Harley Tourer, as in take your pick! I tried to talk my buddy into something Harley, but I also didn’t want to push him too hard. Anyway, he settled on the Wing.
It is probably a bit unfair to compare a new, un-“broken in” touring bike to a Sportster, but I have never driven a Harley Tourer....so......
The walkaround:
Where is the engine? I couldn’t see it. Where is the drive system? (I know its shaft but I couldn’t see it either”. Where is the gas tank? Oil tank? It has a radiator and I didn’t see that either. I noticed an awful lot of plastic “chrome” for $19000. It may be lighter and let you go faster, but it is still plastic. It was actually not as big as I expected it to be, I was quite surprised about that. It had a bunch of little badges for “30th Ann.” which was a nice touch. It definitely doesn’t look like a Harley. It almost looks like a spaceship. It was fairly nice looking, but I just don’t want to own it.
The features:
Adjustable beam projection for the headlight. AM/FM/Weather, preset buttons. Adjustable ride height for rear suspension, with two memory positions. Electric Reverse. Indicator light for top gear 5th. Gas gauge, temperature gauge. Lots of little storage places all over the fairing, lots of vents in the fairing. Adjustable height windshield, that actually is removable too. 4”x6” LCD screen that displays everything else.
The ride:
I am 5’10 and I flat foot my Sporty with my legs bent at the knees pretty good and I have a Sundowner seat. The Wing is very w i d e across the seat. The pegs are in the mid position and I had to put my feet to the outsides of the pegs. This left me with just the balls of my feet on the ground and I’m 5’10”!!! I really would have liked to flat foot it, since it weighs over 800 lbs wet.
The steering was surprisingly light and nimble. The brakes seemed o.k., nothing special. Apparently one of the brake pedals operates the front and rear at the same time. I didn’t notice this, because I always use both brakes on the Sporty and I did it on the Wing also.
The clutch was light and the shifting was pretty smooth. It felt pretty comfortable once I was going down the road. Hardly any wind hits your body, which would allow for putting on some serious miles with little to no fatigue. I felt pretty stupid on it considering I was wearing my black leather jacket, black gloves, and black boots. Just didn’t seem “right”. Whenever I hit a bump I could hear the hard luggage rattle.
I can’t really speak to the power and acceleration. It had one mile on the odometer. I never got it above 2800 rpm or 62mph. I noticed once that I was going 40mph in top gear and the engine was not lugging at all.
Overall, it was pretty uninspiring. I could see how it would be comfy, have lots of storage, and you could put on serious miles. But I think a Jeep CJ with the top down would probably be more fun than this thing. I love my Sporty.
Someday I hope to have a Road King Classic in my garage next to at least one sporty, maybe two. I sure hope the first ride on the King will be better than this Wing. If it’s not, it may just be Sporties for life as my primary bike!!
Before I start, let me describe my motorcycle experiences. My grandparents drove Harley’s in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I was born in 1970 and the only bike I remember them having was a 1977 Honda Goldwing. I remember taking rides on it when I was 8 to 10 yrs old. Fast-forward to 2004, after longing for a Harley for several years, a life changing event got me in motion to buy a starter bike. I looked at used Japenese, new Japenese, used Harley, and finally decided to skip the “starter bike” part and get on a new Sportster 883C in June 2004. Boy am I glad I did. I haven’t looked at non-Harley bikes since. Until my buddy asked me to drive home his new Goldwing for him.
As I wandered the dealership, I really started to see the differences between Harley Davidson and the rest. The Suzuki’s, Kawasaki’s and Honda’s (no Yamaha’s here) were extremely “chintzy” looking. I pushed on the “chrome” pieces and turn signals and was surprised to notice that about half the time, they gave in and were actually plastic! The fenders looked too plainly shaped. The plating on the wheels was crap. I was surprised at how low quality they actually were once you started looking closely and touching things. I still think Big Twins are a bit overpriced, but the Sporty is a bargain, especially compared to the “Jap Crap”.
On to the Goldwing. This thing was 19,000 dollars to get it out the door. IMO that would buy a pretty decent Harley Tourer, as in take your pick! I tried to talk my buddy into something Harley, but I also didn’t want to push him too hard. Anyway, he settled on the Wing.
It is probably a bit unfair to compare a new, un-“broken in” touring bike to a Sportster, but I have never driven a Harley Tourer....so......
The walkaround:
Where is the engine? I couldn’t see it. Where is the drive system? (I know its shaft but I couldn’t see it either”. Where is the gas tank? Oil tank? It has a radiator and I didn’t see that either. I noticed an awful lot of plastic “chrome” for $19000. It may be lighter and let you go faster, but it is still plastic. It was actually not as big as I expected it to be, I was quite surprised about that. It had a bunch of little badges for “30th Ann.” which was a nice touch. It definitely doesn’t look like a Harley. It almost looks like a spaceship. It was fairly nice looking, but I just don’t want to own it.
The features:
Adjustable beam projection for the headlight. AM/FM/Weather, preset buttons. Adjustable ride height for rear suspension, with two memory positions. Electric Reverse. Indicator light for top gear 5th. Gas gauge, temperature gauge. Lots of little storage places all over the fairing, lots of vents in the fairing. Adjustable height windshield, that actually is removable too. 4”x6” LCD screen that displays everything else.
The ride:
I am 5’10 and I flat foot my Sporty with my legs bent at the knees pretty good and I have a Sundowner seat. The Wing is very w i d e across the seat. The pegs are in the mid position and I had to put my feet to the outsides of the pegs. This left me with just the balls of my feet on the ground and I’m 5’10”!!! I really would have liked to flat foot it, since it weighs over 800 lbs wet.
The steering was surprisingly light and nimble. The brakes seemed o.k., nothing special. Apparently one of the brake pedals operates the front and rear at the same time. I didn’t notice this, because I always use both brakes on the Sporty and I did it on the Wing also.
The clutch was light and the shifting was pretty smooth. It felt pretty comfortable once I was going down the road. Hardly any wind hits your body, which would allow for putting on some serious miles with little to no fatigue. I felt pretty stupid on it considering I was wearing my black leather jacket, black gloves, and black boots. Just didn’t seem “right”. Whenever I hit a bump I could hear the hard luggage rattle.
I can’t really speak to the power and acceleration. It had one mile on the odometer. I never got it above 2800 rpm or 62mph. I noticed once that I was going 40mph in top gear and the engine was not lugging at all.
Overall, it was pretty uninspiring. I could see how it would be comfy, have lots of storage, and you could put on serious miles. But I think a Jeep CJ with the top down would probably be more fun than this thing. I love my Sporty.
Someday I hope to have a Road King Classic in my garage next to at least one sporty, maybe two. I sure hope the first ride on the King will be better than this Wing. If it’s not, it may just be Sporties for life as my primary bike!!