Riding the new Gold Wing

By Réhann Coetzee

In April we reported that Honda’s latest Gold Wing is on its way to our shores. It was indeed unveiled at the Auto Trader SA Bike Festival at the end of May.

Although it was quite clearly a Gold Wing, what immediately grabs you is that this is a smaller bike than its predecessors. Although it still has a huge 1 800cc six-cylinder engine, the bike does not look like a tour bus anymore.

Toshiaki Konaka, president of Honda SA unveiled the Gold Wing and he said that this was a real rider’s bike. That is why it has smaller dimensions. And to be honest, it was probably time to relook the Gold Wing formula. The predecessor might have been a sublime cruiser, but you needed to take care going around twisties, because scraping a foot peg happened really quickly.

I was quite excited when I got an email asking if I’d like to test the Gold Wing for a week. Normally test bikes are handed over for a week and that way, even if you have a very busy week, there would be time to ride the test unit over a weekend too. But two days later I got an email saying I can only have the tour bike for three days: Tuesday to Thursday.

It was quite a disappointment, because the Gold Wing is definitely aimed at the commuter. It is a tourer of note. Quite arguably the king of touring bikes since it was introduced in 1975 with a 1 000cc engine. Honda has managed to keep the recipe going with the Gold Wing’s engine increasing in size over the years: 1 100cc in 1980, 1 200cc in 1984, to a six-cylinder 1 500cc in 1987 and to 1 800cc in 2001.

So not exactly a bike that you can form a proper opinion on by riding it around town. I managed to fit in a quick meeting in Pretoria and rode it back in peak-hour traffic. In spite of my bitterness with the shorter test period, I still gave the bike back with a very heavy heart.

It truly is a rider’s bike. Although it is still bulky, I won’t mind commuting on it. The DCT gearbox has seven gears and with the riding mode set to Tour, this is a surprisingly easy bike to ride – in any conditions. Coming back from Pretoria I had to hurry to meet my deadline with the people fetching the bike and I rode it in Sport and in manual in the N1 peak-hour traffic.

Seventh gear feels like an overdrive ratio and while riding fast in manual, I didn’t shift higher than sixth gear. In seventh gear the reaction from the throttle is too slow. Once I turned off the highway, I switched back to auto, still in Sport. And the Gold Wing makes for quite the commuter in that mode – if you don’t mind the bike’s bulk.

Luxuries include a proper sound system, comprehensive luggage and even an electric reverse gear included.

As reported earlier, the Gold Wing now has a ride-by-wire throttle and four riding modes: Tour, Sport, Econ and Rain. Traction control makes sure the right side stays up and the damping and combined braking system adapt to the riding mode. It also has a hill-start-assist function – something I still find senseless on a motorcycle.

The Wing also has a smart-key system, Apple CarPlay and Bluetooth connectivity.

I didn’t get to use the speed control, but I imagine it must be a very smooth system.

Like all new bikes, the Gold Wing also has a 7-inch colour TFT LCD display screen this displays information on the audio and navigation system as well as the tyre pressure.

Honda’s ultimate tourer is available on special order and you can chose between a six-speed manual gearbox or a 7-speed ducal-clutch transmission (DCT). As far as I’m concerned, the DCT is already my preference on the Africa Twin and on this big bike it is the same.

I am very happy that Honda’s only media demo unit is the DCT version. I don’t know how smooth the powertrain would be with the manual box, but I cannot imagine that it would be anything as smooth as the DCT. But it’s not just that it is smooth. It really works very well. So well that it seems senseless to want to change from Drive to Manual. The gearbox hardly ever gets the cog-swopping wrong and it is perfectly matched with the engine.

I rode the BMW K1600 GTL a while ago (for a whole week) and I was mightily impressed. The engine is really powerful and smooth; and the bike is a smooth operator. But although the Gold Wing is also a heavy bike, it is easier to ride slowly around town. And it feels as if you need less effort to ride it, even though it has less power than the BMW. The BMW would probably have a much higher top speed, but that might not be a deciding factor when choosing a luxury tourer that costs close to R400 000.

I think Honda has now taken back the tourer crown. This will definitely be one of my top-three for Bike of The Year.

Technically speaking: Honda GL Gold Wing DCT

Engine: 1 833, flat-6-cylinder, double-overhead cam, four valves per cylinder, liquid-cooled

Power: 93kW @ 5 500rpm / 170Nm @ 4 500rpm         

Gears: 7-speed DCT or 6-speed manual, with reverse, shaft drive

Fuel tank: 21,1 litres

Seat height: 745mm

Tyres: 130/70/18 front, 200/55/16 rear

Brakes: 6-piston, 320mm double disks (front); 3-piston 316mm single disk (rear)

Wet weight: 383kg

Price: DCT R392 000 (manual R367 000)