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What You Need to Know About the 2018 Honda Gold Wing

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We just finished riding the 2018 Honda Gold Wing Tour in Austin, Texas – a day early I might add…because it’s snowing…in Texas. Still, clocking close to 200 miles on Honda’s sixth generation of this venerable touring machine has provided us with some interesting insights into the next Wing.

A bike designed for long-distance riding, we have gathered our thoughts on the new Honda Gold Wing Tour, in a short and sweet format, so you can sound informed at your next bike night or internet forum.

Overall, the all-new Honda Gold Wing Tour is a smart update to an iconic motorcycle, and it brings the Gold Wing name inline with the current state of technology.

As we found on the road, the new Gold Wing is an improvement over its predecessor, but that comes with a caveat or two. There might be some deal-breakers here for modern touring riders, as Honda shifts its focus to “younger” riders. Let me explain.

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Reviews

Gone Riding: Honda Gold Wing

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Hello from Texas Hill Country, just outside of Austin, Texas. In addition to soaking up some of that prairie life, I am out here to ride the 2018 Honda Gold Wing.

For this model year, the iconic touring bike gets an all-new design, making it the sixth generation of the Honda Gold Wing, which has a focus on being more compact, refined, and built for today’s modern touring rider.

As such, roughly 90 lbs of fat have been trimmed off the ol’ Wing, thanks largely to a more compact engine design and what Honda calls a “double wishbone” front end (you might call it a Hossack suspension design). 

In total, there are five variations of the new Gold Wing. The Honda Gold Wing Tour is the design you will most likely recognize, as it comes with integrated trunk and passenger chair, it in turn has three flavors: standard, DCT (dual-clutch transmission), and the airbag model returns to the lineup as well.

Replacing the Honda Gold Wing F6B is what Big Red simply calls the Honda Gold Wing. It has a more bagger look, with the trunk/passenger chair removed. It comes in two flavors, standard and DCT.

A hallmark technology for Honda now, this is the third generation of Honda’s dual-clutch transmission, which has considerable refinements over the previous generation, especially in its Gold Wing application, and features seven speeds for optimal cruising.

With snow and ice expected in Texas this week, our ride plans have changed a bit, but we still should be able to give the new Gold Wing a couple hundred miles of testing, riding through the hill country, outside of Austin.

For bonus fun, Honda has brought some of its 2017 models as well, so we should be able to give a good comparison between the two generations of this incredibly popular motorcycle (roughly 800,000 of them have been sold worldwide, and most of those were in the USA).

Per our new review format, we will be giving you a live assessment of the new Honda Gold Wing models right here in this article (down in the comments section), and there we will try to answer any questions you might have.

So, here is your chance to learn what it’s like to ride the Honda Gold Wing, before even my own proper reviews are posted. As always, if I don’t know an answer, I will try to get a response from the Honda personnel. So, pepper away.

You can follow our thoughts on the bike live via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and you can see what our colleagues are posting on social media by looking for the hashtag #2018Goldwing.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #65 – Tokyo Motor Show

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Episode 65 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is out, and in it we cover the recent Tokyo Motor Show, as well as the unveiling of the new Honda Gold Wing.

Finally getting to see the venerable tourer up-close in California, Jensen reports back on the new features that have come to the Gold Wing, which is much lighter and more compact than the outgoing model.

We also briefly discuss Suzuki’s recent decision to halt its MXGP and All-Japan motocross racing programs, which is curious considering that the Suzuki RM-Z450 got a significant update for the 2017 model year.

Turning to the Tokyo Motor Show, there were a bevy of significant releases making an appearance in Japan, which we discussed in detail: Honda Neo Sports Café Concept, Kawasaki Ninja 400, Kawasaki Z900RS, Suzuki SV650X, Yamaha Niken, and Yamaha MOTOROiD.

There’s plenty for everyone in this show, and we think you’ll enjoy it, but beep an eye out next week for our coverage of the EICMA show in Milan.

You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well.

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Bikes

Mega Gallery: Honda Gold Wing

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Every time we write a story about the Honda Gold Wing, we end up using the word “iconic” as a descriptor, but why is that? Is it because there are over 250,000 Gold Wings on the road today, putting down miles?

Is it because the model was so important to the American market, that it was the only Honda motorcycle that has been built on US soil? Or is it the legion of loyal fans, that continuously replace their old Gold Wing with a new one, rather than stray to another brand?

It is probably a combination of all these things, and now for the 2018 model year another chapter of the Gold Wing story is about to be told.

Big Red has made considerable changes for the 2018 Honda Gold Wing, most notably putting the giant tourer on a diet (roughly 90 lbs). Now a more compact machine, Honda has made space savings by switching to double-wishbone front suspension.

In person, the Gold Wing (bagger) and Gold Wing Tour (tourer) retain the obvious lines of the previous Gold Wing motorcycles. We think Honda has walked a fine line too in making the 2018 edition look more edgy and modern, while still being true to its classic shape.

The fit and finish on the new Honda Gold Wing is impressive as well, with there being strong attention to the details. When you consider how many miles, and how many years, a typical Gold Wing must endure with a single owner, Honda has to build the Gold Wing to a standard beyond the typical motorcycle.

For next year, Honda hopes to sell upwards of 14,000 Gold Wing motorcycles worldwide, most of which will be here in the United States. Nearly a doubling of the current sales volume, this goal is a tall order. But, the new Gold Wing seems up to the challenge.

Don’t worry, we’ll swing a leg over one in January and see for ourselves. Until then, we have got about 120 high-resolution photos for you to peruse of this iconic motorcycle. Enjoy!

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Bikes

The Sixth Generation Honda Gold Wing Is Finally Here

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Enthusiasts of the Honda Gold Wing motorcycle have waited a long time for this day, and now it is finally here, as Honda has finally brought a new Gold Wing to market – the sixth generation of this iconic motorcycle.

The 2018 model comes in two flavors, a bagger version which Big Red is calling the Honda Gold Wing, and a touring version, which is aptly named the Honda Gold Wing Tour.

Both of the 2018 models are all-new motorcycle designs, with virtually no part of the machines being shared with the previous generation bike, and both built around a brand new six-cylinder engine.

Focused around a more compact design, the 2018 Honda Gold Wing is staggeringly lighter than before, with roughly 90 lbs of bulk removed from its mass.

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Bikes

Honda Keeps Teasing New Gold Wing Launch

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It’s the worst-kept secret in the motorcycle industry right now, as a new Honda Gold Wing is set to debut in a couple weeks’ time.

One of the most iconic machines in Big Red’s lineup, the Honda Gold Wing looks to be set for a serious upgrade for 2018 and onward, after photos of the motorcycle leaked online three weeks ago.

The new Honda Gold Wing features a forkless front end, which looks to be a Hossack fork design. A dual-clutch transmission (DCT) appear to be an option, and the changes seem to be coming for both the touring-focused Honda Gold Wing, as well as its bagger counterpart, the Honda Gold Wing F6B.

While there was some wiggle-room in Honda’s previous teaser, now there can be no doubt that we will see a new Gold Wing motorcycle from Honda, later this month, with Honda sharing many of its past Gold Wing models in the attached video.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #62 – Diss Invited

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Episode 62 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is out, and it covers an omnibus of motorcycle topics.

Things start with a discussion about the recently spied 2018 Honda Gold Wing, and its Hossack-style front-end. Our conversation then turns to the resurrection of the Skully helmet brand, which culminates in a frank conversation about head safety and concussions.

With injuries on the brain (see what I did there?), we can’t help but talk about Valentino Rossi and his return to MotoGP action after breaking his tibia and fibula. Note, this show was recorded before Sunday’s Aragon GP race.

We finish the show talking about the official unveiling of the Ducati Desmosedici Stradale V4 engine, and the unofficial leaking of the Ducati Panigale V4 photos. As you can imagine, Quentin and myself have some strong feelings about both those topics.

There’s a little something for everyone in this show. We think you’ll like it.

You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well.

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Bikes

Photos of the 2018 Honda Gold Wing Leak Online

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What you see here are early leaked photos of the 2018 Honda Gold Wing – one of the most successful and important motorcycles for the Western markets.

Honda is expected to debut this new model at a media event in October, but our friends at MaxxMoto and Oliepeil managed to get their dirty Dutch-speaking mits on these low-res gems, ahead of time.

Beyond the styling refresh, the most obvious change that we can see for the Honda Goldwing is the new front-end, which appears to be a Hossack-styled design – similar to what BMW uses on its K-series motorcycles.

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Bikes

Big Motorcycle Debut for Honda Coming in October

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Honda is teasing a big global unveiling later next month. What it is, no one knows – outside of Honda, of course. To help tease us into the debut though, Honda has set up a five-part video series, with the tagline “What Lies Beyond” and a focus on what brings motorcycles to the open road.

We have a little over a month to speculate about what new big 2018 model Honda has up its sleeve for us. Maybe it’s a production version of the Honda Neowing hybrid three-wheeler. Maybe it’s the electric version of the Honda Super Cub…

Or maybe, it’s an all-new Honda Gold Wing, which is what my colleagure Adam Waheed from Riders Domain thinks it could be. Either way, we’ll see soon enough. Hopefully it wheelies, and comes in red.

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Recall

Massive Airbag Recall Hits the Honda Gold Wing, Again

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In the automotive world, there have been massive recalls of Takata airbag systems. And one has already found its way in the motorcycle industry, affecting over 2,700 Honda Gold Wing motorcycles.

Well, now with another wave of Takata airbag recalls, once again we see Big Red’s venerable tourer getting recalled by the NHTSA – 882 units to be precise, from the 2006-2009 and 2012 model years.

The recall stems from the fact that the inflators for the airbag may degrade over time, because of humidity and temperature, which could cause an unpredictably larger explosion when an airbag inflation is triggered.

The explosion may be large enough in fact, that it could rupture the inflation device, and thus pose a health risk.

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Recall

Recall: Honda Gold Wing Airbags

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If you follow the four-wheeled world at all, you will know that there has been a massive recall for vehicles equipped with Takata airbags. The recall affects roughly 34 million vehicles in the United States, at last count, though more seem to be added each week, my own four-wheeler included.

The size of the recall is due mostly to the fact that Takata makes the majority of vehicle airbag systems, and their design is fairly universal. In fact, it’s so universal that Takata even powers the airbags found on the Honda Gold Wing, which brings us to this story.

For the same reason that millions of cars are being recalled, American Honda is recalling 2,701 Honda Gold Wing motorcycles that were equipped with an airbag feature.

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