The first few thousand miles provided me with a mileage of around 35 to 40 mpg, which made me stop short of 200 miles at the next gas station. I was thinking this is not too bad for the size of bike. But after several longer trips around the coast between San Francisco and Morro Bay, which is my favorite drive for the winter, since at that time there are hardly any tourists virtually blocking the road, the FI light started to come on. Being in the middle of a trip I decided that this can wait a little since the next (first) service was just about 1000 miles down the road. At the service I was caught with the O2 Sensor of the right cylinder bank being faulty. No big deal the thing got replaced and what a surprise I was in afterwards. The bike would now do around 40 to 45 mpg, meaning I would have to stop in between 220 and 250 miles for fuel. Now we have something that makes me look forward for the trips. I said I would not make any comparisons, but I've got to do this one. The BMW R1100RT I used to own has about a similar sized gas tank and would give me short of 300 miles running on the last drop of gas. Now I can do the same, since I''ve never dropped down to that level on the GoldWing.
Since this small incident there has not been a single fault on the bike itself. I had received the two recalls, that many of the other GL1800 owners received as well and had it fixed on my last service (8000 miles) and have not noticed any difference. The original tires that came with the bike are now gone, since they developed an uneven wear pattern, that many other folks have seen as well. I first noticed it around 5000 miles when the bike started to 'sing' when cornering. By the end of the tire live (9000 miles) they where worn pretty bad front and rear and only the front one showed this strange wear pattern, that the dealer confirmed as well that I'm about the third person that has the same problem. Must be something with the tires and not the driving style. Another problem that I've seen, and do not know whether it is just my own riding habits or a general problem of the bike is that the paint around the knee is scuffing. The BMW did have kneepads in this area to prevent the paint from scratches from the clothes of the driver. This is something that Honda should consider very badly on this bike. After only 5000 miles the paint is already damaged there. Honda, if you read this - fix it! It costs hardly anything and makes the bike looking nice much longer than just in the showroom.
There has been one more incident with the GoldWing that I should bring up as well. During one of the trips we made we had to pass through the traffic since it was completely blocked up for several miles (not so unusual when leaving the Bay Area. During this we drove at around 20 to 30 miles and suddenly the temperature gauge went up to the maximum. I was glad the traffic lightened up right then and after moving at normal speed it went down immediately. Another thing that Honda should have a close look at. When this occurred the temperature was around 85 to 90 Fahrenheit, so not really hot weather. For those of you who have considered putting the front mask on, put it off regularly to check for bugs underneath. I had mine on for several thousand miles and found tons of bugs buried between the mask and the area it should have covered. It fits tight, and I mean tight, but somehow the bugs don't care and will try to find their way underneath even so it costs their life. So put it off and clean it thoroughly. The first time we put the mask on it took about 30 minutes. Now I can do it in 5.
We now have made several weekend trips that where around 1000 miles with two up and luggage and each of the rides made us hope for mode roads and twisties. In the evening we always seemed to be trying to figure out a route that would cause us to lengthen our trip. The bike is just so comfortable you don't want to get off once you're on the road. Every stop for gas seems somehow a burden that you have to take to get on the road again. With this bike I wish I could take tours 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
If you're ever in California (Northern, Southern, Central) and you see
a GL1800 in Illusion Red with the front mask, chances are pretty high you
see me and my wife enjoying life on two wheels.