The first 600 miles
I was calling our Honda dealer for a new timing belt on the old 1100 Wing
and asking whether he had a GoldWing in stock. The respond was simple "Just
got it in and it should be in the showroom by 4pm." We talked about the
price and the decision was then made to buy it (I'm not going to tell anyone
how much I paid, don't bother asking for that). So the same day I went
to the dealer (I was there at 4pm) and had a first look at the bike. It
was the red one and even if it looked good at the show, we attended a couple
of days earlier, natural daylight is what this bike needs. It changed colors
from one side to the other, from Orange to dark red. Impressive. I immediately
fell in love with this one. All I had to do was install an alarm and the
thing was ready to pick up for the weak end. So the day came to pick it
up. The dealer went through the controls and everything and especially
paid attention to the responsiveness of the clutch and engine. Time for
taking our new piece home. He was right the clutch engages after the first
movement. But don't bother about the rpm's. No need to open the throttle
when moving forward, gentle operation on the clutch is sufficient to get
the bike moving. As soon as it starts rolling the bike is 100% steady.
Wow. No comparison with the older GL's I've used and even the RT is not
coming close to this. Another thing for the inexperienced with this one
is be careful with the throttle. Getting on the road I was impressed with
the power explosion coming from the engine. No matter what revs the engine
is running at there is power, and real power, to make you feel like sitting
on a street fighter. The drive home was now basically one to get a little
bit used to the new bike so that my wife could see for herself what the
new one was going to be like for her. As it was getting dark already on
that day we decided to postpone the first ride for the next day, a Saturday.
No surprise to say we where up early and already looking forward to what
the ride would be. We picked a new tour we had never taken before. Not
knowing the road was a little bit of a different experience, but it turned
out to be fantastic. The road was wicked and with nice views. But I'm getting
away from the bike and that's why you probably are reading this. Having
been used to the more sporty feeling of the BMW it turned out that after
just about 50 Miles on the new one I felt that I've been riding it for
years. I was moving in the turns like I had on the BMW before. The bike's
handling is so easy and well. Never did I feel like I had about 700 pounds
to move around. This together with an engine that doesn't care what gear
you use and gives more power than you actually need is an experience. All
the time I had the engine between 2000 and 3000 rpms. Something that was
never possible on the RT. I would usually ride around 3000 to 4500 rpms
on it to have enough power from the engine to get out of the corners. As
the turns got narrower I was in for the next surprise.
On the BMW the lean angle you could get is pretty steep and sometimes
scary for the passenger that is not used to it. The GoldWing actually does
get close to this. However on left turns it gets limited a lot faster than
on right turns, which is unfortunate. Inspecting the tires after our first
trip revealed that I had worn them in to the limit on both sides. It took
me more than 4000 miles to get to this level on the RT and the LT had it's
limits well before the new GL. One thing that people seem to complain about
on the GL1500 is the wallowing. I've never experienced this on the new
GL1800. It's ride is smooth even going to the limits and the bike still
can be handled easily. The frame is stiff as it can be and the turning
is like running on rails around the corner. The tires are glued to the
ground and don't give way. Now if you are looking for a sporty bike and
want all the comfort this GoldWing is for you. If you are looking for a
Touring bike that is fun to drive and don't want to go to the limit this
GoldWing is for you as well. Forget the BMW's. I always was so fond of
mine, but the new GoldWing is doing whatever the BMW (RT) did, but it does
it better. There are some drawbacks on the other side as well. I'm not
talking about the price, which is hefty, but the controls are pretty overcrowded.
Giving that they are all in one color does not help the new rider of this
bike. BMW is doing a good job in color coding the controls giving enough
visual feedback on short looks. But the BMW just has a few knobs in comparison
to the GoldWing. The left handlebar is easy to operate for the one knob
you normally use. But on several occasions the gloved finger was to big
to just only hit the turn indicator and accidentally pushed the horn as
well. If you want the others to notify with acoustic signals as well as
visually not bad, but that was not on the design list I suppose. Another
thing I noticed is that the turbulence is much better covered on the RT.
The LT on the other hand is similar to the GoldWing. I would love to see
a windshield that is doing the job like on the RT. While in the front they
are acceptable, the passenger is still hit pretty hard by turbulence. Something
we never had on the RT. Maybe the standard Windshield is designed that
way and the optional larger one is going to provide relief (or wait for
the Tulsa one).
Putting everything together on the new GoldWing is a hell of a
ride. Throw in a sport bike like engine with a frame to support it and
give it all the luxury you ever wanted that's what you get. After driving
it now for the first 600 miles I never want to get off to another bike.
There simply isn't anything on the market today that can compete. Some
magazine recently said the RT is the best touring bike available today.
To bad the new GoldWing wasn't out at that time. They would have clearly
said the GoldWing is the best. Period.