Honda Goldwing: A Limousine on two wheels

Price: NIS 236,000 for the manual, 261,000 for the automatic testedPros: Performance, handling, comfort, equipment, priceCons: Cumbersome in the city, challenging weight when parking, could have been better equippedRating: 9/10

You can start this article like this: "After an especially long day, I arrived at my building's parking lot at night and tried to move the bike back a bit, just a little, as bikers do, to better position the parking. I placed my feet on the ground and pushed, and then pushed a little more, and nothing happened. So, I did what you do in a car - put it in reverse gear, parked, and pulled the handbrake lever."

Or you can start the article like this: "At a little over 100 km/h, I raised the windscreen a bit more, and the stereo system with its four speakers played some generic riding song with electric guitars (no, not Clapton’s), and the wind lightly hit the body, which trembled slightly in a few distilled seconds of pure happiness."

These are two different texts suitable for describing this motorcycle - because it’s not just another motorcycle - it's a different kind of creature. Honda's legendary road king, established as a sport touring bike 50 years ago when it was launched at the Cologne Motorcycle Show in 1974, Honda, the world's largest motorcycle company, wanted to create what was defined in the company as the "king of kings." And Honda first entered the "big" motorcycle market - then with just a "modest" 999 cc in four-cylinder boxer configuration, making it the first Japanese water-cooled motorcycle in history.

In 1982, the engine grew to 1,085 cc, and then it was given the protective suit and cases that are so associated with it.

In 1987, the engine jumped to 1,522 cc and mainly grew to six cylinders, a model that lasted 13 years until 2000 when it reached the insane capacity of 1,832 cc. A car-sized engine in a motorcycle.

The Japanese Society of Automotive Engineers - yes, there is such a thing - once determined that it was a legendary technological peak, and Cycle World once stated that it was one of the best bikes in history. 640,000 units have been sold since then, mainly to the American market where they were assembled for thirty years from 1980-2010 until production moved to the Kumamoto factory in Japan, where it has not rested peacefully since.

Now it returns to Israel in a significantly upgraded 2023 model. The engine is the same beastly 1,833 cc six-cylinder boxer engine delivering 124 hp and a maximum torque of 170 Nm, the aluminum frame has been put on a diet, the seven-speed gearbox is a dual-clutch automatic DCT, and it’s important to note - this is a very beautiful motorcycle with elegant lines, if not downright athletic - the best the Goldwing has ever had.

Let's hit the road. The first ride on its saddle clarifies just how heavy this beast is, 390 kg (in the tested DCT version) including fuel and before any passenger or filling its endless cargo compartments. This machine can easily exceed half a ton on two wheels, a not-so-obvious operation, and hold on - a comic pause - it has a center stand!

(This might be a joke that needs explaining to non-bikers who have tried to lift a heavy bike onto a center stand since you need to use the rider's body weight and no matter how chubby you are, try countering a bike that outweighs you by at least three to four times. Nevertheless, as an extreme enthusiast, I tried to do it, stood on the stand that looked at me and me at it, and nothing happened. I admit that out of embarrassment that this might end with a horizontal elephantine motorcycle, I stopped trying in time.)

Once you get used to the weight, you need to get used to the width, almost a meter, and this changes the usual riding style on the always busy Ayalon lanes or in the traffic jam before the red light where you stand like just another four-wheeled box, not fun, and in the summer heat with a jacket and gloves, it’s real suffering.

Maybe we should talk to the Japanese so that instead of heating for the seats and handlebars, they start producing air conditioning for this bike.

The right thing to do with the Goldwing is to get out to open spaces as quickly as possible - which in Hebrew means riding to Eilat. Its trunk is the closest to a car - there’s a lot of space, more than 120 liters in volume, located in the rear box, side boxes, small compartments at the rider’s front, compartments that unusually for motorcycles open and lock electrically.

Route 40 south winds, and I remember it from better days (in general). But it also became congested, and it’s a shame to start making dangerous and endless overtakes, so what’s needed is to enter a more relaxed mode, turn on the music on the four speakers, fully open the large electric windscreen that seems like it would keep you dry even in heavy rain, activate cruise control, and let the DCT handle the gear shifting, relax baby.

A good time to glance at the mesmerizing desert landscapes and the fuel tank where something reminds you that this is the only motorcycle in the world with an airbag (!).

In the midst of complaints and suggestions for improvement, we wonder "if it’s already half a car" then it’s strange there’s no speed display on the windscreen, no reverse camera, and it also noticeably lacks a radar to assist in maintaining distance - something already present in many other premium and cheaper motorcycles.

Reaching the gas station - to open the tank, you oddly need to perform a sequence of four different actions, the display shows I’ve put down the side stand and the gauge shows a consumption of 7 km per liter, it not only reminds you of a car but also a gas guzzler.

Things get much better when the road opens up - lowering the windscreen, switching to sport mode, leaning slightly forward and dreaming I’m on some sporty CBR, pressing the kick-down gear shift with a finger, and the massive Goldwing spreads its wings and proves it knows how to exercise - the suspension hardens and does an excellent job connecting you to the road, the enormous engine roars and propels you forward as if it’s some American muscle car, the formidable brakes plant you before the curve and the big beast leans to the side as if there’s no tomorrow and no war - what fun!

It’s truly a kind of magic - because this bike mainly appeals to the American market, but unlike the Milwaukee machines, the Goldwing knows how to really enjoy fast curves.

We landed in Eilat, escaped from the wrinkled cities to the quiet lagoons - which is more like a conference with lots of talking that awaited me. I looked again at the exceptionally comfortable rear seat, pulled the suit of threats - a suit jacket with shirt and tie - from the large trunk, which again clarified that the Goldwing is a different story - it’s not suited for the everyday Israeli commute, a bike that needs open spaces and as long a road as possible to bring you probably the most comfortable way two wheels can, and more than all previous generations, it also knows how to ride sportily. It’s a bike refined and polished over fifty years of development like a Japanese samurai sword crafted and honed over long hours, a kind of sporty aircraft carrier, a limousine on two wheels that indeed gives - wings of gold.

Joining the southbound journey was a 1992 model, the GL1500. The fact that a bike over thirty years old makes this long journey (and not for the first time) without any complaints or rattles or a nearby garage is already a commendation for Honda’s manufacturing quality.

I rode it alternately, and at times it seemed like it just rolled out of the factory, everything works and responds, and you can even push this old timer at speeds and through curves. Amazing. The engine is 1,520 cc, 99 hp, 5 gears, 399 kg wet weight, the design is much more angular - 80s style, and indeed it has a radio cassette (with an auto-reverse head!), manually adjustable windshield, and adjustable air suspension, and yes - even a reverse gear, back in 1992. A legend that really existed.

Honda Goldwing | Technical Details

• Engine: Petrol, 6 cylinders, 1,833 cc, 124 hp, 17 kgm torque
• Transmission: Automatic dual-clutch robotic

Dimensions:

• Length (mm): 2475
• Wheelbase (mm): 1695
• Seat Height (mm): 745
• Ground Clearance (mm): 130
• Storage Volume: 120 liters
• Weight (wet, kg): 390 kg

Safety:

• Airbag
• Discs front and rear