My new GL1800 GoldWing
By Reiner Kappenberger
Thanks to Steve Saunders for hosting this article on his Goldwing site.
First impressions after the first 600 Miles Before getting into the actual drive impressions some background on the ‘testing’ person so that you understand some of the comparisons.
I’ve been driving different bikes for the last several years from different sources. All of them however shared a common theme. They’ve been always touring bikes and I could never really see myself suitable for anything else. I’ve started off using a ’83 GL500 Interstate, which I did around 20000 Miles, and later moving on towards a BMW R1100RT for another 20000 Miles. I’ve been riding the K1200LT every time I’ve brought my RT into service, so I now how that one handles just as well (probably have done around 400 miles on it in total). Moving from Germany to the US left me with the situation that I had to abandon both formidable bikes leaving them in the hands of good new owners that was especially important for me on the GL, which I liked pretty much. At the time I bought a GL1100 Aspencade. Guess why, it looked to much like the GL500, even had the same color, wineberry red. I have only done about 2000 Miles on this one yet when the new Wing came out. I’ve been thinking on the GL1500 before, but it did not offer some of the feelings that the BMW had back in Germany, so I put it on maybe some time in the future. Then the new Wing came out and the first pictures appeared on the Internet. I had to see the bike. The time actually came up for a Bikeshow in the Bay Area where we, my wife in her corporate role as CFO, could have a look and see what would be best for us as the next big step. We headed there and wanted to see the new wing and the BMW K1200LT to decide on which way we would go.
Both of us got carried away with the new wing on the first look. It still is a big bike, but the first impression from sitting on it and having it off the stand was impressive. Of course I had to run down to the BMW side and check the LT. What a difference I saw. The LT felt heavier than the Wing. From normal weight this was not possible, but it felt like it. The styling was more to our liking and right on the show the purchase order was approved by my CFO.
Now how to get one? I was calling our Honda dealer for a new timing belt on the 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' 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 I it looked good at the show 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 on 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 wallowling. 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 passanger is still hit pretty hard by turbulances. 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 that 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.
I will add to this report when I put
more miles on the Wing.
Enjoy riding,
Reiner Kappenberger, December 6th. 2000.
Update report on my GoldWing GL1800, June 4th. 2001.
Hi folks and once again thank you Steve for providing the possibility to share all this information with the rest of the world on your web page. It’s now time to provide some update on the progress that I’ve done with my Illusion Red GL1800 as I’ve finished putting the first 10000 miles onto it. Since I’ve picked up the bike in December last year as one of the first ones on the street I’ve been riding it a lot all over California. The performance and handling of this beast is without question one of its best attributes. But I’m not going to go into comparing the bike with other ones, since I by now have only this one left as Emma, my old GL1100 has made its way to another home (sigh) to make space for something else in the future.
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 twists. 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.
Update on my Goldwing GL1800, September 2001.
Took me some time to put down the next 10000 miles on my
Illusion Red Goldwing now. All the miles where pretty much without any events.
The bike still handles like the first time and no major flaws detected.
I’ve changed to Dunlop D251 tires around the 9000-mile
mark. What a disappointment that was. After the tires were installed we started
on a one-week trip, where we went up to Yellowstone National Park and back to
the Bay Area. The tire handling was by far different than the Bridgestones. As
well they started to cup after only 2000 miles and once back from the trip the
front tire was completely useless. That’s when I learned that the tire was
made for the VTX and only happens to have the same size as the Goldwing tires
and have the same weight rating. So the next stop for service brought a new set
of Bridgestones. If you ever think of taking the D251 – forget it.
Fuel consumption now stays somewhere between 41 and 43mpg
all the time. There is hardly a peek up or down. However the bike is showing
some wear in the plastic. The side covers of the fairing, that are clipped on
and hold the front mask in place are loosing its small pins to hold it in place.
Very bad design from Honda, since they are so small and not removing the cover
carefully will break them. Maybe somebody is building those in chrome some day
with a better clip mechanism that will last longer. I’ll be more than happy to
buy those. This is just another part that makes me think that production/design
quality on some other manufacturers is better. But on the other side the fun
factor of this bike still needs to be achieved by those.
Another weak point is the paint that seems to be very soft, as it is showing scratch marks all over the place. Too bad there seems to be no touch up paint available here in the US. Could use it on some places where small stones must have hit the bike and make it look ugly there. As well the close mechanism for the top case is so tight, that the notches there will scuff away the paint. Not very good and there should have been a better mechanism for that. But overall I still love the bike and would pay the price again to get one.
Still my bike does not have any accessories, since the riding position is just optimal for my size. Don’t need any backrest, highway board or even a different windshield to bang your had on every time you get on or off. Moving the standard windshield to the top position provides enough protection against wind and the buffeting is minimal. The only sing that we’ll do sometime is put some chrome accents in some places. But let’s see what comes up in the next 10000 miles. At least it’s going to be time for the valve adjustment.
50,000 mile update, June 2002.
It’s been quite some time since I had the chance to update the information and give some more feedback on how the bike is developing over time. But finally I found the time to give you some more feedback. Since my encounter with the Dunlop tires I have gone back to use the Bridgestone tires all the time and am quite happy with them, despite the fact that the front one is cupping, but not affecting the handling of the bike too badly. Since now there are alternative tires on the market (Dunlop and Metzeler) some people might want to switch, but I feel that these tires are doing what they are designed for and Bridgestone is coming with an updated front tire for the bike that should solve the known problem so I will not try to elaborate more on this issue.
We had several trips around the USA, the latest one took us from the Bay Area over to Key West, doing 8250 miles (according to our GPS) on the bike. We did this nice trip in 15 days that were more than exciting. We started off doing a Saddle Sore 1000 from the Bay to Albuquerque in New Mexico in about 15½ hours. From there we continued on I-40 (with occasional distractions to see some National Parks) through the Smokey Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway down to Savannah. Over the Smokey Mountains we hit temperatures of down to 32 degrees and black clouds hanging around so that we expected it would start to snow any time soon, but we were lucky and neither rain nor snow hit us. On the stop in Savannah while I checked the tires for pressure, my wife found a huge nail stuck in the rear tire. Surprisingly the tire was still holding the air and had not lost a single pound of pressure. After investigating in the motel we were told the next Honda dealer would be just 6 miles away on the same street and we immediately took off to find it. Once there they even had a tire in stock and we only lost 3 hours that day waiting (since we normally take off around 7am) and now would leave at around 10am. We continued to Key West, which is a long ride due to the “high” speed limit going there. We spent one night there and took our way back home going the southern route (I-10) with a stopover in New Orleans, where we found the French Quarter being closed for some private party (what a bummer). But still we had a good time and toured the quarters the next day in the morning on the bike before continuing on to Galveston Island in Texas where we put a one-day rest in.
The last days of the trip proved to be the most gruel some of the whole trip. After passing Houston where on the Radio we could hear already warnings about heavy rains, which we escaped at that time. However later on before coming to San Antonio, we were getting several heavy downpour rains that made us stop and seek shelter under bridges or any other cover we could find. At least after San Antonio it got better and the sun came out again. But being this time of the year, the sun was really extreme burning us with 110-degree temperatures. So we decided to drive through the night in hope for lower temperatures. Coming close to 11pm and still having 95 around Phoenix, we thought that it would be best to seek shelter in an air conditioned motel than continue like that. After the trip my wife decided that she will not ride in the back seat any more, since I was a “bump search equipment” hitting the only bumps for miles around. No problem, she’s now going to ride the 1800 while I will have to put up with our old 1200 - at least for now until we get another bike.
Now there are a lot of people that do complain about the bike overheating in specific situations. We have come through a lot of different traffic on our trips. In no situation we have had the bike overheat. Yes the needle is able to climb a bit upwards, but this is normal operation and in no way an indication of overheating. We have been stuck in Stop and Go traffic in Florida (Pacific Beach on a Saturday afternoon) where we were rolling along at 15-20mph for a very long time. I said in the beginning I have talked enough about tires, but I feel to add a little bit more to that. Before we left we had a new front tire installed that is still on the bike with over 9000 miles on it right now. It does look better than all the other tires before after 6000 miles. Maybe the driving type (lot’s of straight freeways) did help increase the mileage on the tire. On the previous occasions we usually went for the Sierra Nevada or other twisty roads that would cause a lot more tire wear. There are still hardly any options on my bike, since in my opinion the bike does not need any Chrome to look nice, or any other major toys. However I would like to share with the readers of this report some of the experiences that I had with added equipment.
Helmets and Headsets. I bought a HJC SyMax flip-up helmet for myself to replace an older helmet with J&M headsets installed from Sierra Electronics. The shop experience itself was fine, as I was expecting. The Helmet is very noisy and the windshield would not stay in the up position, which is what I normally would do on riding unless hitting rain. The next thing was that the sound quality of J&M was a major disappointment. While the system works on my GL1200 at reasonable sound levels (about 1/3 volume while going down the Freeway) the 1800 is turned up all the way and only mid range coming through. I then installed Chatterbox headsets on the two open face helmets that we have. They provide a much-improved sound quality and the wind noise from the intercom is way below the levels we experienced with the J&M set. After browsing the Message boards for the 1800 (www.gl1800.org and www.gl1800riders.com) somebody said he installed Labtec Elite 820 speakers in his headsets and like them. So off I went to CompUSA and bought a headset to try myself in one of the open face helmets. The installation was simple and took only about 10 minutes (doing it for the first time). Once I hooked them onto the bike I was amazed. Sound quality was like sitting in front of a perfect home stereo system and the volume level could now be cut to comfortable levels. Even after using the bike with the CB (on my 1200) it provides much improved voice quality. So off to the shop again and get more headsets to install in the other helmets. There was only one left and I took a different Labtec speaker setup for the HJC helmet. After installing them I can tell some difference between the J&M and Chatterbox. Installation on the Chatterbox took 5 minutes on the second one. The J&M configuration has detachable speakers (do I care? – no) so they can be taken out without removing the headset completely. However while the Chatterbox Speaker case uses screws to hold it together the J&M are glued shut (stupid in my opinion). Both type headsets are now much better to listen to, while the Elite speakers are clearly better due to the cushion they provide around the ear that also seals off more noise from outside.
My personal recommendation is to use Chatterbox headsets and install some 3rd party speakers (like Labtec Elite 820). This way you pay half of J&M and have a product that delivers better sound and less wind noise. However personal tastes might give you a different feeling and at the end of the day it is your own preferences that count. Audio. We have bought a Archos Jukebox 6000 MP3 player after hearing as well from the boards about the impressions that some other people had with the unit. Originally I used the unit in the left fairing compartment of the bike. But using it together with a power adapter would cause the unit to skip (because it really gets hot in there). So I was looking at different solutions. Some people went and installed the unit in the trunk. This was no option for me, since I want to have the unit at hand during driving to operate it (like skipping a song that does not fit the current mood). The alternative was to put it on top of the left pocket lid. But could it be made to hold there? A friend of us had the idea and tools to help out. He installed a metal plate on top of the lid that is screwed on to it. The Jukebox has gotten a plate on the bottom as well with double sided sticky tape so that it provides a flat surface. Using Velcro tape on both of the plates I can put the unit on and off any time I want to. We have routed the cables for Power and the AUX input connector through the hole provided for the headset now so that the unit can be connected to the bike. I’ve used this setup on our last trip and the unit did not skip once on whatever weather we got (up to 110 degrees). Works fine and I can press any button on the road without having to go and buy another remote control or whatever else. All this is personal experience. Your own results may be different. I have not tried different products than mentioned here and other products may be better, but I will not comment on them since I have no experience with them.
70,000 mile update, November 2002.
It’s this time of the year again where the riding season is starting to get to an end for many people. I consider myself fortunate enough that the riding season in the Bay Area is not affected that much by this, but still I felt that giving everyone an update on how the GL1800 is holding up is in order.
The odometer know shows over 70000 miles on the bike and there have been quite a couple of trips that we did with this bike that is still running like a dream. We have done some trips reaching as far east as Michigan. None of the trips did show as a problem for the bike. The latest trips usually my wife got to ride the bike, as I had to take the seat on our old 2 wheeler, which is a GL1200 Interstate. Unfortunately for her the old bike usually tends to take some additional rest time so I can get back on the 1800.
I’ve said before in one of the previous posts that I have written enough about tires. But I feel a short update is on order. About 12000 miles ago I installed the latest edition of the Bridgestone tires, which is a new front tire design (G709) coupled with the same tire design on the back. Now this tire has been run through quite some canyon carving and long stretches of freeway. In either case the tire proved to be as good handling as the old design that Bridgestone delivered. The only good side effect is that the tire after those 12000 miles is still showing not a single bit of cupping as all other tires that I rode before. My experience on the tire shows that it will most probably give me a range of 14000 to 15000 miles total before I have to replace it. By now the rear tire is holding up about the same distance, so they can be easily swapped in pairs.
On the last service I had them check the valves, which should be inspected every 32000 miles. While on the first inspection they proved to be well within specifications they showed to be drifting off quite close to the limit, and using the previous recorded measurements would clearly be out of tolerance by the time for the next inspection. So the whole valves (intake and exhaust) on the left side was brought into the center of the line again.
Did I have any problems with the bike so far?
Let me think.
I need to think a bit more
Give me a bit more time
No. Not the slightest problem on any of our trips. Works like a dream. Wish I could say that for our old 2 wheeler. On the last trip to Michigan it decided to request an additional rest period during which a shop could install a new Stator. But the 1800 is holding up well with all the miles. Sure there are a couple of things that Honda could learn and improve on the bike. Let me give some examples.
I’ve installed the Front Cover. When trying to clean the bike the side molding has to be removed. Now this sounds like a simple and quick thing to do. When doing this, you better be really careful, as the tabs that hold the molding on are small pieces of plastic that brake easily. Once the shop had to replace them as they broke them during the service work (glad I did catch this when picking up the bike).
The tank area scuffs and does not look good any more. Sure there is some aftermarket pieces in there that can be put on. I’ve found something in clear to stick on, but I really think it should have something coming from Honda and not being the owner’s responsibility to do this. The best thing I have seen is someone putting tank pads from BMW on his bike. I guess one of the next trips is to the BMW shop for accessories for a Honda.
Another area is the windshield. Clearly some more design and aerodynamic work should have gone into this part of the bike. The windshield is either low enough to see over it, or so high that one has to look through the piece in order to obtain a descent wind flow from it. The latest piece I’ve found is a windshield from Firecreek (http://www.firecreekacc.com), called the WindBender, that seems to solve that problem. Now if that whole thing would only be electric……
Would I buy the bike again?
Let me look what is in the market to compete with the bike. There is only one competitor (BMW K1200 LT) that I could come up with (unless you want to consider antique technology). And in my personal opinion it is beating the competition by a far stretch.
Is there anything that could be improved?
Yes, for sure. But what is perfect? For one part I’ve mentioned a couple of things a little bit up. The one area that I believe Honda could improve is fuel mileage. While the mileage is not bad considering the size of the engine and overall weight of the bike there surely is room for improvement. Or why does the bike deliver over 50mpg in high elevations without seeming to loose response or power? I would love to see this bike being able to get consistently over 50mpg (that would be over 300 miles between stopping for gas) as opposed to the current average of 41mpg. I’m not complaining about the consumption, but it could be better. If I wanted a bike with the lowest fuel consumption I would not have bought the Wing.
The fit and finish of the trunk leaves much to be desired as well. By now the upper lid is full of scratches where it mates to the lower part. The paint is gone and the Tupperware is already showing dents. The lid is moving from side to side ever so slightly by now. This should not happen on a bike in this price range. Honda has to do a bit more homework in fit and finish on this bike to have what I would consider the ultimate touring machine.
Reiner
If you have questions/comments please email
to:
reinerlisa@sbcglobal.net or you can read more on my own web site at
www.kappenberger.com
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