GL1800 Riders Impression
By Sanford (Sandy) Faz
Lancaster, California
I promised Steve that I would write an article about my first impressions when I got my new Wing so here goes. I picked up my new 1800 on December 19, 2000, a week earlier than promised. I had ordered it on September 30, 2000. I ordered the Pearl Blue non-ABS with the audio package and the dealer threw in the rear spoiler.
The only similarities the 1800 and the 1500 share are in the gold badge proclaiming it as a Gold Wing. You immediately know something’s different once you start the machine up and witness the “Opening Ceremony” on the LCD display. The throaty tone that the 1500 offers pales to the growl the 1800 surrenders. I pulled out of the dealers lot with paperwork in the trunk and headed home 83 miles away. It was a beautiful Southern California day with temperatures in the low 80’s. As soon as I gave the throttle a twist I knew I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. It surged forward without the least hesitation; luckily I was on a small rear street behind the dealership. The power is the first thing you notice, and then comes the smile. WOW! I headed down the street into my first turn and found that it takes nothing at all to heel the bike over into a turn at reasonable speed. The bike feels a bit stiffer on the road but that may be because I haven’t figured out my ideal suspension setting yet. In the braking department it behaved flawlessly. By that I mean it had NO diving front end, what’s up with that? I thought all Wings dive by the bow at stops. Not this baby. You feel in control from 1st gear all the way up. On the freeways of Los Angeles it was tempting to twist the throttle a bit to see what this baby could do but I kept reminding myself that the 300 mile break in was still 296 miles away. But I did have to shift lanes so with a glance back and at my mirror I gave it a twist and I was at 70 MPH in a blink of an eye, here we come again to that power thing. No need to down shift on this Wing, it has all the power you will ever need in any gear. My trip was mostly freeways with some mild curves in the road that allowed me to set the cruise control and listen to some jazz and watch the world zip by. Upon my arrival home I took the opportunity to walk around the bike to find the flaws that came out of the factory. I did find one, the button that controls the outside temperature reading was wired to the “mode” button and vice versus. In all honesty that may have been done at the dealer when he was fixing the first Honda Bulletin that deals with a minor problem with the temp sensor. All the doors closed well and matched up at the closing points. The paint was unmarred although the cosmoline that the bike comes shipped with was overlooked in some spots at the frame bottom. The aluminum frame is really distinctive and let’s you know that this isn’t your daddy’s Gold Wing.
As of last night, after 2 full days of ownership I have 286 miles on the 1800 and will be heading back to Santa Monica where my dealer is at to hand over the check for the balance of the purchase price. Hmmm… that would put me over the 300-mile break in wouldn’t it??
I need not go into the legendary comfort of the Wing as that heritage is still in abundance in the 1800. All in all, this new Wing is so totally different than the 1500 that it’s akin to comparing apples and oranges. Not to disparage the venerable 1500 but one ride on the 1800 and you know that your on a different breed of machine altogether.
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