History of the Honda Goldwing Motorcycle

History of the Honda Goldwing Motorcycle

The members of Lincs Wings and indeed all of the G.W.O.C.G.B have one thing in common, they either own, or are going to own a Honda Goldwing. This bike has proved so good that people want to meet up and make friends with other owners. Here you will be able to find out a little bit about the history of the bike that drives this club, literally. The GL1000 1974 The Honda Goldwing is launched as the flat-four cylinder, 999cc GL1000. The bike was not immediately accepted by the riding public. The problem? It could not sit in any particular bracket of bike, while it was officially labelled a tourer it had no full body touring kit as standard (Despite Honda offering one throughout the GL1000's production life) It could not be classed as a sports bike either, as it had a dry weight of 584lbs and a rear coil spring suspension not up to the stresses of a fast winding road. All this aside the bike proved to be very reliable. Honda listened to the buying public and began to change what was to become legend. \\Quick Fact// Honda only sold 10% of the amount of GL1000's they expected to 1976 Honda made a few minor changes to the GL1000 - a badly needed grease nipple on the driveshaft and a few cosmetic changes. A Limited Edition bike was also made this year, but for this year only. 1977 Honda made some user requested changes and the Goldwing got higher handlebars with neoprene grips, dual contoured saddle and chromed heat shields on the header pipes. 1978 Smaller carburettors, shorter valve timing and increased spark advance increased roll-on performance in top gear, which translated into slightly less top speed but more torque, which is what the long distance rider needed. The fuel, coolant temperature and voltage gauges were fitted to a pod and mounted on the tank. The stepped saddle which has featured ever since was introduced this year. 1979 This year saw the reduction on the price of the last produced (and there was a lot of them) GL1000 as the new bike was awaited. The GL1000 finally retired at the end of the year slightly heavier than the first models at 604lbs dry. The GL1100 1980 The first bike to ever have a full touring kit added at production the GL1100 was launched this year. The bike had many changes which in short helped with the handling. Buyers all over the world began to purchase this bike which could not be built fast enough. The bike had lots of extravagant extra's at extravagant prices, including tape/radio player, CB and other mod. cons. 1982 The GL1100 had some major improvements in the new Aspencade. This machine had an electrically operated air pump for the suspension, new sized wheels and twin pot callipers for extra stopping power.

1983 This was the last year of production for the by now much loved and envied GL1100, but Honda did no just stop making little improvements in the last run of the bike. The next bike was going to be bigger heavier and more flashy than the last, but this was wanted and has since become the standard way of building the Goldwing. GL1200 1984 The Honda GL1200 landed this year and as hoped for by riders was bigger and badder than the older GL1100. Handling had once again been touched up, with the addition of better pneumatics for the suspension and of course more aggressive plastic work. 1987 This was the last year of production for the GL1200 which for once had not seen any major changes. Honda were obviously saving up the suprises for their "super wing" which had been so talked about. GL1500 1988 The Honda Goldwing GL1500 was not just a small re-modelling of the same bike and engine, this was a complete re-work. The engine was a smooth flat six cylinder rating at 1520cc, a huge engine for a bike of the time. A reverse gear had also been added, this was never heard of before. The styling had a complete revamp as well. The bike was now as big as a small car and had as much bodywork, but the end result looked fantastic. This all wieghed up at an amazing 793lbs dry. 1995 After a few years the GL1500 finally got a big change from the original made in 1988, while only minor changes were made visually there were lots of changes under all that bodywork. The suspension was lowered and stiffened yet again helping handling. The seating was lowered 40mm to help slightly shorter riders. 1998 Now ten years after the release and the bike is still selling well, but is becoming slightly old fashioned especially on the looks side of things. 1999 The rumble of the highly awaited new Goldwing can be heard miles off, but the GL1500 manages to pull through into the new millenium and still sells well. The Honda team managed to keep details of the new Goldwing well under wraps until the launch. GL 1800 2001 The new and sleeker Honda Goldwing brought the old design kicking and screaming into the modern light. Yet again a total rebuild with a massive 1832cc engine pushing the new design frame around, it is 40lb lighter then the GL1500. The tyres were Bridgestone, but after 2 years they changed back to Dunlop as they always had been. 2004 The 1800 continues to improve with up-rated models 2005? There is talk of a new model and bigger engine.