2020 Honda GL1800 Gold Wing: All you need to know

Introduced in the year 1975 as a naked 1000 cc machine, the Honda Gold Wing has come a long way to become a tourer that flaunts luxury, quality, and comfort in its every inch. The segment to which the Honda GL1800 Gold Wing belongs is a niche one. Even though there are quite a few options available in the segment, it is more about quality than quality in this particular category of motorcycles. Speaking of Malaysia, Honda offers the sports tourer in the country in a single variant named as GL1800 Gold Wing.

Model	Price
GL1800 Gold Wing	RM 208,800

With an unmistakable appearance, luxury loaded to the brim, flat-six engine that sounds like a Porsche 911, seamless seven-speed DCT, superior comfort, ample driver aids, and a host of modern-day tech, the 2020 Honda GL1800 Gold Wing makes for a perfect tourer that you'll ever need. So, what makes the 2020 Honda GL1800 Gold Wing such a great product? Let's find out.

Styling, comfort, and tech

As we mentioned earlier, the 2020 Honda GL1800 Gold Wing cannot be mistaken on the roads, for it carries a unique, bold, stylish, and true-to-tourer design philosophy. Standing 2575 mm long, 905 mm wide, and 1430 mm tall, the Gold Wing boasts stuff like a wide V-pattern headlight with multiple LED lights, large wing mirrors with integrated turn signals, electronically adjustable and ventilated windshield with a range of 4.9 inches, stylish fairing & saddlebags, excellent aerodynamics, super comfortable seating, and whatnot! Sitting right beside the electronically adjustable and ventilated windshield is a digital-analogue instrument cluster that comprises of a seven-inch TFT LCD screen flanked by a pair of two analogue clocks, the speedometer and the tachometer. Not to forget, the seven-inch unit also comes with Apple CarPlay and NAVI support. Heck, there is even an SRS airbag on the 2020 Honda GL1800 Gold Wing.

Moving ahead, the tourer also gets the Human Machine Interface (HMI) that brings onboard numerous simple, ergonomically placed, and dedicated switches and controls on the handlebars. Also, there is a 110-litre trunk and saddlebag storage capacity, cruise control heated seats, heated grips, HomeLink®, passenger audio control switch, high-output amplifier & speakers, Sirius XM® satellite radio, CB radio, USB connector, smart key, and much more.

Mechanicals

You need a proper engine and other mechanical bits & pieces to drive a motorcycle of the Honda Gold Wind's stature. And, that's when the 1833 cc liquid-cooled four-stroke 24 valve SOHC flat-six engine comes into the picture. Have a look at the following table:

Attribute	Detail
Displacement (cc)	1833
Number of cylinders	6
Bore X Stroke (mm)	73mm x 73mm
Compression ratio	10.5:1
Power (hp)	125
Torque (Nm)	170
Oil capacity	5.6 litres
Fuel tank capacity	21.1 litres

The much capable abovementioned 1833 cc flat-six engine comes coupled with a seven-speed DCT, and the rider gets to choose from different riding modes such as Tour, Sport, Econ, and Rain. Also, present on the motorcycle is Honda's throttle-by-wire system, Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC), ISG (Integrated Starter Generator), electric reverse, and other nifty peculiarities.

Contributing the to the plus ride quality offered by the 2020 Honda GL1800 Gold Wing is an aluminium die-cast twin-tube frame and a suspension setup that incorporates a double-wishbone unit at the front and a pro link setup at the back. The ride height and the ground clearance measurements read 745 mm and 129 mm, respectively. As for braking, the 2020 Honda GL1800 Gold Wing gets 320 mm x 4.5 mm dual hydraulic discs with six-piston callipers floating rotors and sintered metal pads at the front and 316 mm x 11 mm ventilated disc with a six-piston calliper and sintered metal pads at the back. The tourer rides on a 130/70 R18 tyres at the front and a 200/55 R16 unit at the back.

Safety equipment

The 2020 Honda GL1800 Gold Wing specs sheet is loaded with stuff in all aspects, and the same is the story of the safety department. On top of the dual disc brakes at the front and a single ventilated disc unit at the back, the ever so popular tourer is one safe motorcycle thanks to the likes of an anti-lock braking system, hill-start assist, SRS airbag, Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), and many other nifty driver aids.

Verdict and the competition

In Malaysia, the 2020 Honda GL1800 Gold Wing takes on the likes of the Harley-Davidson Road King, BMW K 1600 GTL, Harley-Davidson Street Glide, Harley-Davidson Road Glide, and the Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited. No matter how tough the competition gets, the Japanese tourer has been one of the top trendsetters in the segment, and it continues to do so even in 2020. Available in a single color option, Pearl Glare White, the 2020 Honda GL1800 Gold Wing is easily the top contender for your first or next tourer, for the motorcycle is slimmer, lighter, plusher, and easier to ride than ever before. However, there are issues such as cramped luggage space which might turn out as deal breakers for some. Nevertheless, you are still getting a lot of touring motorcycle for RM 208,800.

Also Read: 2020 Honda EX5 gets new graphics, price starts from RM 4,783