Honda Goldwing – MotoGeo Review

After giving the Honda Goldwing a thorough test on his Just Cruise Adventure, here Jamie gives you his impressions.

Gear featured in this video:

• Jacket: Alpinestars Atem Leather Jacket
• Gloves: Alpinestars Oscar Robinson Gloves
• Shoes: Alpinestars San Diego Shoes
• Pants: Alpinestars Hellcat Tech Denim Jeans
• Backpack: Alpinestars Rover
• Helmet: Arai
• Rider Communication: Scala Rider Packtalk
  
• Cooking Stove: Jetboil MiniMo Cooking System
• Tent: REI Half Dome 2
• Sleeping Bag: REI Flash Sleeping Bag
• Sleeping Pad: REI Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Trekker Sleeping Pad
• Motorbike: 2015 Honda Goldwing

Video Transcription:

So here we have the Honda Goldwing. Look at this…1,832 CC’s. It’s got a huge, huge engine.

Now the engine’s really powerful, as you’d expect from something of this size, but it’s also really linear. It’s got a really a really easy power band. Cruise on this bike down the freeway and it’s effortless, absolutely effortless.

Now what’s a little bit more difficult on this bike is of course it’s weight. Around 900 to 930 pounds, that’s a lot of weight to throw around.

I’ve done all types of differenet riding on this adventure: some on the freeway to get out into the twisties, then a whole day of twisties, and it was difficult at times to get around the hairpin bends, but you’ve just got to take your time.

It doesn’t have loads of ground clearance so you can’t just whip around the corner like you would do on a sportbike. But hey, it’s not a sportbike.

This is the comfiest cruiser ever made. Look at this seat. It’s comfier than my office chair. And if you think that’s comfy look at the passenger seat! Usually passengers on a motorcycle get a raw deal. Not on the Goldwing…I think it’s the place to be.

It’s got some nice little flip-down compartments, you’ve got stereo speakers right next to you, heat control for your seat should you get a little chilly in the evening. Unbelievable…really, really plush.

Depending on different weight you might have on the back of the bike you are able to raise and lower the preload and it has two different memories for this so if you find your perfect setting with your Mrs. on the back and the bike full of gear you can preset that. And if you find when you jump on the bike alone it handles differently you can find the right setting for yourself.

Huge windscreen. I can’t believe how big this windscreen is. You can adjust the height of the windscreen, but I’ve not had to do this. I’ve sat in the cockpit here riding this bike and I’ve had no wind around me whatsoever. But you do have something here on the windscreen (a vent) that you can open up and still get a little bit of wind in your face.

There are storage compartments here at the front, and you’ve got an extra one here in the middle. Here’s your gas tank, a 6.6 gallon gas tank. You’ve got a big engine there, but you can get plenty of miles on the road with this bike. Just about 35 miles to the gallon.

It’s got huge panniers with loads of storage space. I’ve got my camping gear in here, and then back here (in the top case) even more stuff. And you’ve just got a whole load of different buttons here, you can do things on the fly while you’re riding. Certainly things like turning up the volume, searching for your favorite radio station, but you can’t play around with the satnav (GPS) on the road, you’ve got to come to a stop for that which is a good thing. You’ve got a load of different buttons here for CB stuff.

You’ve got really, really comfortable foot controls, they’re huge. Even bigger foot rests for the passenger, I mean look at the size of these things they’ve made this bike so comfortable.

The bike has a good braking system. ABS front and rear, really stops the bike well. It’s heavy so you need a good braking system. It gave me confidence when I was riding. Even though the bike is big and sort of cumbersome to go around some of the corners I could come to a stop really quickly and do what I needed to do.

You don’t need to worry about a chain and sprocket on this bike it’s got a shaft drive, low maintenance and like I said you can put loads of highway miles on this bike with one less thing to worry about, making it a great feature.

And would you believe it this is the 40th anniversary of the Honda Goldwing. It’s been around for a long time and it keeps doing so well because it’s just such a comfortable, easy to ride motorcycle. Click by those miles effortlessly. You could probably ride states on this bike and hardly even feel like you’d ridden a motorcycle. I’ve had no fatigue whatsoever. It’s just been really, really easy.

So to round up the Honda Goldwing you’ve got bags of creature comforts, a couple of seats here that are better than what you’d probably find in your motorhomes, you’ve got a big windscreen that deflects all of the wind over your head, so there’s no fatigue.

If you like to do loads of miles and you want to do it as comfortably as possible, I reckon this is the machine.