40 Years Honda Gold Wing: Harley-Davidson of the Far East: Honda Gold Wing

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40 years Honda Gold Wing

Harley-Davidson of the Far East: Honda Gold Wing

40 Years Honda Gold Wing: Harley-Davidson of the Far East: Honda Gold Wing-wing20

Honda 40 years Honda Gold Wing: On golden wings

  • Site online author Marcel Sommer

Motorcycle giant Gold Wing celebrates its 40th birthday. date of birth. Hardly any other motorcycle has polarized people more than the Tourer from Honda over the decades.

An impressive vehicle. Somewhere between motorcycle and car.

It was the fall of 1974. In Cologne, the leaves were turning brightly colored and the first motorcyclists were preparing their two-wheelers for hibernation. Exactly at this time Honda presented their GL 1000, better known as Gold Wing, at the IFMA in Rheinstadt. Equipped with a one-liter four-cylinder boxer engine, modern water cooling and a cardan drive, it made eyes wide open right away. It was to take the position of flagship for the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer from the start – and retain it to this day. But the story of Gold Wing, who is 40 years old this year, actually begins with anything but promising.

Nemesis Kawasaki

Driven by the competitive pressure of a Kawasaki Z1 and BMW R90S, Honda put together a small and quite young team. Soichiro Irmajiri was the project manager for the engineers, most of whom were under 30 years old. A name without which the later successful models CX 500 and CBX 1000 might never have been developed. Four decades ago, however, a completely different plan was in the foreground: A touring machine should be constructed that surpasses all common standards. This is how the project M1 or AOK was launched. The Bavarian competition was even brought on board. But without her knowing about it. Because the entire rear section, such as the exhaust system, brakes and seat consisted of original BMW R 75 components. Initially, agreement was reached on a liquid-cooled six-cylinder boxer engine for the drive, which was to transmit its power to the rear wheel via a cardan drive. Under the direction of a new project manager, however, this idea was revoked in favor of the four-cylinder boxer engine that was actually installed.

40 Years Honda Gold Wing: Harley-Davidson of the Far East: Honda Gold Wing-wing

Honda 1985 Honda GL 1200 Gold Wing Limited Edition

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Finally, in September 1974, the first GL 1000 Gold Wing celebrated its premiere. Your price: 8.205 DM and 55 cents. In addition, there was a flat-rate freight charge of 144 DM and 11 percent VAT, i.e. 918.45 DM. With the total price of 9.DM 268 was considerably below that of a major competitor, the new Van Veen Wankel. A year later, Honda already launched the luxuriously equipped Gold Wing Limited Edition model.

40 Years Honda Gold Wing: Harley-Davidson of the Far East: Honda Gold Wing-years

Honda 1984 Honda GL 1200 Gold Wing Aspencade

American favorite

It quickly became clear that the Americans in particular were crazy about the two-wheeled road cruiser. 80 percent of all Gold Wings produced found their new home in the hands of a US citizen. No one was surprised that Honda decided in 1979 to build a manufacturing facility in Marysville, Ohio. After two more models in 1980, Honda equipped their GL 1200 for the first time in 1985, with which every Gold Wing is associated to this day. From now on, an audio system with four loudspeakers and an electrically controlled cruise control ensure a great atmosphere and stress-free driving. The Gold Wing fans cheered while bikers with sporty two-wheelers shook under the saddle. Over the years, the luxurious yet powerful Gold Wind had become a unique blend of motorcycle and car.

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2 thoughts on “40 Years Honda Gold Wing: Harley-Davidson of the Far East: Honda Gold Wing”

  1. Races are only with Japanese machines..
    ..hazards. The Japanese have always been badly done but are always in the breakdown stats, … despite manipulations, for decades the best cars and motorcycles. The design was smiled at in the 80s, but from the 90s and at the latest now, all cars look like Japanese. Doesn’t come with cheap plastic either, because Mercedes doesn’t use precious plastic either, but covers that shine or look like wood..

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  2. The first Goldwings were…
    …life-threatening bastards, which have also cost the lives of some drivers. And that’s because they had such a terrible chassis in connection with a forbidden weight distribution that from approx. 140 km/h got the feeling that you were being overtaken by your own behind. Just get rid of these lumps. That was a very bad ride.

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