Honda Gold Wing Test Ride Review – Incredibly Comfy!

Ergonomics – The Honda Gold Wing was built to cross continents and the ergonomics of the bike help you to do exactly that with the utmost ease. The seating posture is upright, the handlebar is wide enough and the foot pegs are centre-set. If there’s something we could nitpick on, it would be the lack of footboards. Just footpegs aren’t enough if you’re doing interstate trips. That aside, the mirrors give a generous view of what’s behind and the windshield is tall enough to reduce the wind blasts. The seats require special mention here and actually, seats are a wrong term we’re using. These are actually sofas. The cushioning is spot on and the pillion seat gets a taller backrest. While someone is riding, we could take a snooze here in the pillion seat, it’s that comfortable.

Performance – This one behemoth of a bike comes powered by a behemoth of an engine. Yes, the Gold Wing draws its motivation from a 1833cc, flat 6-cylinder engine that produces 118 HP of power and 167 Nm of torque! Right from the word go, the engine feels terrifically refined and punchy also. Twist the throttle and the powertrain responds immediately and that’s largely because of the amount of power and torque that’s available lower down the rev range. Redlining at around 6500 RPM, the powerplant also sounds very impressive, in fact, it’s music to the ears and that’s the reason we never really found the need to listen to the radio. While the current model gets a 7-speed DCT automatic gearbox, the sixth generation Gold Wing’s engine comes mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox with Reverse mode. The Reverse mode uses the starter motor to give you a reverse speed of 1 km/hr and this does come in handy while parking.

Riding Dynamics – The sixth generation Honda Gold Wing weighs approximately 400 kgs and you might be thinking manoeuvring this vehicle could be a task. Yes, it is but not at high speeds. In the city, you will definitely feel its heft but not on the highways. The softer suspension setup gives the bike a very plush ride quality and anything thrown in its stride is absorbed without breaking a sweat. High-speed stability is another commendable aspect of the bike as it stays glued to roads. Handling is also great (provided the road is). Take it to a beautiful winding stretch of highways and the Honda Gold Wing immediately feels at home but on bad roads, the ride experience is bound to get annoying because of the obvious weight.