Honda’s Gold Wing is the zenith of motorcycle touring. Whether you’re running to the local convenience store for a Slurpee, or traveling across the American Southwest for a getaway weekend, few streetbikes are as capable as the Gold Wing Tour DCT ($29,300 as tested).
--
Radically overhauling it for the 2018 model year, Big Red went in a leaner and meaner direction with its Wing. So much so that it skimped on cargo capacity inside the 13.2-gallon top case. Owners complained, and Honda answered by increasing the capacity by nearly 3 gallons.
It may not seem like a huge change, but the compartment now easily swallows two full-face helmets, of any make. The case would accept two helmets before, but they had to be of a certain model and size, and you had to insert them just right.
Additional fixed hard luggage is located on either side of the rear fender, though they are oddly shaped (rectangular and not very wide). The cases are opened via subtle push-buttons and are locked electronically via a nice-looking rectangular shaped electronic key fob. Hydraulic action makes for smoother operation. Our only gripe is that the cases are finicky to close. A dashboard-mounted indicator lets you know if they are fully shut. In total, the Hold Wing Tour offers nearly 32-gallons of cargo capacity...
Find out more: https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/story/reviews/2021-honda-gold-wing-tour-dct-mc-commute-review/
Photography: Drew Ruiz
Video/edit: @AdamWaheed
Motorcycle Riding Gear Worn
Helmet: Shoei RF-SR
Jacket: REV’IT! Hudson
Gloves: REV’IT! Chevron 2
Pant: REV’IT! Austin
Boots: TCX X-Vibe EVO Air
Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyclist
Shop Products We Use: https://www.amazon.com/shop/motorcyclistmagazine
See more from us: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/
--
Radically overhauling it for the 2018 model year, Big Red went in a leaner and meaner direction with its Wing. So much so that it skimped on cargo capacity inside the 13.2-gallon top case. Owners complained, and Honda answered by increasing the capacity by nearly 3 gallons.
It may not seem like a huge change, but the compartment now easily swallows two full-face helmets, of any make. The case would accept two helmets before, but they had to be of a certain model and size, and you had to insert them just right.
Additional fixed hard luggage is located on either side of the rear fender, though they are oddly shaped (rectangular and not very wide). The cases are opened via subtle push-buttons and are locked electronically via a nice-looking rectangular shaped electronic key fob. Hydraulic action makes for smoother operation. Our only gripe is that the cases are finicky to close. A dashboard-mounted indicator lets you know if they are fully shut. In total, the Hold Wing Tour offers nearly 32-gallons of cargo capacity...
Find out more: https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/story/reviews/2021-honda-gold-wing-tour-dct-mc-commute-review/
Photography: Drew Ruiz
Video/edit: @AdamWaheed
Motorcycle Riding Gear Worn
Helmet: Shoei RF-SR
Jacket: REV’IT! Hudson
Gloves: REV’IT! Chevron 2
Pant: REV’IT! Austin
Boots: TCX X-Vibe EVO Air
Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyclist
Shop Products We Use: https://www.amazon.com/shop/motorcyclistmagazine
See more from us: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Hey folks good morning and welcome to this special edition MC commute coming
00:05 to you live from the official US press introduction of Honda's 2021 Gold Wing
00:13 Tour. Let's swing a leg over this bad boy and see what it's like to ride. Alright
00:19 folks here we are at the official North American press introduction for Honda's
00:26 2021 Gold Wing Tour. We are riding the Gold Wing Tour with Honda's optional DCT
00:38 dual clutch transmission. It's a $1,000 upcharge and it removes the manual
00:48 six-speed transmission and substitutes that for a seven-speed fully automated
00:58 dual clutch transmission. Honda's been doing these dual clutch transmissions
01:04 for 11 years now. It sounds insane to believe it's been 11 years but it has.
01:11 Over the 11 years they've made so many improvements to this transmission package
01:19 that's hard to even know what sequence or what generation they're in. I believe
01:23 it's the eighth generation DCT transmission is what this 2021 bike uses
01:31 which is the same as the previous year's dual clutch transmission. Now these DCT
01:38 gearboxes are just so awesome because they allow you to ride the motorcycle so
01:47 easily. There's no clutch lever to work, there's no gear shift lever on the left
01:54 foot peg to work up and down and it's just a very automated seamless and
02:00 scooter like experience. Now I'm a scooter guy but a lot of you listening
02:06 out there might be like "what a scooter like experience" I don't want that but the
02:10 thing is the DCT goes from mild to wild with a push of a button or a twist of
02:16 the wrist. This transmission it changes between each of its seven cogs so
02:22 quickly that it literally feels like a high-end sports car. When you're riding
02:27 this motorcycle you'll think you're driving a 2021 Porsche with a
02:32 PDK transmission it just changes gears that fast. It has auto blip the
02:38 programming of the transmission is very refined now where it really knows and
02:45 understands what gear to be in based on your vehicle speed and your throttle
02:52 input. But also awesome feature that I like about this DCT and this is specific
02:58 to the Goldwing is right now we're riding in the tour power mode and we'll
03:04 get to the power modes in a little bit here but when you put it in the sport
03:08 power mode so when you put in the sport power mode I don't like sport power mode
03:12 because the throttle is too sensitive and too touchy but I love the
03:17 transmission mapping in sport mode. When it's in sport mode it it changes gears
03:23 so quickly and when it changes gears it hits hard BAM BAM it's like you're
03:30 driving a race car just how hard how much pressure is in that shifting pattern
03:37 and you wouldn't think that that milliseconds of time it's shaving would
03:42 even matter but it does it absolutely matters so I absolutely love running
03:48 through all seven gears in sport mode the transmission hits hard and it
03:53 really delivers a very euphoric acceleration experience. My only
03:59 complaint is I wish you could pair the sport DCT shift pattern into the
04:05 tour map because I like the tour map because it's a little bit less sensitive
04:10 in terms of throttle response. So right now we're riding on the freeway and
04:18 these Goldwings are all about freeway comfort. There's a lot of room here the
04:26 adjustable windscreen is nice and tall goes up and down with a push of a button
04:32 I also like that the windscreen it always will remain at the position that
04:38 you left it so when you turn the key off or when you turn this ignition switch
04:42 off the windscreen automatically retracts but when you put the power back
04:47 on it will it will lift back to its original position very very nice touch
04:54 and as you can hear this cocoon of wind is just excellent like there's no noise
04:59 there's so little noise let's turn on the radio
05:04 now right now we are riding this motorcycle on a California interstate
05:14 road in the carpool lane motorcycles are allowed to operate in the carpool lane
05:23 in the state of California and this Goldwing is just this bike is is
05:29 absolutely a motorcycle that you can ride every day not only does it work in
05:35 a touring sense of the manner as we're doing right now it also performs really
05:39 well in the canyon so let's take it out there finally guys we're off the freeway
05:47 and we are in Malibu California there's Pepperdine University place of sight of
05:53 the world's biggest lawn world's biggest grass lawn right there at Pepperdine
05:57 University just joking I don't know that but they have a big grass lawn there so
06:03 we're off the freeway we're cruising in Malibu North and ergonomics on this bike
06:09 gosh this bike is just this bike is at the zenith of two-wheeled comfort there
06:21 isn't a motorcycle manufactured today that is more comfortable than this Honda
06:29 Goldwing tour now not only is it comfortable for the rider but it's also
06:36 extremely comfortable for the passenger who we will talk to in a little bit now
06:43 for 2021 Honda has made some careful modifications to the passenger seat to
06:51 make it a better place to stay planted for hundreds and hundreds of miles when
06:59 you're touring specifically the density of the foam seat has been modified the
07:08 cantor of the backrest has been moved so it's a little bit more relaxed says
07:13 Honda and they did that to make it just more comfortable now rider ergonomics we
07:22 have a nice handlebar it's it's almost like a cross between an upright handle
07:28 bar almost like a set of clip-ons it's a good balance between both it's actually
07:34 surprisingly in a way surprisingly sporty the the angle of of these raised
07:41 clip-ons and just the way that they're positioned in terms of our height it's
07:47 actually a pretty sporty handlebar package but it's not too sporty and it's
07:53 not too relaxed you have good control good control and good command of the
07:58 vehicle so the foot controls don't have your feet out in the wind the 1833
08:06 single overhead cam six-cylinder engine the cylinder heads protrude out the side
08:12 of the engine just like BMWs boxer twins so there's no room for for four to
08:17 controls controls are nice I like controls on this bike they're not too
08:22 far for they're not too far backward I have good comfort there's not a lot of
08:27 strain on my knees and this bike has a surprising amount of cornering clearance
08:35 for a luxury touring brick course when you're getting some in the corners you
08:41 are going to scrape the foot pegs but it's not bad bad one pro tip to help
08:48 mitigate any foot peg scraping is to make sure you're using the maximum shock
08:55 preload setting so the maximum shock preload setting indicated by the two
09:01 motorcyclist icons and the luggage icon that indicates that the shock absorber
09:08 isn't its full preload tallest position and that gives you a little bit extra
09:13 cornering ground clearance now the seat the rider's seat god this is a great
09:21 place to do work from I love how much support and cushion this seat offers yet
09:30 the density of the seat material isn't too soft it's firm as good support but
09:35 is also very thick and I also like that the seat it really really grips my
09:43 posterior it really grips it in this bottle so you know this motorcycle it
09:49 makes a lot of power which will get to you know over a hundred pound feet of
09:53 torque and when you give this thing the beans especially in the sport shift
09:57 pattern this thing gets up and goes it puts you back in your seat and there's a
10:01 nice ridge in the in the rider's seat to help you keep you in place from moving
10:07 backward also when you're breaking on this motorcycle you know even though
10:13 this bikes heavy it's got a strong set of triple disc hydraulic brakes which
10:19 will get to and this thing has some stopping power when you're when you're
10:23 leaning on the front brake lever and the rear brake pedal this thing it stops and
10:28 I like that the there's a good amount of room to grip the motorcycle with your
10:37 knees really secure yourself when you are breaking like you would on a sport
10:42 bike obviously a lot of people aren't gonna probably operate the vehicle in
10:46 that kind of manner but you can because this Goldwing is a surprisingly sporty
10:54 rig if you want to ride it that way of course we have heated grips you can turn
11:00 on the heated grips right here there's an insignia right there that lets you
11:05 know they're on it's 70 degrees right now and we're doing a lot of stop-and-go
11:09 so we don't need it there is five settings I like the heated grips
11:13 because in the highest setting the grips get pretty warm you can ride on a 43
11:21 degree morning and not be wearing insulated gloves and your hands are
11:25 still at an okay temperature I like that there's also rider and passenger heated
11:31 seat which is activated by pushing this button now this is a important difference
11:38 because the Honda Goldwing standard the bagger version without the toxic top box
11:44 does not have this so you're getting heated passenger seat and for the rider
11:52 and passenger which the standard DCT bagger Goldwing does not have and those
12:00 heated seats make a big difference when it's cold out you know you want to be
12:04 warm you want to be comfortable and this vehicle will deliver that kind of
12:10 experience when you are on the long haul all right folks we are back and look at
12:15 that view look at that view it's even sweeter at the cockpit or at the helm of
12:23 a nice luxury touring bike like Honda's Goldwing Tour DCT we talked about the
12:35 ergonomics we talked about the freeway capability this bike let's talk about
12:43 the powertrain specifically the engine this Goldwing is powered by Honda's 1833
12:53 CC overhead cam flat six so horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine this engine
13:03 saw a major overhaul for the 2018 model year so for 2018 Honda revamped this
13:12 powertrain they added additional valves so now it's 24 valve the old engine was
13:20 12 valve they lightened the things they made it more powerful and power is one
13:28 thing that this flat six certainly has this engine is good for over 100 pound
13:36 feet of torque over a hundred pound feet of torque it's just incredible amount of
13:42 torque output horsepower wise it makes right around 85 horsepower so not the
13:49 most fast in terms of horsepower but in terms of torque it sure is and all that
13:55 torque really allows this motorcycle to accelerate off the line just with
14:02 tenacity and not only does it allow it to accelerate off the loud line with
14:08 with tenacity but it allows it to carry a seventh speed you can be in seven in
14:15 top gear at 60 miles per hour with the engine only revving right over 2,000
14:21 rpm and you twist the throttle and the thing goes doesn't need to downshift you
14:27 don't need to grab another gear you just twist the throttle and the torque just
14:33 comes piling on it's really an awesome experience
14:40 the throttle response on this gold wing this bike employs ride by wire throttle
14:48 now when Honda first came out with ride by wire throttle I think I believe with
14:54 the 2017 CBR 1000RR sport bike they kind of flubbed it but they learned quickly
15:03 how to improve it and the ride by wire system on these new Honda street bikes
15:10 it's just it's so good they really they went from flubbing it to having one of
15:16 the best setups in the industry it's really amazing how good the throttle
15:21 response is on this bike now there is a variety of modes on this bike right now
15:29 we're riding in tour mode there's also sport mode whoa
15:34 econ mode and rain mode now I really like the tour setting because it gives a
15:42 good balance between throttle response and a wise shifting pattern this throttle
15:50 response works really well for me whether I'm cruising on the highway or
15:56 burning up my favorite back road now if I put it in sport it just like we talked
16:03 about before I love the shifting map in sport and I love how fast it hits the
16:09 gears up and down but the throttle response is just a little too twitchy
16:15 for me but if you're the kind of rider who likes a real sharp throttle response
16:22 you really want the bike to feel jumpy when you twist the wrist you're gonna
16:26 like this sport setting we're gonna go back to tour the econ setting I've ridden
16:35 this bike quite a bit in the econ setting and you think that oh my god the
16:40 econ setting is just a gimmick but it really does work I remember many months
16:44 ago I had to ride from from San Diego to Fresno California and I rode on the
16:50 Goldwing DCT not this exact vehicle but the Goldwing that's missing the top
16:57 case and I was riding at a very quick speed I think it took me four hours to
17:04 go from San Diego to Fresno so you can figure out the speed I was going but the
17:08 bike literally averaged 38 miles per gallon at that speed I couldn't believe
17:12 it 38 miles per gallon I did have it in econ mode I've noticed that when I ride
17:20 in tour mode for whatever reason I usually get about a mile per gallon less
17:24 so econ mode is a good solution if you are just gonna be on the freeway and you
17:31 need to cover ground now the engine sound these Goldwing flat-six engines
17:38 now the Goldwings always had a really nice exhaust note but it's always been a
17:45 little bit subdued you've had really had to pay attention for it with your ears
17:49 well with the overall of this engine for 2018 model year Honda really put
17:56 emphasis on the character of this flat-six and the exhaust note from this
18:04 bike is much more rowdy than past editions and that rowdy exhaust note I
18:12 just love it like when you start when you hit the starter button on this
18:15 motorcycle it just the the engine note is just awesome and when you when you
18:22 nudge it notch it in the gear into drive gear and pull away like that that torque
18:27 E flat-six sound it makes you it just reminds me of again like a Porsche car
18:32 it just it sounds so good a lot of times Honda motorcycles get knocked for not
18:39 sounding awesome this Goldwing sounds awesome get the exhaust note isn't too
18:45 loud where it's gonna cause you undue attention or annoy people that could
18:52 potentially get you in trouble ie law enforcement so if I was to make this
18:58 bike mine I would totally leave this exhaust alone I like the way it sounds
19:03 stock sounds pleasing to the ear when you give her the beans and then when you
19:08 short shift it and lug it no one's gonna be looking at you just the way I like it
19:12 this 1.8 liter engine drinks from a five and a half gallon fuel tank five and a
19:19 half gallon fuel tank the engine does not require premium fuel you can run 87
19:26 octane in this bike there's no difference it that you won't notice the
19:29 performance difference you won't notice anything I like the ability to be able
19:33 to run the less expensive fuel but the 5.5 gallon fuel capacity it's a thing
19:40 for me the previous 2001 to 2017 or 16 Goldwing that thing had a 6.6 gallon
19:49 capacity fuel tank and and this bike needs a bigger gas tank I mean
19:56 realistically you can go around 150 even 160 miles on a tank of gas but that's
20:02 not enough just based on how comfortable how suave this bike is you need
20:10 it'd be great if this bike would go 220 240 miles on a tank and I know that
20:17 other customers haven't really complained about it but to me it's a big
20:21 deal this bike should have a bigger capacity fuel tank after all BMW GS
20:27 bikes they have over seven gallons they're carrying over seven gallons of
20:31 fuel now that's touring honnestly please have a larger capacity fuel tank now the
20:38 character of this engine not only is it sound pleasing but God it's smooth it
20:43 delivers just a hint of vibration through these clip-on style handlebar
20:51 controls but it's not off-putting at all it actually adds to the experience
20:58 very very smooth engine very smooth engine power I mean if you looked up in
21:06 the dictionary you know smooth power trains Honda's Goldwing DCT would be
21:14 there maintenance maintenance and durability is a big thing for Honda
21:22 Goldwing owners and it's one area where Honda really goes above and beyond now
21:29 this vehicle comes with a three-year manufacturer's warranty so Honda stands
21:36 behind these Goldwings and offers a three-year manufacturer warranty
21:41 realistically these bikes are crafted in Japan they are so well built that Honda
21:48 could offer a 10-year warranty and you probably wouldn't have any problems with
21:51 these bikes these are very well engineered well put together bikes but
21:56 three three-year warranty is standard Honda also offers a protection plan
22:02 which allows you to extend your warranty I believe out to seven or eight years so
22:09 seven or eight years of warranty on anything that goes wrong that's just
22:14 amazing that that that would be customers can have that kind of
22:19 purchasing protection maintenance on this Goldwing there's a reason why you
22:25 see Honda Goldwings with well over a hundred thousand even well over two
22:30 hundred and fifty thousand miles on the odometer and that's because these
22:34 vehicles they are built to last now Honda
22:43 says that these bikes should have an oil change every 4,000 miles well initially
22:49 your first oil change is at 4,000 miles because this is a DCT bike you're gonna
22:55 have an oil filter for the engine and an oil filter for the transmission to
23:00 change out so 4,000 miles oil change new oil filter new transmission oil filter
23:07 after that the service interval bumps up to 8,000 miles so 12,000 miles is your
23:15 next service and at that time you get to skip an oil filter and transmission
23:23 filter change and then the next ones another 8,000 miles and then you have to
23:29 swap out the filters it's literally that easy this DCT bike carries almost five
23:38 quarts of engine oil which is about one quart more than the manual transmission
23:46 equipped Goldwing so these bikes don't require a lot of maintenance to keep
23:54 running and they go the distance great finally some turns yes going straight on
24:06 Honda's Goldwing tour certainly is magnificent but it's even better when
24:11 you're turning now the Goldwing has a very interesting chassis and suspension
24:19 package so Honda led the charge for a long time with their twin spar aluminum
24:25 frame that offers good rigidity a nice slim chassis and good overall handling
24:36 now they've taken things a step further by introducing a new front suspension
24:44 design so as opposed to the previous Goldwing or pretty much any other
24:49 motorcycle made that has a telescopic style hydraulic fork this bike has a
24:57 unique double wishbone style front suspension so you can see the the arms
25:04 moving right here so that replaces the traditional fork on the front suspension
25:12 now what Honda did with this double wishbone suspension is it's actually a
25:17 very ingenious and technically complicated and advanced suspension
25:23 system and what it does is allows the motorcycle to deliver and I've said this
25:30 a million times so it's kind of sounds like a broken record but I don't really
25:33 know a better way to describe it but literally a magic carpet ride this bike
25:38 floats over bumps with just the ride quality is literally regal it's as regal
25:45 as it goes so it just goes over the bumps so well and delivers just an
25:51 astounding level of comfort not only that but this is front suspension allows
25:58 this motorcycle to be very maneuverable when you have the wheels spinning in
26:04 motion this 839 pound Goldwing DCT Tour model feels a lot lighter than it
26:13 actually is you really don't notice the weight of it until you are trying to
26:18 maneuver it on a hill with a passenger then you notice oh my god this thing
26:23 weighs kind of a lot but if it wasn't for that setting you'd think this thing
26:29 weighs nothing because it's so agile it's just unbelievable how cleanly it
26:35 steers speaking of steering the steering radius of this bike is actually pretty
26:40 good you'd be surprised how easy it is to turn in a parking lot when you are
26:46 riding by yourself and you don't have the bags full of lead so that is what is
26:53 so awesome about this front suspension now the only real knock you know if you
26:59 have all these good things there's got to be a knock the knock I have with this
27:02 suspension is it just doesn't feel like a traditional fork so you don't really
27:09 feel it when you're riding casually like we are now but when you start hustling
27:13 this thing in a fun section of turns like you'd want to hustle a more sporty
27:18 motorcycle the the front suspension it doesn't have the traditional dive
27:24 compress dive bite sharpen steering of a telescopic fork so it feels a little bit
27:32 almost vague and not only do you not have that traditional type of bite
27:39 sensation compress bite turn sensation it just it it just it doesn't have that
27:47 same level of feel it certainly goes around corners really well but it just
27:52 it feels a little odd when you're really getting after it in a quick succession
27:59 of turns again like when you're riding at a casual pace and casually through
28:03 turns even at this it feels great it steers really nice and it's easy to put
28:09 where you want but when you're getting after it it just doesn't have that
28:12 traditional telescopic front end feel which realistically I don't even know
28:18 why I'm complaining about it because it doesn't even matter because you're
28:21 really not gonna ride this bike like that anyways and the advantages ie quick
28:27 steering super comfortable they outweigh that little gripe so it doesn't even
28:31 matter so well done Honda rear suspension this has a hydraulic shock
28:40 absorber it is electronically preload adjustable the non tour model has a knob
28:47 on the right side of the vehicle under a plastic cover that you can manually turn
28:51 this thing is electronically adjustable which we can do at a stop you literally
28:56 feel the rear end of the motorcycle moving up and down when you adjust that
29:01 setting so it's really cool and the suspension this motorcycle just
29:07 works so well you know the rebound is not too fast it's not too slow it
29:11 absorbs the rough stuff really well I mean we just hit that little pothole
29:17 right there and you felt it but barely and if you're just looking for a
29:21 motorcycle that just can deliver just a ridiculously high level of suspension
29:29 compliance and overall comfort I mean I'm talking about like luxury like a
29:34 hundred and fifty thousand dollar luxury sedan style comfort this twenty nine
29:41 thousand three hundred dollar Goldwing tour DCT delivers that kind of ride
29:46 quality no joke it's just unbelievable how how good this thing steers how good
29:51 it handles how good the suspension action is so good job Honda all right
29:58 folks here's where the real fun starts this is the whole point of Honda's
30:04 Goldwing tour to get out of town now we covered the powertrain covered the
30:10 engine transmission the suspension the handling let's talk about the
30:15 electronics and I know we touched on the electronics a little bit this bike it's
30:21 if the whole bike is electronics realistically but let's talk about some
30:26 of these type of electronics that you use to make the ride better now all
30:32 Goldwings all come with navigation so this is a standard feature it's non
30:37 options come standard now this GPS navigation is very nice because it
30:45 allows you not to have to use your phone so you can just plug an address on using
30:53 this switch gear here and get to your route but at the same time using this
30:58 switch gear it it the switch gear has nice tactile feel and and Honda did a
31:05 reasonably good job of laying out the controls but you have to hunt and pick
31:10 for every letter it's really time-consuming there's got to be a
31:14 better way to be able to input addresses and input information quickly in to the
31:21 vehicle I mean Apple does it or smartphones do it with their with their
31:26 user interface why can't on I don't exactly know how to figure that one out
31:31 but it would be nicer to be able to have faster inputting of addresses
31:37 information into the computer now this computer works really well sometimes
31:44 I'll actually zoom in using the button here and I'll zoom in where I can
31:50 actually see the corners before I'm actually taking them so I know how the
31:55 road is going to route me and that just helped me ride with a little bit more
32:00 confidence through the turns I know whether if I'm going right or left so a
32:06 neat feature now this particular Goldwing has an FM AM radio so you can
32:15 listen to the radio if you'd like it also has XM satellite radio capability
32:23 we don't have a subscription to XM satellite radio so we're not going to be
32:28 able to listen to it today but that is an option you can also pair this vehicle
32:33 to a Bluetooth enabled headset or your smartphone it's now when this bike was
32:42 released for the 2018 model year this bike was only compatible with iOS
32:48 products well Honda has updated the the firmware and now this vehicle is
32:56 compatible with Android devices too so if you're an Android user you're in luck
33:02 now your smartphone can pair to the vehicle now I have my iOS enabled
33:10 smartphone paired to the vehicle and it allows me to listen to music right now
33:15 we can't listen to any music because I selected a streaming service and the
33:21 streaming service doesn't have connection because I don't have I don't
33:25 have cell phone service because I'm in the wilderness now I like the display of
33:31 this Honda Goldwing I like the dual analog gauges that's a nice touch even
33:37 though I'm new school I'm still old school at the same time and I really
33:40 value analog gauges especially when it comes to the good old tachometer I also
33:48 like how the the LCD displays are adjacent to each analog dial and there's
33:57 some good information there the only problem is these LCDs are a little bit
34:02 tall they're a little bit small they're also kind of clunky to navigate you have
34:06 to know what button to push like for instance here you have to hit the select
34:11 button to make these and there's three buttons here and it's like why can't it
34:15 be more simplified or why can't you be able to adjust these features with this
34:21 control panel here instead of having three individual buttons to control that
34:26 that interface I'm sure there's people out there that probably like having the
34:30 separate function but I wish I wish this joystick would be able to just just
34:36 manipulate everything through that joystick and if you want to use these
34:40 separate buttons use those too but at least allow the joystick to do
34:44 everything and here's where the ride really gets fun folks now this is the
34:50 area where this Goldwing without having a conventional telescopic fork it feels
34:56 a little vague it just that the front end is not really doing anything like a
35:02 typical motorcycle it's not there's no pitch there's no pitch bite sensation
35:07 that you typically experience with this traditional motorcycle so it's not
35:13 saying you can't ride this bike at a good clip but it just takes some getting
35:17 used to to do now this Honda Goldwing tour is equipped with the linked brakes
35:25 and I love the linked brakes when you use the front brake it automatically
35:31 diverts a little bit of brake pressure to the rear brake conversely when you're
35:37 using the rear brake it automatically diverts pressure to the front brake and
35:42 on these big 839 pound cruisers you have to have a big strong back brake because
35:49 these bikes just weigh so much they need the extra stopping power that a big back
35:55 brake can handle and usually you're going to be riding these motorcycles
36:00 with a passenger with the bags full of cargo and it's good to be able to have
36:06 that stopping power from a good sized back brake back to the brakes so the
36:13 linked brakes automatically divert pressure to the other opposite circuit
36:19 and that helps keep speed in check and helps for a safer ride especially if
36:27 you're not super familiar with using both brakes at the same time
36:32 the brakes also have ABS so always on fixed ABS is on and
36:42 and the always on fixed ABS does a great job of keeping those slips I like the
36:51 way that guy's driving of keeping things under control if you use either brake
36:59 lever too aggressively it totally mitigates any tire lockup this bike also
37:06 has traction control Honda calls it Honda selectable torque control but you
37:11 can't select the torque control level it's just one level tied to the riding
37:18 modes so the tour mode has a different traction control setting in the sport
37:24 has a different traction control settings in the rain and econ but
37:29 realistically we have never ridden this bike fast enough or hard enough to feel
37:34 the traction control come in we wouldn't want to traction controls more of a
37:39 safety aid for let's say you're riding in inclement weather or you hit a
37:47 slippery surface somehow wet surface that is what the traction control is
37:52 more for rather than a performance aid to help you to help mitigate wheel spin
37:59 when you're whaling now at any time if we want to downshift the motorcycle we
38:04 just push this minus button here on the left and switch gear and that will have
38:11 us downshift into a lower cog conversely if we want to upshift there is a plus
38:17 button that is actuated by your left index finger finger
38:24 this motorcycle puts out a ton of torque so much torque that you can run it in a
38:32 higher gear than you would another motorcycle just because it has the torque
38:36 to pull that gear if you're a rider who loves torque engines you're gonna love
38:45 this thing right now we're manually shifting the motorcycle even though it
38:51 is in fully automated mode we can hit the M button here and now we're in full
38:55 manual shift so we're gonna select the gears of course if we're riding the bike
39:03 in too low of vehicle speed for the speed traveled the transmission will
39:08 automatically shift into a lower cog so there's always that failsafe now while
39:16 this navigation system slick and the switch gear is pretty good too there are
39:24 some squawks I don't like not being able to make
39:29 adjustments while I'm riding it so a lot of times you'll want to make adjustments
39:34 in the menu and you can't because the vehicle is disabled settings disabled
39:40 and the vehicle is in motion I know that's a safety thing but I wish you were
39:45 able to make on the adjustment on the fly adjustments while you're riding that
39:50 would be really cool I also think Honda could do a better job with the menu
39:58 layout now if you study the manual and you spend some time with this motorcycle
40:03 you can figure out the various settings and understand the menu navigation
40:08 pretty well but it still needs to be simplified and could be cleaner I mean
40:14 for instance the gold standard with with user interface these days is our
40:19 smartphones you don't need an owner's manual to be able to work on it's very
40:23 intuitive very easy very logical and I would like to see some of that logic be
40:29 built into these Honda electronics again not not bad but if they could lean on
40:41 companies like Apple and they kind of are you know integrating Apple CarPlay
40:46 but if they could lean on those companies a little bit more to help them
40:50 engineer more intuitive just menu and display setup I think that would really
40:58 go far to making these bikes just take them to a new level that we've never
41:02 seen before all right folks well there it is Honda's 2021 Goldwing Tour DCT
41:11 that was a fun touring style ride through California let's show you some
41:16 other features when this bike came out the top case was so small they enlarged
41:21 it by over three gallons it is now deeper it's taller and it's wider and
41:28 you can now easily accommodate two full-size helmets with Bluetooth
41:35 communicators this is a big deal I am so happy Honda that you increased the cargo
41:41 capacity of this top case it makes a huge difference I also like this top
41:47 case because there's hydraulic lifters so it opens and closes very smoothly I
41:52 wish the closing mechanism you see how it doesn't totally close I wish the
41:58 closing mechanism was a little bit better it feels very plasticky and cheap
42:02 there is a button detent you press down here to open it so again very nice job
42:08 but Honda let's get this closing apparatus a little bit better we have
42:13 two other additional hard case side cases here again they have hydraulic
42:18 actuators to make sure it's smooth operation decent cargo capacity but the
42:24 shape is a little strange here so you can't you have to be really careful in
42:29 how you install things in to carry again a button right there is how you open
42:37 that here is the other case you press the button here there it opens this has
42:44 an even more odd shape as you can see it goes over here so fitting stuff in this
42:51 is a little bit of a Tetris type game but still I like the hydraulic actuators
42:56 we've said a couple times now I like the electronic lock system very good Honda
43:02 we didn't touch on it but the four speaker stereo right here these things
43:06 are 45 watt speakers now to fuel this vehicle with fuel you press this door
43:14 there is the fuel door press that and that is how you feel fuel the motorcycle
43:19 it runs on standard 87 octane awesome the key here is the key I am NOT usually
43:29 one to like electronic key fobs but for this particular vehicle it works it
43:35 works because there's an easy place to store the key right there so it works
43:39 for my lifestyle I also like Han's attention to detail look at this inset
43:44 gold wing on the key look how nice this key is other manufacturers key fobs can
43:51 look kind of crappy and cheap this Honda gold wing key looks premium and fitting
43:58 for a motorcycle that is as awesome as this bike is look at the seat cover
44:04 this is another change for 2021 look at the seat suede with nice stitching on it
44:11 God the seat cover looks awesome it looks boss I love it and the passenger
44:17 seat is thicker it is at a more relaxed contour and more comfortable for logging
44:25 miles alright folks let's do some Q&A real quick let's talk to the Instagram
44:30 machine and see what is up let's see what's up let's go straight to the top
44:38 gold wing or K 1600 be I love BMWs inline 6k bike that bike is unbelievable
44:48 it has such awesome character when you're riding it you feel like you're
44:52 riding and driving an f1 car that engine makes all the right noises but this gold
44:59 wing takes luxury to a new level if you're the kind of rider who's really
45:05 gonna wail on back roads and carve up the canyons I'd probably go with the BMW
45:10 because I like the conventional front suspension for wailing around corners
45:15 better than I like this but for day to day all-around touring all-around
45:19 comfort you can't beat this bike overall because of its lofty levels of comfort
45:24 and it's very slick shifting 7-speed DCT I would buy this bike over the K bike
45:31 but the K bike still an awesome machine but can it wheelie I'm sure it can
45:36 wheelie but I can't do it so we're not gonna talk about that how is the power
45:40 delivery and overall performance when compared to the K 1600 GTL well the K
45:46 1600 GT GTL that engine is a monster gobs of torque gobs of horsepower it
45:54 makes the most incredible sound it sounds even better than this Honda gold
45:58 wing with its electronic quick shifter it mashes through at six speed six gears
46:05 very well but not as well as this DCT overall I'd have to say I like the the
46:14 actual engine of the K 1600 I like better than Honda's flat six but the
46:20 transmission package on this Honda gold wing is at just such a another level
46:26 compared to any other motorcycle manufacturer on planet earth that the
46:30 nod goes to Honda good job Honda you guys did a great job is there an
46:36 optional porta potti seat available from Honda ha ha ha ha ha no but we do wish
46:43 the fuel tank was larger so we could really stretch the limits of our bladder
46:48 when we're riding on this motorcycle how does it compare to the K 1600 bagger
46:53 Indian Challenger and HD road glide we talked about the K bike the K bike has
47:00 an awesome engine it's a very sweet bike and if we were riding on Ortega Highway
47:05 or some Canyon Road I would rather be on the K bike but for all other situations
47:11 I'd rather be on this bike this compared to the Indian Challenger there literally
47:16 is no comparison this is a Mercedes and the Indian Challenger is a Fiat Harley
47:24 Davidson same thing Harley Davidson's a little bit better than a Fiat but still
47:27 I mean there was a time where I was like I'm gonna buy a Harley Davidson electric
47:31 glider a beggar but now Honda has gotten this gold wing and gold wing tour to
47:36 such a high level that if I was gonna buy a touring bike of any kind it would
47:41 be this bike there is no other there's no other question in fact if Honda took
47:46 this bike away from me and like we need it back I will buy this bike because I
47:50 love it that much alright folks that is a wrap from the 2021 Honda gold wing
47:58 tour DCT MC commute coming to you live from the official North American press
48:03 introduction of this model would I spend my hard-earned dough on this motorcycle
48:10 yes I would I would absolutely buy this bike you know I might actually buy this
48:14 bike because I like it that much it really just works for my lifestyle it
48:18 works as a as a city bike it works as a touring bike it enables me to live my
48:23 Southern California life in a more pleasurable and time-efficient manner
48:29 log on to motorcyclists online comm that's where all of my written content
48:35 lives check out our new podcast we just interviewed Ryan Dungy a couple weeks
48:41 ago who is retired championship level winning supercross motocross racer
48:45 check that out give this video a thumbs up if you liked it please thumbs it down
48:50 if you didn't and we'll see you guys next time thanks for watching
48:55 you
48:57 you
48:59 you
49:01 you
49:03 you
49:05 you
49:07 you
49:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]