Sitting astride a 1975 Honda Gold Wing GL1000, a motorcycle only a couple years younger than I am, my eyes took in the Candy Blue Green paint on the “tank” (it’s just a cover since fuel is stored under the seat), the slightly sun-faded twin gauges, and the colorful indicator lights nestled between them.
My nose smelled unburned gasoline. The 999cc flat-Four engine, which had been running steadily for the better part of an hour, was running rich.
My gloved hands held the ribbed rubber grips, and my right hand twisted the cable-actuated throttle to rev the engine. Butter smooth with a throaty burble from the twin pipes.
My left foot pressed the shifter down into 1st with an audible clunk. I eased out the clutch, which had a very narrow friction zone, with as much finesse as I could muster, not wanting to stall it in front of an audience.
I was in the final pairing of journalists who would ride a first-year Gold Wing and a current-year Gold Wing – a 50th Anniversary Edition resplendent in Eternal Gold, a colorway inspired by iconic GL1200 and GL1500 paint schemes – back-to-back at Barber Motorsports Park, a beautiful racetrack that twists and turns among rolling green hills near Birmingham, Alabama.
Two weeks earlier, I had spent nearly a full day chasing Senior Editor Kevin Duke around the Winding Road Course, a 4.5-mile test track at the Honda Proving Center in California’s Mojave Desert, on an identical Eternal Gold GL1800 for our video “Think You Know the Honda Gold Wing? Think Again.” Check it out below.
At Barber, I wanted to ride the GL1000 first so I could start at the beginning of the Gold Wing story. But that also meant I would get my first-ever ride on a 50-year-old motorcycle (before this, the oldest Wing I had ridden was Rider’s former photo wagon, a 2000 GL1500 SE 25th Anniversary Edition) while also on my first-ever ride around the Barber track, a tricky circuit with several blind crests that had an obstacle course of distracting traffic cones left over from a Porsche driving school that had just finished for the day.
Related: 50 Years of the Honda Gold Wing
As I pulled onto the track and began to accelerate, my first anxious thought was Don’t crash! The GL1000 was a beautiful example of a 50-year-old classic on loan from a private owner, and I didn’t want to be that guy.
My next thought was This thing feels small! With no fairing and no windscreen, the GL1000 all but disappeared from view, and the 640-lb bike felt light and slim between my knees.
After completing the first half-lap, once I realized that the red dash light that came on every time I applied the brakes was normal and that the gearbox needed to be treated with care to avoid chirping the rear tire during downshifts, I came to appreciate how much of the original Gold Wing DNA has been passed down over five decades and six model generations.
The first-year GL1000, which, in the words of Large Project Leader Hisaho Nozue, was designed to be a “grand tourer with aristocratic elegance,” had all the traits that became Gold Wing hallmarks: a smooth-running liquid-cooled flat engine; generous low-end torque; easy but steady handling thanks to a low center of gravity, courtesy of the engine configuration and underseat fuel tank; shaft final drive; and long-haul comfort.
My two laps around Barber amounted to less than 5 miles on the GL1000, but I would gladly have ridden it cross-country.
Swapping over to the 2025 Wing was revelatory. Yes, it felt more familiar since I’ve put thousands of miles on sixth-gen GL1800s. But it was a quantum leap, a sudden time warp from past to present, from analog to digital. The 1975 Wing was highly refined by contemporary standards, but it seemed crude compared to the modern-day GL1800. And how could it not be, given the enormous amount of time, effort, and resources devoted to the Gold Wing’s evolution over the past 50 years?
As capable as either GL was on a track, that’s not their natural habitat. Touring, at whatever speed, is the alpha and omega of the Gold Wing. To let the 2025 Gold Wing truly shine, we packed our GL luggage liners, loaded them in trunks and side cases, and hit the road for two days.
Before leaving the hotel parking lot, we paired our smartphones and Bluetooth headsets with the bikes. Wireless compatibility with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is new for 2025, and there is no longer a built-in nav system since most people use Google Maps, REVER, or other smartphone apps for routing.
Our crew saddled up on a mix of 50th Anniversary Gold Wings – the standard “bagger” model and the trunk-equipped Tour model, both 6-speed manual-transmission and 7-speed automatic Dual Clutch Transmission versions.
We spent our first day riding south through Alabama on country roads. Our pace was relaxed, and with nothing new to figure out – I already knew what all the buttons were for and how to change settings – I left the Wing in Tour mode and let the DCT do the shifting for me. One of Honda’s PR guys led the ride and the music on my iPhone was on shuffle, so I didn’t have to decide where to go or what to listen to; I just sat back and enjoyed a worry-free ride on a mild, sunny day.
The languid pace afforded me the headspace to think about the Gold Wing’s legacy. While there are other motorcycles that have left their mark, there are few motorcycles – perhaps none – that have had such a significant impact on the industry at large. The Gold Wing certainly wasn’t the first touring motorcycle, but it was the first to transform and expand the concept of what touring could be.
Thanks to brisk sales in the ’70s and ’80s, the Gold Wing almost single-handedly created and supported a thriving aftermarket. During that era, the Gold Wing became the gold standard of luxury touring, so much so that competition from other Japanese OEMs – in the form of the Kawasaki Voyager, Suzuki Cavalcade, and Yamaha Venture – came and went. In later years, BMW’s K 1200 LT and K 1600 GTL provided a European alternative, but not much in the way of serious competition. And as impressive as today’s Harley-Davidson and Indian V-Twin touring models are, they can’t match the Gold Wing in terms of handling, comfort, and refinement.
Related: BMW K 1600 GTL vs. Honda Gold Wing Tour Comparison Review
The GL1800 that debuted in 2001 was much sportier than the GL1500 it replaced, and the all-new GL1800 introduced in 2018 was sportier still. Yet, even a quarter-century later, the Gold Wing still struggles to shake its stigma as an “old man’s bike” and a “couch on wheels.” These labels are thrown around a lot, most often by people who have never ridden a Gold Wing – the same ones who get red-faced when they are passed by a Gold Wing on a curvy road. While it lacks the cornering clearance of a dedicated sport-tourer, the GL can hold its own while delivering all the luxury it’s known for.
The farther south we rode, the flatter the terrain became. Compared to roads that go over mountains or through canyons, one could say the route was boring. But that’s missing the point. I was happy to cruise along without worrying about blind corners or scraping pegs. On the Barber and Honda tracks, I appreciated the Gold Wing’s unflappable stability, monster 6-piston front brakes, and deep well of torque. On Alabama backroads, I appreciated the wind protection, comfort, and conveniences of cruise control, DCT, and Apple CarPlay.
We stopped for lunch in Troy, a quiet community in southeastern Alabama with a picturesque town square. A few hours later, we crossed into Florida. We cruised down long, mostly straight roads through Apalachicola National Forest as late-afternoon light filtered through tall stands of slash pines. The sun had set by the time State Route 65 ended at the Gulf of Mexico. We turned right on U.S. Route 98, crossed Apalachicola Bay in the dark, and dropped our sidestands in front of the Gibson Inn, a historic hotel in Apalachicola.
We rose early and rode east on U.S. 98 along the Gulf Coast, crossed Ochlockonee Bay, and cruised through flat woodlands. After coffee in Perry, we turned south on U.S. Route 19. The road was flat and the scenery uninteresting, mostly stubby palmetto bushes interspersed with the occasional auto/body shop or country-cookin’ diner. My memory banks became flooded with images from my teen years in Florida: rope-swinging from a cypress tree into the Suwanee River; swimming with manatees in crystal-clear springs; piling in a friend’s car to drive to Panama City for spring break.
We continued eastward to central Florida for a late lunch in Ocala. We finally found a few twisties in the Seminole State Forest, but they were spoiled by commuter traffic. After 700 miles over two days, we arrived in Dayona Beach.
As the sun was setting, we rolled down International Speedway Boulevard. It was Friday, February 28, the first day of Bike Week – the 84th annual edition of the world’s largest motorcycle rally. We crossed the Intercoastal Waterway and rolled through the raucous pandemonium of Main Street, which was restricted to motorcycle traffic only and awash in sights, very loud sound systems, and folks enjoying the scene.
Related: 2025 Daytona Bike Week Recap
When we put down our kickstands for the last time and handed over the key fobs, I felt disappointed. I didn’t want the ride to end. I wanted to keep going. Somewhere. Anywhere.
The next day, we went to Daytona International Speedway, where motorcycle manufacturers hosted demo rides, vendors had booths and tents set up, and races ran all week. Honda had an enormous display area to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Gold Wing, including one example of every model generation: GL1000, GL1100, GL1200, GL1500, GL1800 SC47 (2001-2017), and GL1800 SC79 (2018-2025).
Going from model to model, Lee Edmunds, a former advertising director at American Honda, and Matthew Miles, a former editor at Cycle and Cycle World, gave us a history lesson about the Gold Wing. Edmunds and Miles were instrumental in compiling a book about the Gold Wing that will be given as a gift to all customers who buy a 2025 50th Anniversary Edition. Former Rider staffer Jamie Elvidge wrote several chapters for the book, and her essay “Love Letter to the Gold Wing” is reprinted in the May 2025 issue.
It was an honor to be a part of the Gold Wing’s 50th anniversary celebration. And it’s been an honor to write yet another chapter in the Gold Wing story, which has been central to Rider’s story for 50 of our 51 years.
2025 Honda Gold Wing Tour 50th Anniversary Edition
- Base Price: $29,200
- Price as Tested: $29,700 (Tour DCT)
- Website: Powersports.Honda.com
- Engine Type: Liquid-cooled, longitudinal opposed flat-Six, Unicam SOHC w/ 4 valves per cyl.
- Displacement: 1,833cc
- Bore x Stroke: 73.0 x 73.0mm
- Transmission: 7-speed Dual Clutch Transmission automatic (as tested)
- Final Drive: Shaft
- Wheelbase: 66.9 in.
- Rake/Trail: 30.5 degrees/4.3 in.
- Seat Height: 29.3 in.
- Wet Weight: 845 lb (as tested)
- Fuel Capacity: 5.5 gal.
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Source: RiderMagazine.com
