Our road to Daytona Bike Week 2025 started in Birmingham, Alabama, where Honda hosted a group of motojournalists to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Honda Gold Wing. It culminated 700 miles later on Main Street in Daytona Beach, Florida. We’ve enjoyed racing, bike shows, riding on the beach, and much more. Here are a few highlights of the week so far.
After getting a tour of the incomparable Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, we got to ride laps on a first-year 1975 Honda GL1000 Gold Wing and a current-year 2025 Honda 50th Anniversary Gold Wing Tour DCT on the Barber Motorsports Park track. Clearly the Gold Wing has come a long way over the past five decades, but riding the GL1000 really gave a sense of the Gold Wing’s fundamental DNA – the smoothness of its flat engine, the steadiness of its handling, and the comfort of its seating position.
Believe it or not, it wasn’t the first time we’ve ridden a Gold Wing on a track. We did it few weeks ago when we shot a video called “Think You Know the Honda Gold Wing? Think Again.”
The next day, we saddled up on a small fleet 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 a day riding south through Alabama on country roads, stopping for lunch in Troy. Late in the day, we crossed into Florida, rode through the Apalachicola National Forest, and spent the night at the Gibson Inn in Apalachicola.
We rose early and did photo passes on U.S. Route 98 on the edge of St. George Sound. We then followed U.S. 98 along the coast, crossed Ochlockonee Bay, and then cruised through flat woodlands along Florida’s gulf coast. After lunch in Ocala, we found a few twisties (sort of) through the Seminole State Forest on our way to Daytona Beach.
As the sun was setting, we rolled down International Speedway Boulevard on Friday, September 28, the first day of Bike Week. We crossed the Intercoastal Waterway on the Main Street Bridge and rolled through the raucous pandemonium of Main Street on a Friday night, which was restricted to motorcycle traffic only and was awash in sights, very loud sounds of audio systems, and tons of folks enjoying the scene.
On Saturday, we went to Daytona International Speedway, where motorcycle manufacturers have demo rides and vendors have booths and tents set up. Honda had an enormous activation 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).
Lee Edmunds, a former advertising director American Honda, and Matthew Miles, a former editor at Cycle World, gave us a history lesson about the Gold Wing. Edmunds and Miles were instrumental in compiling a book about the history of the Gold Wing that will be given as a gift to all customers who buy a 50th Anniversary Gold Wing. The book includes chapters by former Rider staffers Mark Tuttle and Jamie Elvidge.
Next to the Honda activation our friends at Michelin had a booth set up with a 2024 Honda Gold Wing with new Michelin Road W GT tires. We checked out the Michelin Commander III cruiser and touring tires, and we had our photo taken with “Bib” the Michelin Man.
Related: Michelin Road W GT Gold Wing Tires Review
We spent the afternoon inside the Speedway. We got a behind-the-scenes tour of Honda’s Supercross race trucks and pit garage, where we met team rider Chance Hymas. We did a track walk of the Supercross course that was designed by Ricky Carmicheal and included a sand section with sand taken from Daytona Beach. We ended the day watching the Supercross races, where Suzuki rider Ken Roczen came from behind for a dramatic win in the 450 class.
On Sunday morning, in front of the Hard Rock Hotel, we see and hear an impressive performance bagger owned by @FatAndFuriousOne. The bike was dripping with carbon fiber, billet aluminum, performance mods, and top-shelf components, and it was shod with Michelin Commander II tires. We shot a reel of the bike, which got a lot of attention on Instagram.
We cruised down Main Street in the morning. The shops and bars were still closed and a few early risers were claiming parking spaces ahead of the crowds. Then we headed over to the Speedway to check out some new and custom bikes at the huge Harley-Davidson display area, and to stroll through the V-Twin Visionary Presents the Rockford Fosgate All Out Bagger Show.
We can never get enough of the custom bike scene. On Monday, we went back to the Speedway for the V-Twin Visionary Performance & Club Style Motorcycle Show. Then we rode a 2025 Harley-Davidson Low Rider S with Michelin Scorcher tires down to Ormond Beach for a break from the crowds.
It rained on Tuesday, but we didn’t let that dampen our spirits. We took our Low Rider S loaner and a 2024 Honda Gold Wing with Michelin Road W GT tires for a ride down a deserted Main Street and onto the hard-packed sand of Daytona Beach where they used to race bikes years ago.
We rode down to Port Orange for lunch at Giuseppe’s Steel City Pizza, which hosted the Traditional Chopper bike show with a great selection of custom bikes, ranging from long-fork choppers to road-weary vintage machines.
There’s more to come from our Daytona Bike Week 2025 experience, so stay tuned!
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Source: RiderMagazine.com