In the past I thought Honda Gold Wing motorcycles were too big, too heavy and had too many gadgets. I remember a group of bikers made a joke about the Honda Gold Wing saying it came with an onboard coffee machine just because it had so many accessories attached to it. Later generation Gold Wings even have an optional air bag mounted in the dash, which is very odd to see on a motorcycle. Gold Wings have been equipped over the years with every gadget imaginable from radios, cassette players, CB radios to GPS and wireless connectivity. It was like Honda made the Gold Wing for confused riders who really wanted a car, but for some reason had to have a motorcycle. However, its really not that way at all.
The Honda Gold Wing is a luxury motorcycle. Its built for long distant touring and made to be comfortable over the long haul. There are 6 generations of Gold Wings. The first generation was produced in 1975 to 1979. The Gold Wing model is still produced today with the 6th generation starting in 2018. Each generation brought big changes to the Gold Wing, improving it dramatically at each iteration to give us the model we have today.
Most Gold Wings are big motorcycles weighing in at over 700 pounds. Only in the first few years of production, during the 70's and early 80's, was a lighter Gold Wing available without a fairing and hard saddle bags. However, on all Gold Wings, Honda kept the weight down low, so they feel much lighter than they actually are. All Gold Wing models have a flat, opposed cylinder engine with either 4 or 6 cylinders depending on which generation your talking about. The 1000cc, 1100cc and 1200cc engines are all 4 cylinders. The 1500cc and 1800cc engines are all 6 cylinders. All Gold Wing engine variations are bulletproof and are known for trouble free operation for 100's of thousands of miles. I remember a few years ago doing research on used motorcycles to find high mileage makes and models, and I ended up with the Honda Gold Wing at the top of my list. More owners of Honda Gold Wing motorcycles will put high miles on them compared to owners of other models, which is a good sign its a good motorcycle.
Honda sold thousands of Gold Wings over the years, which means the used motorcycle market is full of them. A new Gold Wing is very expensive and cost over 20k, plus your forced to pay dealership fees and taxes. A buyer can save a lot of money buying used instead of new. I remember reading a statistic put out by insurance companies which said the average motorcycle owner will not put more than 20k miles on a motorcycle before they stop riding it; either it will end up sitting in someones garage for years or its sold to a new owner or traded in for a new motorcycle. That is the reason there are so many low mileage used motorcycles on the market. Never buy a new motorcycle unless the new model has something you just can't live without.
Here is a compiled picture list of all generation Honda Gold Wing models from first to the present. For a detailed explanation of each generation, checkout
wikipedias page for the Honda Gold Wing.Keep in mind the starting year for some generation Gold Wings seem to overlap with the last year of the previous generation. I got the production years online which isn't always accurate, so I kept the years separate.
This is the first generation Gold Wing. It was produced from 1975 to 1979. It may have been available in 1974 but as a 1975 model. The engine is a 1000cc horizontally opposed 4 cylinder.
This is second generation Gold Wind without a fairing or luggage. Is was produced from 1980 to 1983. The engine is a 1100cc horizontally opposed 4 cylinder. I believe the company, Vetter, made a fairing and luggage for the early Honda Gold Wings.
This is also a second generation Gold Wing but with a fairing and luggage. It was produced from 1980 to 1983. The engine is a 1100cc horizontally opposed 4 cylinder. I believe 1980 was the first year Gold Wings were available with factory installed fairing and luggage, and it was the first year Gold Wing motorcycles were manufactured in the United States, 1980-2010.
The is a third generation Gold Wing. It was manufactured from 1984 to 1987. The engine is a 1200cc horizontally opposed 4 cylinder. I believe this is the best looking generation Gold Wing. Future generations got to stream lined or smooth for my tastes.
This is a fourth generation Gold Wing. It was manufacture from 1988 to 2000. The engine is a 1500cc horizontally opposed 6 cylinder.
This is a fifth generation Gold Wing. It was manufactured from 2001 to 2017. The engine is a 1800cc horizontally opposed 6 cylinder.
This is also a fifth generation Gold Wing called the F6B. I believe it was manufactured from 2013 to 2016. It breaks from the typical Gold Wing by not having a trunk or rear luggage compartment. The engine is a 1800cc horizontally opposed 6 cylinder. I don't think this model is still in production, but some Honda dealerships have this model for sale at the time of this writing.
This is a sixth generation Gold Wing. This model is called the Gold Wing Tour. It's been in production from 2018 to the present. The engine is a 1800cc horizontally opposed 6 cylinder. The most change to the Gold Wing may have occurred in the sixth generation model. This Gold Wing is available with a 7 speed DCT transmission, which means there is not clutch to operate. The front end of this Gold Wing is completely redesigned for better performance.
This is also a sixth generation Gold Wing, but without the rear luggage trunk compartment. Honda makes a couple of sixth generation Gold Wings with no rear trunk. The engine is a 1800cc horizontally opposed 6 cylinder.
