Stuart’s GoldWing Blog

Crash Testing a GL1800 Airbag System

Honda introduced the first ever motorcycle airbag system in 2006 as an update, and arguably a considerable upgrade of the GL1800 GoldWing. The design and testing effort which went into this development must have been enormous; getting the balance right, so the Airbag goes off when it needs to but not otherwise, is quite an engineering feat.

Honda’s Airbag System is designed to save riders’ lives and it appears genuinely to have done so on at least one occasion already, but it is an expensive addition and it adds significant extra weight. And is there a risk that it could go off inappropriately while riding, in which a crash would almost certainly be caused.  Is it a vital safety aid, is it worthwhile if you can afford it – or would GoldWing riders be as well choosing (in North America at least, where they have a choice) the lighter, cheaper, non-airbag versions of the GL1800 anyway, regardless of budget?

How can an airbag system work safely and reliably on a motorcycle? continues………

Honda’s new motorcycle mega-factory, built on its huge Kumamoto Site in Japan, is already producing bikes, indeed that’s where the new VFR1200, unveiled in UK February 14th, is being built.

But Honda has announced to its US Dealers that production of GoldWings will not start at Kumamoto until 2011 and that the GoldWings to be made there will be designated a 2012 Model – indicating that the (presumed) new design is unlikely to be unveiled before late 2011.

Quite what this means for UK Wingers remains to be seen because although it is now virtually certain that a new model GoldWing will be on sale somewhere in the world for the 2012 Model Year, it may not be available in Europe until a year or so later, so 2013 – or maybe not at all.

Meanwhile HondaUK has a stock of 200 or so GL1800s in UK, all of which were manufactured at Maryville Ohio before that Factory closed in March 2009, which it will use to fill what will hopefully be a gap rather than the end of a UK model line.  These stockpiled GL1800s include some in a new colour (or at least new for UK) called continues………

Well designed and well made

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE FOR AN ENLARGEMENT

Wheel chocks, or wheel grabs, as some riders prefer to call them, can be very useful in a garage as well as for mounting a bike on a trailer for transportation, for which they make life much easier.  Providing they do what they’re supposed to for your particular bike, wheel chocks allow you to ride your bike into them and then dismount safely without using the bike’s centre or side stand.

But finding a wheel chock which works well with a GoldWing is not that easy.  The selection available from UK suppliers has in the past been limited and some of them don’t really work adequately with a GoldWing.

So this new Chock is particularly welcome because it does work well with a GoldWing.  It’s also very well made and has a high quality finish – and to cap it all it is extremely keenly priced at just over £60 including postage!

As you can see from the pictures it’s a “rocker” type chock, designed to capture continues………

Waiting for a second lease of life - Steve';s GL1000

I recently was watching TV with the family, in fact it was the film Charlie’s Angel’s to be honest and I was trying to compare it to the original series in the 70’s (That’s my excuse anyway!).  As it turned out it was a good film, the kids loved it and it had some excellent songs on the soundtrack too.

But what grabbed my attention was a song playing in the background during the restaurant scene.  I had heard it so many times but never knew who sung it.  All I knew was it was sung in Japanese and the tune had been playing over in my mind again and again for years.  It eventually got to the stage in the film where I was eagerly reading down the credits to find out the song title, but it was not there!

Anyhow a few days later I was on line and I thought I would check out the soundtrack through Amazon (being a bit of a computer nerd) and to my dismay the song was not listed on the movie soundtrack CD.   I played the 25 second previews of each track and began to get really frustrated.

So the next step was to Google it and eventually 2 hours later I had found the song I’d been searching for.  Amazing what you find with a little perseverance and patience.  It is called “Ue O Muite Aruko”, or in English “I look up when I walk” and was originally continues………

Ian astride a 2001 GL1800 shod with early Bridgestones

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE FOR AN ENLARGED VIEW

To put my experiences and views into context, I’ve ridden Goldwings continuously and exclusively since 1998 and I am now on my seventh. The first Wing was a GL1500SE but the rest have all been GL1800s, all US models and all with ABS – as of course do all UK model GL1800s.

I’ve ridden upwards of 160,000miles on a Wing, some of it in straight lines but as much as possible on non-motorway roads.  I enjoy exploiting the excellent handling of a GL1800 and I ride to make progress more often than I dawdle along.  So my tyres are sometimes working hard for their living.

I have used tyres from four different manufacturers including two different designs of tyre from two of them, so continues………

Oh dear, hit a tree

In a previous Article on this Blog I wrote about my adventures using a motorhome as a base for GoldWing touring, towing the bike in a trailer in order to enjoy exploring the Alps or some other distant motorcycling area with the advantage of sleeping in your own bed every night.

Unfortunately my motorhome, a Hymer, suffered minor damage a while ago and I had to get it fixed.  The firm who did the repair, Motorhomes UK Ltd,  did such a good job at such a reasonable price that I thought they deserved a bit of public praise.

My “van” has a fibreglass moulding across the top rear and, not uncommonly with production mouldings, must have had an air bubble under the gel coat on the corner, where the underlying woven rovings had not been pressed firmly into contact when it was being constructed.  The result was a very thin and fragile gel coat skin over a hole which was prone to damage.  From feint witness marks near the hole it was probably contact with a tree branch which broke the gel coat “roof” of this hole.  Whatever it was it needed repairing. continues………

On the right is a 2008 Pearl White US model, with chrome extras, and on the left an absolutely unique colour called "Last Week's Papal Robes"

A white GL1800 is to be sold officially in UK for the first time – but not just yet.

As I forecast in an earlier article on this Blog, included in HondaUK’s stockpile of GL1800s there are colours not previously seen in UK except personally imported US-spec bikes.  It now appears there were two such colours – and at long last this includes white.

White has always been a very popular colour for GoldWings and many have been imported from the US.  With a bit of extra chrome here and there it looks really good.  Indeed so committed was my friend Bill to having a white bike that when he replaced his white GL1500 and couldn’t buy a white one, he bought a blue one, stripped it of all painted parts before it turned a wheel and had them resprayed in pearlescent white.  The colour he chose has a golden sheen to it.  (Don’t tell him I said so but it’s really stunning.)

So at last, and it’s official, HondaUK will be selling a white GL1800.  Officially the new colour will be called continues………

Bill ordering a new hair dryer for Barbara; even he couldn't fix the old one this time

My GL1800’s  cruise control stopped setting.

The problem persisted and I pursued several routes trying to solve it.  I checked the micro switches and all associated connectors/wiring but it still persisted.

The strange thing was when I tested the cruise control with the bike on the centre stand in my garage it would set normally every time – frustrating or what?

When I ride I always have the headlights on and when I put the bike away I always turn off the lights.  Purely by chance on one occasion I rode into my garage and left the lights on and the bike running.  Still frustrated that the cruise control wasn’t working I decided to attack it again.  Lo and behold it continues………

Jeff's creative juices were responsible for this stunning artwork

Jeff Carr, who is a well known Winger in the North West is on the hunt for a GL1500 to restore to life.

It doesn’t matter if the bodywork is rough, damaged or if some is missing because Jeff has creative ideas and wants to do some pretty fundamental rebuilding. He has a track record of excellent work, so your neglected treasure will go to a good home and be born again in style.

Jeff rebuilt this GL1500 and the current owner won a prize with it at Tatton recently

If you have a GL1500 which is in need of serious tlc, or even some useful chunks of a GL1500, please contact Jeff to let him know what you have.

He’s not likely to be offering premium prices of course, but he is willing to pay something to reflect the value of what you are disposing of.

Exchange a running Pan for a GL1500 casualty?

Jeff is also offering to exchange a suitable GL1500 for K Reg Pan European ST1100, taxed till Oct, MOT April 2010, in good running order, just been serviced belts and oil and filter. new back disk, and pads. and back box painted the same as the rest of the bike.

Jeff can be contacted on 0161 284 1218 or 07950 886993. Please give him a ring if you can help.

Honda's new Tire Pressure Monitoring System

You may be very unlikely to see a tyre valve like this on a GL1800 in UK, although all the 2009 models in the States have them.  One of the changes made by Honda for the 2009 model year in the States is a new warning device for loss of tyre pressure; if the tyre pressure falls below a certain level a warning light tells the rider.  This chunky-looking tyre valve houses the device which tell the bike when pressure in its tyre is low.

This is potentially a very valuable safety feature; undetected loss of tyre pressure can cause handling problems and lead to loss of control. Assuming Honda have made this new piece of kit work reliably, which they are usually very good at, I would very much like one on my bike.  So presumably do Honda, it’s been introduced across the full range of GL1800 models in USA.

But UK Wingers are not going to get the option. My information is continues………