Steven's 1996 Pearl White GL1500SE

Let me start by stating that the views in this article are my own and I am not writing this for personal gain etc, it is just I felt that I needed to put pen to paper  and quash myth’s about Goldwing’s , so here goes:

I ride a GL1500 SE in pearlescent White produced in 1996 (yes, 13 years old).  No matter where I travel and stop the bike attracts people and crowds, like all Goldwing’s do to be honest!  I’m sure that other owners will agree that one of the first statements you hear from inquisitive people is “Lovely bike mate, I bet that costs a fortune?”

Well, the answer is frankly no it doesn’t!  It is like this, I work for the N.H.S. as a Support Worker and I would like to dismiss the first myth about owning a Goldwing in that you do not need to be a Manager , C.D. of a company, Lottery winner etc  to ride one.  If you earn between 14,000 and 30,000 a year, which is approximately 70% of us, then it is easy to and without breaking the bank.

So why is buying and owning a Goldwing possibly the best investment you could make in 2009? With all the doom and gloom, recession hitting hard and falling house prices, here’s me telling you to buy the Honda Flagship!

I’ve been working out some figures to illustrate what great value owning a Goldwing really is which will save you money and also give you and your family hours of fun too.  I’m going to compare buying a GL1500 Goldwing (mine, as it is the most common wing being in production from 1988 until 2000) to a Ford Sierra of equivalent value and age to make my point and also my own car (4 x 4).

All figures are estimated for the Sierra and are purely guide prices.
______________________Goldwing     Ford Sierra       Ford Explorer
Price new in 1996            £14,000       £14,000
Price as at Oct 1997        £13,500       £12,500           £30,000 (new)
Price as at Jun 2008       £ 7,000             £800             £  2,800

Dep /Lost in 13 yrs.        £ 7,000        £13,200           £27,200
Saving you                       £ 0               £6,200            £20,200

You can see the Goldwing savings already compared to the other two examples, but there’s more!

Road Tax (12 mth’s)             £65               £200                £ 200
MPG                                  38 – 45           27 – 35             18 – 24 (LPG 40 – 45)
Monthly depreciation
Up to Jun 2008                     £538            £1015                £2,092

From Jun 2008                      £ 29*           £200 (est)           £10
holding price well

*Worked out using a GL1500 (1988 costing £4200) which I nearly bought and dividing the difference by 8 years then by 12 months to get a figure of £29.17.

I also own a GL 1000 K1, and this is how that looks

Price new in 1975                  £999
Price paid in 1983                  £500
Depreciation in 8 yrs            £499
Price Jun 2008 (34 yrs)         £2400 (Gained £1900)

Now call me stupid, but I know I got good bargains in Jun 2008, for the £10,000 of hard earned cash I’ve got a big family 4 x 4 car for the family, a Goldwing and I earn the lower end of that Salary range I mentioned at the beginning of this article.  I’ve saved £34.200 personally on new prices and my depreciation for the Goldwing is running at £29.17 a month*, and both myself and my family of 5 are extremely happy as I can take the children for a ride on dad’s Goldwing (“Super bike” as my youngest daughter aged 4 says), and we can also do the weekly shop/holidays in the explorer fitted with everything standard except heated seats.  And over a longer time frame my GL1500 might even eventually start gaining in value like my GL1000 K1 is doing.

You might have the money to buy a new Goldwing if you’re lucky enough, but the majority like me buy second hand, and guess what, it doesn’t really matter as you will get treated the same as the rest in the Goldwing community.

Just one final thought, I’ve not heard of anyone giving a N Reg Ford Sierra a second glance when it is driven past them, but the Goldwing does it every time,  so what are you waiting for? Get one while you can – it’s a no brainer!

Steven Fox