I have also heard that HondaUK currently have over 200 new GL1800s in stock, which would compute with the US information. It may be that this stock of bikes includes some (maybe of a different colour) which are designated for a last fling for the UK GL1800. (Pearl Yellow in UK at last?) HondaUK’s VIN number and plating system is independant of that used by HondaUSA, so they would be able to apply 2010 VIN Numbers to bikes manufactured before then without difficulty.

This would all make commercial sense, as does the stocking level and putting the retail price in UK up too. If Honda were closing the Factory anyway, the cost of making extra bikes in 2008 and early 2009 and holding them as stock would keep the Factory operating efficiently during its final months and would cost a lot less overall than keeping the Factory going for an extra eighteen months. My bet is on a new GoldWing for the 2011 model year, although maybe not released in UK for 2012.