2012 Honda Gold Wing’s
Regarding rider/passenger comfort, the suspension has been updated for comfort but with enhanced sporty capabilities. Additional packages are available for the 2012 Honda Gold Wing, including Navi, ABS and airbag options
Where the old Wing wore Dunlop tires, the new Wing is shod with Bridgestone rubber.
Besides new top and bottom internal bushings in the fork, Honda was only able to say that there are revised front and rear suspension settings in the 2012 Wing. Front-wheel travel is stated at 4.8 inches, which is a reduction from the 5.5 claimed for the previous Wings. But Honda tells us that travel is actually unchanged, figuring the old spec was a typo and confirming the new 4.8-inch figure.
Whatever the case, there is a marginally improved aspect to the 2012 Gold Wing’s handling manners. The most noticeable seat-of-the-pants improvement to the 2012 Wing, quite literally, is its seat. Hopping off the old model and onto the new model, it was clear that the new urethane seat material and seat cover are truly an improvement.
Because navigating a 900-pound motorcycle through territory where sportbikes normally roam demanded my full attention, I wasn’t able to fiddle with the Gold Wing’s upgraded electronics. Yes, I did manage to find an appropriate station on the Wing’s XM satellite radio (some heavy metal to accentuate the heavy peg grinding), but Honda did upgrade other aspects of its audio and navigation systems.
New for the Wing’s audio system is MP3/iPod connectivity. Yes, the device connection resides in the top box, but its location is unimportant because Honda incorporated control of the iPod into its handlebar controls and dashboard view screen. Curiously, the new Gold Wing’s wheels come encased in a sheen of clear coating.
The redesigned fairing of the 2012 Gold Wing, with its color-contrasting side panels, is distinctive, setting the largely unchanged new Wing apart from its predecessors. The new look freshens the Gold Wing’s profile and, according to Honda, the fairing is slightly wider, providing improved wind protection.
By centralizing the taillight between the saddlebags and lengthening the saddlebags themselves, the new Gold Wing gains an additional seven liters of storage. It was chrome on the old model, but it’s now black to, according to Honda, “modernize” the look.
The Gold Wing might not have been the bike of choice for the typical canyon squid 20 years ago, but now that he is us, it’s semi-amazing how well a bike that weighs 900 pounds can make its way through those tight canyon confines. (I still contend there’s something Weeble-like about bikes with longitudinal crankshafts.)
(I’m still shrivelled from the lack of heat from the allegedly heated Gold Wing seat I rode upon last year, the result of a complex ambient-temperature system Honda says hasn’t changed.) The sound system is also iPod compatible now, which means you can plug your iPod into the trunk receptacle and operate it with the bike’s controls. Great. The $23,199 base Gold Wing Audio Comfort gets the excellent new 80-watt-per-channel sound system, but no Navi. The $28,499 Gold Wing Airbag (still a catchy name!) is for the rider who wants it all.
The big question might wind up being: Will the BMW’s performance advantage matter all that much in the land of speeding-ticket revenue generation and the left-lane SUV train?