Bill Mitchell and his Goldwing

[AApple]

Who the heck is Bill Mitchell, you ask? Well...for Corvette enthusiasts like myself, he is a household name. He was the designer responsible for the '61-75 Corvettes, among other things, including the far out '65 Mako Shark showcar, and many others. So what does this have to do with Goldwings? Funny thing. Mama & I were out yesterday at an antique mall, and I found a couple of Corvette books I dint already have, so I got them. One of them was co-authored by Mitchell, and surprise surprise, on one of the pages is a large photo of Bill on his personal GL1000 Goldwing!! I knew he was into racing bikes, and doing some design work, but never knew he actually owned a 'Wing. He apparently had trouble keeping this one upright, tho, according to stories from another designer at GM, but....that's another story for another time. SO...here's a pic of Bill on his GW, and a pic of the Mako Shark, predecessor of the '68-up Corvette. :wave:

mitchell GW2

• AApple
• Dec 8, 2014

mitchellmako2

• AApple
• Dec 8, 2014

 

[slabghost]

I always liked the vette body styles. Just not enough space in one for my uses. Nice to learn the designer had a practical side. :hihihi:

 

[Omega Man]

I loved the Mako since I was a little kid. I have my own theory as to why he couldn't hold the bike up :hihihi: I dig that matching helmet in the pic.

~O~

 

[brianinpa]

A Navy buddy of mine, and one of the guys that was in my wedding 28 years ago, had (and still has) a 71 Vette in Canary Yellow. The Vette was nice, but we also had matching 1985 Suzuki GS550L's. It seemed that all summer long when we got off work we would go to the strip at VA Beach to hang out (Before my wife and I were married - of course.) We always attracted more attention on the bikes than we did when we were in the Vette.

 

[zman]

I remember way back when I did not care for the Goldwing at all, I thought it was lumpy and had no style. I could not understand why anyone would want one but they were indeed an engineering marvel for the times...Looking at them I thought.."Who would want to work on this thing"
Little did I know one day it would be me working on mine.
The corvette was another marvel , In the day you had to stop at every one and admire their style, you knew if you had one you would be the envy of the neighborhood, Girls would jump at the chance to ride in one, and to drive one was a thrill , nothing on the road sat lower, plenty of power at the ready, sliding into the drivers seat was a smooth motion and once inside everything was right there where you wanted it.
Sort of like the Beatles when you hear Cant buy me love or twist and shout, its the beatles and it is good but going back to the impact of their introduction and all they did afterward is totally different emotion.

 

[dan filipi]

Speaking when the Goldwing was first introduced, check zman's album. He is uploading magazine articles, interesting reading.
I just read the article about the first leaning sidecar, which was attached to a 1000.
I'll be moving them into the Trivia album eventually.

 

[zman]

dan filipi » Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:46 am[/url]":3pod714x]
Speaking when the Goldwing was first introduced, check zman's album. He is uploading magazine articles, interesting reading.
I just read the article about the first leaning sidecar, which was attached to a 1000.
I'll be moving them into the Trivia album eventually.

Funny side note, I was watching Chips last night(yea..I know) and they had that exact Goldwing and side car rig faring and all driven by the bad guys, only difference was the paint was red/white/blue instead of yellow...Wonder if it was the same bike just re painted and stickered for the show...He did actually go into production with them so there has to be some more out there.

 

[dan filipi]

Yeah I started watching chips again.
The corn is funny.