Always interested in the history of these bikes so I bought "Gold Wing - The First twenty Years". Started reading it last night and it is very interesting in how this bike came to be and what Honda did to keep it alive. Lots of good info and should complement the other book I have a thread on - Honda Gold Wing - Gold Portfolio - 1975-1995. Will get through this one then maybe an in depth report on the Gold Wing. Knowing the history of what we ride can answer a lot of questions.
A few tidbits. The M1 was never meant to be the Gold Wing, it was a concept bike to test trial ideas. The flat 6 was thought to be too advanced for the time so the flat four came into existence. Had to be water cooled, to go anywhere anytime just like a car. The design team was not divided into disciplines, everyone worked in the same area and ideas flowed freely. The design team stuffed a flat 6 into a 1200 chassis to see what it would do. The design team devised an ad hoc gear torture test called the "hop test" to simulate the worst that could happen to the gear train. The test required the bike to coast at a specific speed then the test rider would stomp the bike into first and ride the bucking bronco. Took three years to get a satisfactory drive line with a high level of silence, reliability and abuse - no kidding.
The design for the 1500 started in 1984 because Honda knew the longevity of the 1200 was limited. Honda did consider a 1300/1400 Gold Wing, but kept with the 1500 flat 6. More time was spent on the 1500 seat than any other aspect of the bike. Pillion riders could not comment on the seat and pillion ride until they had at least 200 miles in the saddle. In Marysville where these were produced, there was a bottleneck in the assembly line because painting of the 1500 body parts was done the old fashioned way, by an employee in a paint booth.
Mr "Honda" was known to show up unannounced and did so one evening, put on a helmet and took one of the prototype bikes out for a ride. Came back a while later and mentioned it was "pretty good".
Honda used the Gold Wing riders as its sounding board for the design progression. Honda was not interested in the fad of the day, but enabling the Gold Wing to have a successful future as its flag ship bike.
Add to all this and the God Wing was made in its entirety in the USA from 1985 on until the plant closed in 2010. Up until 1985, engines came from Japan.
Waiting for the next book to come out. Cheers
A few tidbits. The M1 was never meant to be the Gold Wing, it was a concept bike to test trial ideas. The flat 6 was thought to be too advanced for the time so the flat four came into existence. Had to be water cooled, to go anywhere anytime just like a car. The design team was not divided into disciplines, everyone worked in the same area and ideas flowed freely. The design team stuffed a flat 6 into a 1200 chassis to see what it would do. The design team devised an ad hoc gear torture test called the "hop test" to simulate the worst that could happen to the gear train. The test required the bike to coast at a specific speed then the test rider would stomp the bike into first and ride the bucking bronco. Took three years to get a satisfactory drive line with a high level of silence, reliability and abuse - no kidding.
The design for the 1500 started in 1984 because Honda knew the longevity of the 1200 was limited. Honda did consider a 1300/1400 Gold Wing, but kept with the 1500 flat 6. More time was spent on the 1500 seat than any other aspect of the bike. Pillion riders could not comment on the seat and pillion ride until they had at least 200 miles in the saddle. In Marysville where these were produced, there was a bottleneck in the assembly line because painting of the 1500 body parts was done the old fashioned way, by an employee in a paint booth.
Mr "Honda" was known to show up unannounced and did so one evening, put on a helmet and took one of the prototype bikes out for a ride. Came back a while later and mentioned it was "pretty good".
Honda used the Gold Wing riders as its sounding board for the design progression. Honda was not interested in the fad of the day, but enabling the Gold Wing to have a successful future as its flag ship bike.
Add to all this and the God Wing was made in its entirety in the USA from 1985 on until the plant closed in 2010. Up until 1985, engines came from Japan.
Waiting for the next book to come out. Cheers