The Honda Gold Wing Tour 2023 model has recently been launched in India with a price tag of Rs 39.20 lakh, ex-showroom. This big motorbike is a luxury tourer from the brand and is the latest version of its iconic flagship tourer, the Gold Wing.
The tourer will be brought to the Indian market via the CBU route from Japan and will be available exclusively at Honda’s premium BigWing dealerships.
Honda Gold Wing Tour – The Golden Boy’s History
You might think it’s the first Gold Wing, the 1975 GL1000 started it all and while it’s correct to some extent, it’s not entirely accurate. The GL1000 looked like nothing today’s gold wing does. It had no fairings, windshields, saddlebags and not even any technology, the modern Goldwings have, but it did provide an engine that was smooth as a better and its reliability and refinement were unparalleled. This Gold wing opened the gate for aftermarket parts, and people wasted no time fitting windshields, saddlebags, and whatnot.
Honda paid close attention and they launched the GL1100 interstate and Aspencade. These bikes had full fairings, stereos, storage cases, windshields, radios and more. As stated by many at that time, this gold wing felt no less than a motor car. And these siblings are the ones who laid the foundation of the modern-day design of the Gold Wings.
Honda Gold Wing Tour – Design
That being said, let’s talk about the design of the latest Honda Gold Wing Tour which has clearly got the looks of its predecessors, as well as the comfort provided by the front and rear seats. Both the seats are made with luxurious materials that provide comfort to both the rider and the pillion. The Bike has a kerb weight of 390 kg, which is obviously on the heavier side. The bike only comes in one colour right now, Graphite Black.
Honda Gold Wing Tour 2023 – Bike or a two-wheeler Car
The Honda Gold Wing Tour is loaded with features similar to the previous big wings. The Motorbike has a 7.0-inch colour TFT display with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay support, Bluetooth connectivity with navigation support, and full LED lighting including LED fog lamps.
It also gets an electric extended screen, a tyre pressure monitoring system, and cruise control with 4 riding modes: Tour, Sport, Econ and Rain. This motorbike even has an airbag as seen in the picture and this is the only bike in the world that gets one. No wonder they call this a car on two wheels.
Honda Gold Wing Tour – Engine
The Honda Gold Wing Tour is powered by a liquid-cooled, 1833 cc, 4-stroke, 24-valve, 6-cylinder engine that churns out 125 hp of power and 170 Nm of peak torque, paired with a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. This engine is also OBD2 compliant now.
It also includes a creep forward and back function for low-speed functioning.
Honda Gold Wing Tour – Rivals & Why this bike will be a showpiece in India
The bike doesn’t have any direct rivals in India but on the international market, it faces competition from the likes of BMW K 1600 GTL, Indian Roadmaster, and Indian Chieftain Limited.
The Gold Wing definitely stands out among its competitors due to its design, comfort and features like an airbag and audio system. Its engine is also nothing to scoff at, and just like I said before, it’s smooth, refined and reliable.
But due to its heavy weight, it might not be suitable to take on a short ride in the city and is only suitable for longer rides or tours. Honda really made the bike according to its purpose and that is luxury touring.
But with our love for touring the Ladakhs, which has some challenging landscapes, we really want a bike that lets us be a bit athletic while going long miles. In that case, you might want to skip this big boy and go for something sleeker, say an adventure bike where you are missing out on the comfort and features of a tourer, but you get a rugged machine that lets you go long miles and do some adventures in between. In that case, you can wait for a few days and get the upcoming BMW R 1300 GS, which will be an upgrade over the current BMW R 1250 GS.
