Honda GL 1800 GOLDWING 40ème anniversaire 2015 — Specifications

Forty years on the clock, and still the same ocean-liner-on-two-wheels stance. When Honda decides to celebrate a milestone anniversary for its GL, the manufacturer reinvents nothing, it dresses up. The 2015 edition marking four decades of the Goldwing treats itself to a deep red livery, underlined by a silver pinstripe separating the upper section from a dense black. That same black turns up wherever the eye lands, on the flat-six, the wheels, the exhausts, the fork, the swingarm, and even the frame. Dedicated commemorative markings sign the seat, the fairing, and even the ignition keys for detail enthusiasts.

On the road, nothing has moved, and that's probably just as well. The flat 1832 cc still delivers its 118 horsepower at 5500 rpm and its 166.7 Nm of torque at 4000 rpm, figures that on paper seem modest for 413 kilos wet. Reality is different. This six-cylinder is a warm-oil metronome, a block that pushes the machine up to 210 km/h without ever raising its voice. The five-speed gearbox and shaft drive round out a package designed to swallow borders, not to impress at the traffic light.

The Diamond-type twin-beam aluminum chassis anchors the beast to the asphalt, supported by a 45 mm telehydraulic fork offering 140 mm of travel and a Pro-Arm single-sided swingarm with a Pro-Link monoshock delivering 105 mm at the rear. The 740 mm seat height is reassuring at stops, the 25-liter tank promises long stages, and the braking, two 296 mm discs pinched by three-piston calipers at the front, a single 316 mm disc at the rear, manages the mass with the seriousness of a high-end sedan. You're a long way from the feel of a Ducati Multistrada, but that's another trade entirely.

That leaves the touchy subject, the price. 31,000 euros is the entry ticket to join this closed club. The BMW K 1600 GTL Exclusive piles on screens and rider aids, the Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Ultra banks on country atmosphere and more modern connectivity. The Goldwing, for its part, keeps playing the silent refinement card with its massive fairing that sends the weather back to the horizon, its 150 liters of luggage space, its electric reverse gear, its cruise control, its heated grips and seat, and even that stream of warm air redirected to the rider's feet. The GPS remains reserved for the Airbag version, and the six-speaker 80-watt sound system accepts iPod, USB, and MP3, which in 2015 is starting to smell faintly of technological diesel.

The target audience hasn't changed in three generations. Long-haul couples, well-off retirees, roadsters capable of stringing together 800 kilometers in a day without wincing when they step off the saddle. Track riders move along, city dwellers too, this ocean liner isn't cut out for slaloming between Parisian buses. This anniversary series doesn't revolutionize the recipe, it preserves it under glass. You could fault it for resting on its laurels rather than shaking up the German competition, but perhaps that too is the strength of a name that has become an institution.