Honda GL1800 Gold Wing DCT 2022 — Specifications

Imagine an ocean liner that's been through a slimming regimen with a personal coach. That's roughly what the latest generation Gold Wing has been trying to sell us since its radical overhaul. The 2022 DCT version, stripped of its top case to embrace a bagger format, now plays the American touring card, lighter on the shoulders even if the scales still read 366 kg fully fueled. Honda understood that the ever-bigger approach was heading into a dead end, and the Tokyo firm preferred to sharpen its monument rather than bulk it up further.

Beneath the redesigned fairing, the 1833 cc flat-six remains the beating heart of the operation. No horsepower race against the K 1600 GT and its Bavarian inline-six, which peaks far higher on the tachometer. Honda made the opposite choice, that of character and smoothness. You reap 126 hp at 5500 rpm and above all 170 Nm from 4500 rpm, enough to send the machine toward its 180 km/h without ever running out of breath. The switch to four valves per cylinder, the slimming cure for the engine block, and the new injection, softer at low revs, reflect a clear philosophy, that of a boxer that purrs rather than screams. Torque is delivered like a conveyor belt, with that mechanical signature that only flat-sixes can produce.

The real revolution sits in your hands, or rather in your left thumb. The seven-speed DCT gearbox continues its goldsmith's work, with shortened lower gears to smooth out jolts during maneuvering and taller upper ratios to calm the revs on the highway. Four riding modes (Tour, Sport, Econ, Rain) simultaneously adjust the mapping, linked braking, electronically controlled damping, and shift strategy. The electric reverse gear is still part of the package, a lifesaver when you have to extract three and a half hundredweight from a sloped parking spot. The double-wishbone front end, a distant heir to the Fior patent and close cousin of BMW's Duolever, eliminates dive under braking and offers a steering precision that has nothing in common with a conventional telescopic fork. With a saddle perched at just 745 mm and a wheelbase of 1695 mm, the Gold allows itself to be handled with almost insolent ease once the first few wheel turns are behind you.

The technological side has caught up, and it shows. A 7-inch TFT screen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, Smart Key, hill start assist, dual USB port, full LED, enhanced cruise control, audio revised in 2021. One is charmed by the coexistence between this flood of pixels and the two analog gauges, a genuine touch of elegance that reminds us a Gold remains a Gold. On the storage side, the verdict is harsher, with two side cases capping out at 30 liters each. The F6B, direct ancestor of this bagger philosophy, did better with its 51 liters per hold. The tank drops to 21.1 liters, but the announced consumption of 5.5 l/100 km maintains a reasonable range of around 380 km.

At 28,249 euros, this GL 1800 DCT targets the contemplative road-tripper who wants to travel without XXL luggage, the rider who dreamed of a Gold without daring to take the plunge into the full ocean liner. Facing the German K 1600 B, sharper and pricier, the Honda bets on its mechanical roundness and its peerless automatic gearbox. There remains a positioning choice that may unsettle grand touring purists, those for whom a Gold without a top case is akin to a castle without turrets. For the others, it's a GT en plein air that finally embraces its hedonistic character.