The History of Honda GoldWing development

[GoldWingrGreg]

Per Honda

In the motorcycling world, technology presses forward with such irresistible force that very few models survive a span of 36 [sic] (42 years now) years. But for the past 36 years, the Honda Gold Wing has done much more than merely survive: this remarkable machine has continued to create and define an entire segment of the motorcycling experience. The following timeline provides a glimpse into the many milestones that have made the Gold Wing the icon it is today.

1972 - GoldWing Development Team

A design team is established, led by Soichiro Irimajiri, who headed up design of the five- and six-cylinder road racing engines of the 1960s. The team develops the M1, a top-secret prototype designed to explore the outer limits of the Grand Touring concept. The super-fast M1 features a liquid-cooled horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine with shaft drive--features that surface in the Gold Wing line in years to come.

 

[GoldWingrGreg]

Come back tomorrow and maybe there'll be more Here's the best part ... since Honda wrote it, you can absolutely count on the information being factual

I remember reading about this one in Honda's GoldWing history book. Mr. Honda insisted it be air cooled, but the engineering team said no. He also wanted to have it sound like a "jet" as it goes by. I guess we got that with the known alternator whine. The driveline they used was from a BMW. Eventually, Honda had to make their own. They started with several designs, and it took them 2 years of research, design, and testing to finally come up with their own driveshaft. Most failed the 35mph accidental downshift without clutching from 2nd to 1st test. Basically, many hours were spent on a test track with engineers, machinists, and test riders constantly putting the shafts through various tests as changes to the were made to perfect their shaft.

The original 6 cylinder scratched in fear that people would not buy it if it had 6 pistons ... thus, in 1975, the original GoldWing only had 4-cylinders.

 

[trike lady]

Or you can read it here: http://world.honda.com/GoldWing/history/

 

[GoldWingrGreg]

Well gee ... WTF ... anyone could have googled it. So much for an open discussion

 

[trike lady]

Those are bookmarks I have saved in my computer. The topic of Goldwings is always open.

I have posted this before and I'll say it again, the 1985 GL1200 Limited was the first Goldwing with Fuel Injection, it was called Computerized Fuel Injection and the ECM was under the top box. The 1986 GL1200SEi was the second and last one with CFI.

There's still plenty to discuss and little known facts about GLs. The discussion is not spoiled.

There are also at least 40 preproduction GL1000's out there, do you know how to identify these rare Wings? Its right on the VIN plate.

http://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/38853-Interesting-facts-about-Goldwings