Back in 1974, Honda decided that a full-fat touring bike was just the thing the market needed – and it turned out Honda was right, whether the market knew it or not. The Gold Wing was born, and through the decades, it’s become the… well, Gold standard when it comes to touring motorcycles. Each version has become more and more like a self-contained apartment on wheels, and the new Gold Wing Tour is no different.
It’s still absolutely massive, and will attract attention for miles around – just look at the fairing and its sheer length. It’s got LED headlights and fog lamps, a more comfortable pillion seat and a larger capacity top box, for more luggage space. The frame is die-cast aluminium, with a double wishbone front suspension setup and a pre-load adjustable monoshock out back; the suspension is also electrically adjustable and has four settings – rider, rider/luggage, rider/pillion, rider/pillion/luggage.
The engine is as humongous as the bike – a 1.8-litre flat-six making 126 bhp and 17.3 kgm, with a 6-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed DCT and shaft drive. The DCT version gets a creep function, which should make traffic riding and reversing a cinch.
Naturally, you get a boat load of features. Traction control, hill start assist, cruise control, four riding modes, a 7-inch TFT display with Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, an audio system with 45-watt speakers and two USB Type-C ports are just a part of the long list. In terms of colours, you can have anything you like as long as they’re white (the manual version) or black (the DCT). Be prepared to part with Rs 37.2 lakh for the manual and Rs 39.16 lakh for the DCT (ex-showroom, Gurugram).
