My 'Wing buddy got a new ride.

[Lodi]

Meet Vanna

Gorgeous

 

[ddemair]

I purchased my 18' Goldwing Tour on March 20th 2018, I test rode a DCT model on February 27th 2018 for over 1.5 hours. I have a great relationship with my dealer and when they got their first bike in they called me the day before and the next day I test rode it a parking lot in slow speed maneuvers, city riding and X-way. The DCT was nice but when I arrived back at the shop, they asked me what I thought and I said order me a Tour model in red with a manual transmission....

I see a Goldwing in my future, but I haven't decided on DCT or manual. Everyone with a DCT is very happy with it. You're the first I know of who test rode a DCT and decided to go manual. Right now, I'm leaning towards the manual. What was the deciding factor(s) for you?

 

[AJMeister]

The DCT vs manual debate is being settled in the dealerships. There are far more DCT's being sold than manuals. There is nothing wrong with the manual transmission but I can tell you that accelerating away from a stop with my DCT especially in 'Sport' mode is truly addictive! You just want to and will do it over and over again while marveling at the engineering that went into that transmission. And you will spend far more time riding at higher speeds than doing slow speed maneuvering. Slow speeds are simply done in 'Rain' mode while applying the rear brake a little.

 

[JohnConner]

I wanted a GW Tour Manual and even put money down on it but the deal fell through. Then I had a chance to buy a gently used DCT for less money than the manual. Really glad I did. After 1 day riding it I don't want to go back. I really don't miss the clutch, especially in stop-n-go traffic.

JohnConner

 

[Gug]

I see a Goldwing in my future, but I haven't decided on DCT or manual. Everyone with a DCT is very happy with it. You're the first I know of who test rode a DCT and decided to go manual. Right now, I'm leaning towards the manual. What was the deciding factor(s) for you?

Shifting this bike with a manual trans is rather effortless. A 1/4" pull of the clutch allows you to shift. If you are riding alot of city, the DCT can be a plus. I didn't care the for the DCT's shift points (even with the manual override) or low speed maneuvers.

 

[Moto-Charlie]

Shifting this bike with a manual trans is rather effortless.

I have a 2018 6-spd. When I swap between 2018 Goldwing and my 2008 ST1300 the first thing I notice is the ease of operation on the Goldwing. I still like my ST a lot but everything on Goldwing works with less resistance. The clutch pull is easier, the shift change at the gearbox takes a light touch. Even the throttle is easier to twist. Everything feels normal again on the ST after 20 minutes or so of riding - until you hop back o the Goldwing, which is noticeably easier to pilot.

 

[Bulitt]

I have a 2018 6-spd. When I swap between 2018 Goldwing and my 2008 ST1300 the first thing I notice is the ease of operation on the Goldwing. I still like my ST a lot but everything on Goldwing works with less resistance. The clutch pull is easier, the shift change at the gearbox takes a light touch. Even the throttle is easier to twist. Everything feels normal again on the ST after 20 minutes or so of riding - until you hop back o the Goldwing, which is noticeably easier to pilot.

Agreed….. a buddy of mine just traded his 2018 DCT for a new 2022 DCT. He made a comment that stuck with me….

He said….. “You don’t really know what smooth is until you ride one of these new Goldwings“

I have had a bunch of bikes including a gen 5 Wing but my 2018 (now with 30k on it). Is the smoothest riding, braking, accelerating, bike I have ever ridden.

My VFR is a gorilla by comparison…..

 

[dduelin]

The dealership I frequent took their 2018 Goldwing DCT Tour demonstrator out of the crate on Feb. 1, 2018. I was on a list of people that got phone calls to set up a demo ride. I went the next day and took it for a ride. When I got back to the dealership one of the salesmen took this video as it showed the ease of slow speed handling and it was expected that lots of potential buyers would want to know how a big heavy like this handled with DCT. It's a pretty lame video I know but at that point there was nothing online about riding a DCT GW slow.

I was in the midst of a possible career change at that exact point in time and actually went to work for this dealership a month later. One of the perks of that job was being able to take this 6th generation Goldwing DCT Tour or any used bike home for the weekend. I rode this demo bike nearly 1000 miles over the next few months and got to compare it to two different 5th generation Goldwings back to back many times -a 2014 and a 2006 - as well as my ST1300. Several times I went riding with my buddies and we all swapped bikes back and forth including 5th and 6 gen Wings and a ST1300. For me style of riding the 2006 I bought in May of 2008 made more sense to me. I felt it's lighter steering effort handled curves better than the new model and it had better ground clearance when cornering two up with my wife. The 6th gen offers many more features of course and is an awesome motorcycle worthy of the flagship position in the Honda lineup. Maybe I'll own one someday.