2012–2017 · Tourer · Buyer's Guide
Six Cylinders, Zero Fatigue
This generation of the GL 1800 is built around one component: a liquid-cooled 1832 cc flat-six making 118 hp at 5,500 rpm and 125 lb-ft at 4,000 rpm. Honda used all of that to buy smoothness rather than headline numbers. Power arrives so evenly that changing speed stops being an event. Around it sits a shaft-driven chassis on a 66.5 in wheelbase, wrapped in a full fairing, with an adjustable windscreen, cruise control, heated grips, tire pressure monitoring, a center stand and integrated hard luggage all standard. That package is what the luxury touring class gets measured against.
On the road it rewards distance and punishes nothing. Two-up, fully loaded, five hours into a day, it is still the machine asking for more road. Ownership runs the same way. These age extremely well when the servicing is honest, and the parts and accessory supply behind them is deep enough that nothing stays broken for long. It suits riders who genuinely cover miles and want the final ten percent of comfort instead of a compromised version of it. The caveat is plain: 919 lb, five gears, and a front fork with no adjustment. Parking lots and tight hairpins will always ask something of you.
Spec sheets don't ride bikes, but they set the baseline.
| Power | 118 hp (87 kW) @ 5,500 rpm |
|---|---|
| Torque | 125 lb-ft (170 Nm) @ 4,000 rpm |
| Displacement | 1832 cc |
| Engine | Flat-six (boxer) |
| Cooling | Liquid-cooled |
| Gearbox | 5-speed |
| Final drive | Shaft |
| Fork | Telescopic |
| Front brake | 296 mm |
| Front tire | 130/70-18 |
| Rear tire | 180/60-16 |
| Wheelbase | 66.5 in (1690 mm) |
| Seat height | 29.1 in (740 mm) |
| Wet weight | 919 lb (417 kg) |
| Fuel capacity | 6.6 gal (25 L) |
Equipment check
Chassis
Comfort
Connectivity
Safety
You notice the mass exactly twice. Once rolling it back off the sidestand, and once in the first ten feet at walking pace. After that it evaporates. The seat sits 29.1 in off the ground, so both boots land flat, and that alone changes how a 919 lb machine feels in a gas station lot. Start it and nothing shakes. There is a low mechanical hum through the pegs and a little induction noise when you open the throttle, and that is the whole soundtrack. Your hands stay quiet on the bars all day, wrists carrying nothing, knees bent gently, the reach upright and roomy. At 70 mph the bike feels like it is idling underneath you. Stops come around every couple of hours with 6.6 gal aboard, and you climb off wanting more road, not less.
Secondary master cylinder brake drag recall
The check valve in the secondary master cylinder can become blocked, causing rear brake drag that may lead to a crash or fire. Honda recalled 2012-2015 GL1800 models under NHTSA recall 15V-700 (15V700000) to replace the secondary master cylinder.
Takata airbag inflator recall (2012 models)
Certain 2012 GL1800 motorcycles equipped with the airbag option were recalled because the airbag inflator could rupture and cause injury. Honda replaced the airbag module free of charge (NHTSA recall 17V031000).
Where this Honda GL 1800 Goldwing pulls ahead of — or falls behind — its rivals on the numbers, and the typical bike in its class on character.
Power
Torque
Displacement
Wet weight
Seat height
Forget spec-sheet bragging. Here's who the GL 1800 Goldwing is actually built for.
This is your bike, straight up. Two-up, loaded, over a high pass in changing weather is exactly the job it was built for, and the luggage handles a two-week route without roof bags or bungees.
Made for Beartooth Highway · Blue Ridge Parkway · Going-to-the-Sun Road
It will get you to the rally fresher than anything else on the road. But it runs quiet and smooth by design, so if the sound and the image are half the reason you ride, look elsewhere.
Made for A1A — Florida Atlantic Coast · Black Hills / Sturgis Rally Hub · Daytona Main Street / Bike Week
For 300-mile days of open sweepers and long views it is superb, and you will finish fresh. On genuinely tight, technical roads its 919 lb and long wheelbase make you work for it.
Made for Black Hills · Blue Ridge Parkway · Cherohala Skyway
If this one isn't quite the fit, these are the bikes worth riding back-to-back against it.
Successor · 2018
Technology Meets Long-Haul Comfort
Competitor · 2012
Big Torque, Long Haul Icon
Competitor · 2011–2026
Six Cylinders, Zero Compromises
Competitor · 2010
Luxury Loaded From The Factory
Competitor · 2010–2011
The Stripped-Down Interstate Thumper
Same Platform · 2013–2017
Six Cylinders, Stripped Clean