2005 Honda Gold Wing (GL1800) reviews

This is a great motorcycle. I've had it a couple years. It's like a new bike. The owners manual and tools are still in the sidebar. Even the trailer manual is there. The new tires haven't been broke in yet. Nothing is wrong with the bike. It turns heads everywhere I've been. Show less

I love my 05 Anniversary model, which I purchased used March, 2009 and it currently has 30k on it. The cremey-smooth engine loves to travel and remains all-around comfortable day-after-day. Only lack of adjustable ergo's (bars/pegs/seat) and want for about 20 more hp keep it from a perfect 5-star rating across-the-board. The handling is the true surprise! Ease of turn-in, steady tracking, and stellar manuverability due to sport-bike aluminum frame and low center-of-gravity (flat 6 design/engine placement) make this a true "sport-tourer" despite the luggage and large fairing. The only limitation is a rider's abilities! Nothing gone wrong in the first 30k. This is highly recommended. Show less

I had a 1989 GL 1500 before I purchased my 2005 GL 1800. I personally love them both. I have nothing but good things to say about my 05 and as of this writing I know of nothing that even comes close to the feel of the "new" goldwing. There is NOT a finer bike made. Show less

This gl1800 is the greatest bike I have ever rode. I have not had a chance to take it on a road trip but have been riding to work and around town for the past 10 days with limited highway riding. All I can say is each time I ride it, the more I like it. I am the second owner and the bike has just over 23K miles and is in perfect condition. I have ridden road kings & road glides, I had 2 aprilia scarabeo 150 & 500, I loved the 500 but crashed it at around 60mph in Nov 08 and broke my hand, that is a whole nother story about how it happened. I had been looking at gl1800 before the accident but had not found what I was looking for at the price I wanted to pay. I bought a 2006 suzuki M109R and started riding it in May 09, it is super fast but has real loud cobra pipes so was not what I wanted to ride everyday. The M109 to me is like a corvette, great fun to drive, just would not want to ride it everyday. I bought a 2003 Honda silverwing for to and from work and it is great for in town or the highway, it is so easy to ride and you can be a 70-80 mph before you know it. I thought I was happy with the 2 bikes one for my daily rider and one for crusing and then my son bought the 2005 gl1800, I rode it home the day he brought it in and have been riding it everyday since. It is a dream to ride. The radio is great, you can hear it going 70-80 mph through the speakers with my helmet on. The cruise is also great. I can not wait for my first road trip. At this point I would like to keep the other 2 bikes and the gl1800 but am not sure I need 3 bikes, but for sure I a keeping the gl1800. As I have read before if you ride motorcycles, do not ride the gl1800 unless you are willing to buy it. I was asked by a friend today if I ever wanted to buy a harley someday and I said no, I want to ride for the ride and you just can not beat the gl1800, it is top of the class. Show less

I just passed 10,000 miles on my silver Wing and I can tell anyone interested in touring that this bike rocks. It is indeed an adult crotch rocket. The acceleration, brakes, handling and comfort are legendary. The salesman told me that once you own a Wing, you will throw stones at everything else. HE was right. We just got back from AMA's in Bham. We had 15 bikes of every variety with one Harley guy stuck at the back. Poor soul. The Wing was fully loaded with three chairs, a cooler and full luggage. Despite the weight, I could keep up fairly well on the back roads. Other riders marvelled that I could keep pace. The weight is always there...but underway, you don't feel it at all. I have a CBR 600 and a Duc monster. They are fun but when you want to put some miles on your bike to get that freedom, nothing beats the Wing. Show less

This bike handles like it's on rails. It saved me a bundle of money since I don't need a sport, or sport-touring bike to satisfy my twisty fix. The only problem is keeping foot pegs on it. They keep getting ground into the road. It's the perfect bike if you like taking the superslab to your favorite canyon carving mountains. It's both comfortable and capable. I'm so glad I got the 05. The only way to get ABS on the 06, 07's is with the GPS package. Much $$$! Besides that, I have my own GPS that I take with me in the cage, motel, home, etc. I hope Honda changes that before I'm ready for my next one. Show less

The greatest bike on the road! I would highly recommend this bike to anyone currently looking. It is very comfortable. Show less

Well, this summer (2006) I rented a Goldwing from a big motorcycle dealer in San Antonio Texas. We (my twin brother and I), swapped riding between my Vstar 650 Custom bike and the Goldwing. Well, the Goldwing was the bike my brother, my wife, my kids, his kids, and all our family wanted to ride. I suspect, if my dog had a choice, he would have picked the Goldwing too. The Goldwing is a fantastic bike. Big enough to let you know you're on a machine, but small enough to handle. At stops, I was a bit concerned about holding it up, but now, after about a week of ridding, it's a piece of cake. Moving on, right around Christmas of 2006, I bought a 2006 Goldwing with Nav. Boy am I hooked. When I first rode the rented bike, I felt a bit high and positioned a bit forward. But after only a couple of weeks of riding my own bike, the position feels great. There are over 51 switches on the Goldwing control panels, and if your like me, the more, the merrier. I went ahead and installed a CB, CD, XM satellite sportier radio, Utopia backrest, and helmet headset during a weekend, and found the work to be very fun - but long. Note, you MUST plan every step before you start, since you have to remove a significant number of panels. The most interesting panel to remove was the rear trunk(s) since you must drill two 7/8 holes using a hole bit to route the wires and grommets through to connect under the seat. You must also mount a very nice, but expensive, CD suspension bracket to the bikes rear frame, and route 4 large bolts up through the trunk. I also put the satellite antenna on the truck, on the passenger arm rest. I looked on as many web sites that I could find about CB/CD installs before beginning the task (about 2 weeks of planning), and the only difference that I found was when pulling the front meter cover on a 06, Goldwing version 2001-2005 have screws behind the front speakers while 2006 and 2007 do not have screws. Just gently pull up on the meter, then carefully disconnect the large connector near the key switch, and the two front tweeters, and wa-la, able to plug the CB connector in (CD connections are all under the seat). The Nav is better than most cars! It's a Gamin, so the ladies voice will sound familiar through all 6 speakers on your bike, or in your headset. The entire US is in it and yes, it's better than most car's because there's special 'bike' features, like - auto muting, volume control vs music control, speed volume control, wave point adding, full navigation controls on the left faring, and a nav back and nav menu button. The Garmin screen is also the bike regular screen (really large and colorful). Buy the way, the headset works great only after you tune the auto mute feature correctly (the detection of wind and noise, vs your voice). Your passenger can talk normally, and you can have a very nice conversation along the way, while listening to music (Honey, did you see that? Yes, that was interesting - after the music is automatically muted by the Goldwing - nice programming). I did cut the rubber water protector cover around the 5pin din Hondaoline headset connector, since it's a pain to connect at night, and in the dark. I also added a color matched Honda brake light/spoiler and feel this will be all the extra goodies I need, or can afford. The bike is wonderful, AS IS. By the way, riding in the cold, is no problem. The heated grips, and heated seat work so well, that you can forget about the weather, and enjoy the ride. Just make sure you wrap up around your neck since that's the only place cold can get you. We're looking forward to summer ridding! Show less

I have been driving bikes since 66 and I have had a 84 1200 & 98 1500 prior to my 05 1800. I must say after the input into the previous Wings, I was disappointed in the detail missing on the new Wings. The leg room must be designed for 5 ft tall drivers since I am only 6 ft and my knees hit the fairing. The mechanics and reliability are exceptional but the type & upgrade of the GPS, the removal of the heat/cool air vent, and not having a built in tape/cd/MP3 player is an oversight. Show less

Just recently completed a cross country, 7K mile trip on my 05 VTX 1300. While riding I thought how nice it would be to be doing so on a Gold Wing, and that if I ever made another trip, I would try to find a way to purchase one. A week after returning home from my adventure, I found an 05 and decided to buy it. Of course I haven't found a way to afford it, but it is sitting in my garage none-the-less. Sold the VTX. Have put 1000 miles on in three weeks. What a magnificent machine. So quiet, smooth riding, and great handling. Am eager to embark on another trip and hope to do so before Thanksgiving, once I determine how badly I broke my bank on the Xcountry trip. Am looking forward to enjoying the many wonderful features and creature comforts of this magnificient motorcycle. don't believe there is anything that can compare. But of course it is a Honda. Sweeeeeeeet! Show less