Homage to Honda Goldwing and Harley
Every bikers pride
The Honda Goldwing and the Harley-Davidson are arguably the most recognizable motorcycles on the road today. These are muscle bikes and status symbols. Gone are the days when these big bikes had the reputation for carrying Hell's Angels into gang fights and cheap saloons. No, today these bikes are luxurious and a favorite toy for executive types going through a mid-life crisis.
Neither one is cheap: in a price category comparison, Harley builds only one Sportster motorcycle below the medium price range and there are no Goldwings to be found below the high price range. In fact, in the “touring and sport touring very high price” category, only three models made the grade: the Honda Goldwing ABS, the Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic Electra Glide, and the BMW K 1200 LT.
As an example, a quick search at online lists a used 2007 Harley Electra Glide at $34500.00! Honda lists the 2008 Goldwing at $24,649.
History of the Honda Goldwing
The Honda Goldwing was first rolled out in October of 1974 at the Cologne Motorcycle Show. This model was then released for the 1975 model year. It was equipped with a four cylinder 999 cc engine and sported the model name of the GL1000. This first incarnation of this Honda motorcycle wasn't easy for motorcycle enthusiasts to categorize as it seemed to hover in the gap between a sports bike and a touring bike; it was a little of the first and a little of the later.
Many touring enthusiasts wanted Honda to provide touring motorcycle accessories but for some reason Honda was hesitant to do so. They did not even provide a basic trunk or saddlebag until the final year of production for the GL1000 model which was 1979. Honda basically missed out on the lucrative motorcycle accessories market and left it to innovative outside parties to design, manufacturer, and market them.
Honda continued to make changes to the Goldwing's design each year through the balance of the 1970s, mostly listening to rider feedback and then ceased production of the GL1000 in 1979.
In 1980 Honda trotted out the successor, the Goldwing GL1100. This model had a more powerful 1085 cc motor, and offered it with all the touring accessories. It seemed they had decided which way to take the bike, finally. Now it was officially a touring motorcycle. The frame and suspension were also beefed up to make long rides more pleasant.
Honda has continued to make improvements on the Goldwing in the years since Honda categorized it as a touring motorcycle. At one point it moved its GL1100 production factory to the U.S. which only made sense because the biggest consumer market is there.
History of the Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson was begun by Bill Harley and Arthur Walter Davidson in 1903 in Milwaukee with the intent of building motorcycles for racing. Not exactly what we would call racers today – the first motor was only one cylinder! But the world was a slower place then.
By the time five years had elapsed they had produced a total of 154 bikes in an old wooden barn that served as the original Harley manufacturing facility. That didn't last though; in no time at all they expanded to twenty employees and moved to larger quarters. They were also joined by William Davidson.
When 1909 rolled around, Bill decided to try a new design and built a two cylinder, seven horsepower, V-Twin model. This design was very successful and stayed with Harley-Davidson until 1911 when the next generation, the F-Head, was unveiled. This model, in turn, was the workhorse until the Flathead was rolled out in 1929.
The company was enjoying so much success that 1912 saw them in a new six story factory with two hundred distributors across the country. When the World War I broke out, thirty three percent of all Harley-Davidson motorcycles were sold to the military. By the time it was all said and done, the combined services had consumed a total of twenty thousand bikes!
When World War II erupted, once again Harley was called on to support the war effort. This time, almost one hundred percent of production was dedicated to the war effort and production for domestic motorcycle consumption didn't really resume until after the end of the war.
After that, the success just kept rolling into what you can see on the highway today: big, beautiful works of art and power.