A Gold Wing with training wheels - amazing...

[PanEuropean]

After 40+ years and hundreds of thousands of miles of riding motorcycles, I thought I had seen it all, until I parked beside this thing a couple of days ago in southern Spain.

It's a Gold Wing with hydraulically operated training wheels on it. I guess Honda has finally made these things so heavy that they cannot be picked up if they fall over without assistance from a tow truck or mobile crane - hence the need for the training wheels to keep it upright.

[moggy 1968]

I would presume they are instead of a centre stand because it's too heavy to lift onto the stand

[Threewheelbonnie]

This isn't OE as far as I know. They pop up on the sidecar forums occasionally. I think they are done by a company in Florida (where else!) with a target market of riders too old to hold the monster up at traffic lights and lacking the mental agility to switch to an outfit or small bike (choice of which is close to non-existent in the USA) . They drop based on a speed signal.


I'd be torn as to an opinion. On one hand it keeps people riding. On the other I regularly have decrepit old fools who think it's 1959 try and kill me. If they were fitted to a CB500 or Bergman I might feel a little more charitable to them.


Edit to add: The extra footboards scare me more. They'll limit the lean angle to less than that of an actual car!


Wonder if you could fit ski's to them in winter?


Andy

[backofbeyond]

Wow, outrigger wheels !! How do I get a set of those for my Wing? Do Touratech do them, or if not can I modify GS ones Can't have too much bling. I'll just bolt them on and Starbucks here I come.

It just amazes me how heavy a bike can be and still be viable to ride. The Wing specs are not far off of my late 60's Lotus Elan - roughly the same engine size, roughly the same power output and with a couple of people on board roughly the same weight. The only difference was two wheels vs four but now there even seems to be a way round that.

The Wing is no harder to lift onto the stand than many other uber tourers but with all that weight it's not something you want to try unless you're on level tarmac. If it fell over because you got the balance wrong the impact would register on the Richter scale.

I thought the original 70's Wing was something that crossed the line between motorcycle and parody but here I am 30yrs later owning something that looks like its supersize me and fattened up for Christmas descendant. You never quite know how life is going to work out, do you

[farqhuar]

Couple of misunderstandings here I'm afraid.

The 'Wing in the picture is the Gl1800 - it's actually lighter than previous model GoldWings (alloy frame for starters) and is surprisingly easy to put on the centre stand - much easier than my Burgman. It is also surprisingly nimble to ride around town and will give many sports bike riders a bit of a shock when the roads get twisty.

Second, the foot peg is only modified on the left, which suggests the rider has some form of injury to his left leg - possibly an amputee who needs an appropriate platform to 'perch' their prosthesis on. This would also explain the outriggers as the rider can't support the bike unaided, nor raise it off the side stand.

[PanEuropean]

Originally Posted by farqhuar

...the foot peg is only modified on the left, which suggests the rider has some form of injury to his left leg - possibly an amputee who needs an appropriate platform to 'perch' their prosthesis on. This would also explain the outriggers as the rider can't support the bike unaided, nor raise it off the side stand.

A very sharp and thoughtful observation Farqhuar - now I feel bad about ridiculing the stabilizers on that motorcycle.

I didn't notice the difference between the left floorboard and the right footpeg, but now that you mention it, it is very obvious that an adaptation has been made to allow for some form of disability (asymmetry) of the owner.

Michael

[Matty Gofun]

Originally Posted by farqhuar

Second, the foot peg is only modified on the left, which suggests the rider has some form of injury to his left leg - possibly an amputee who needs an appropriate platform to 'perch' their prosthesis on. This would also explain the outriggers as the rider can't support the bike unaided, nor raise it off the side stand.

Hi, yeah i thought that at first as it seemed as though the left side footpeg was missing or removed, however on closer inspection i could see that it is in fact still there. The images don't show if there is a 'cruiser peg on the right but i suspect there is. So still a mystery as to why this particular individual fitted landing gear!

[moggy 1968]

Originally Posted by backofbeyond

It just amazes me how heavy a bike can be and still be viable to ride. The Wing specs are not far off of my late 60's Lotus Elan - roughly the same engine size, roughly the same power output and with a couple of people on board roughly the same weight. The only difference was two wheels vs four but now there even seems to be a way round that.

not if it's 2 Americans riding the 'wing

[Kayjay]

Wow thats suberb. Thanks for sharing. Some day want to buy or ride one.