April 7, 2009

Buy A Used Goldwing 1800

Buying a used Honda Goldwing GL1800?

In 2000 the GL1800 had made an appearance at the German Intermot show to the great joy of Wing nuts everywhere. The new 1800 featured an improved alloy chassis with just 31 parts compared to the131 utilised by the 1500. Attached to the chassis was a Pro-Arm swinging arm and Pro-Link monoshock air-controlled via a button on the 'bars and available with two memory settings. Brakes were ABS and Dual-combined ensuring drama free stopping. It was narrower, lighter, made more grunt and was arguably better looking. The new fuel-injected six potter made 118 horses at 5500rpm and a whopping 17.3kg-m of torque at 4250rpm. It's great for those long high-speed freeways and equally great for lugging large people up long hills. There is of course a raft of gizmos for when the riding gets boring like an integrated intercom and a CD/MP3 player. There's the cruise control, satnav facility and, if that's not enough, there's a colossal catalogue of other stuff some of which have no purpose at all.

What To Look For In A Goldwing 1800

Okay, the GoldWing 1800 is an amazingly reliable machine. Of course there are a few issues obviously check for any damage from low speed drops and have a look underneath for evidence of kerbing. You're bound to see a bit of scraping from cornering, but don't worry too much. If there's a bit of noise at idle on an early model don't worry too much, later models switched to needle-roller bearings on the rockers to make things quieter. Any other rattles can often be the result of poor carb synchronisation. Flat spots in the delivery on the test ride are a dead giveaway in that regard.

On the test ride, make sure the bike steers well with no oscillation at the 'bars. If they do, check the wear pattern on the tyres both front and rear. Sometimes the front will be ridden under-inflated because the bike is ridden irregularly. Other times the rear tyre will be squared off through upright highway riding. Both will affect the steering and the price you want to pay. Another cause of wayward steering is the steering-head bearings, which need checking and re-torqueing from time to time. Put the bike on the centre stand with engine running and check for panel noises and fit. The earlier the bike the more the plastic gets brittle and the more times it will have been on and off. Look for missing fasteners.

If the battery is flat and doesn't appear to be charging (lights brighten and dim as revs rise and fall) suspect the alternator which can give up by burning out the commutator under the work load of extra lights and gizmos.

Naturally you'll expect to see a service record on a bike like a GoldWing as only the very enthusiastic do much more than bolt on the latest enhancement or facility. If you're buying privately be prepared to spend three times longer than you would normally, because the owner will want to talk a bit.