2021 Honda Gold Wing Tour DCT Review | MC Commute - video Dailymotion

Motorcyclist

Honda’s Gold Wing is the zenith of motorcycle touring. Whether you’re running to the local convenience store for a Slurpee, or traveling across the American Southwest for a getaway weekend, few streetbikes are as capable as the Gold Wing Tour DCT ($29,300 as tested).  --  Radically overhauling it for the 2018 model year, Big Red went in a leaner and meaner direction with its Wing. So much so that it skimped on cargo capacity inside the 13.2-gallon top case. Owners complained, and Honda answered by increasing the capacity by nearly 3 gallons.  It may not seem like a huge change, but the compartment now easily swallows two full-face helmets, of any make. The case would accept two helmets before, but they had to be of a certain model and size, and you had to insert them just right.  Additional fixed hard luggage is located on either side of the rear fender, though they are oddly shaped (rectangular and not very wide). The cases are opened via subtle push-buttons and are locked electronically via a nice-looking rectangular shaped electronic key fob. Hydraulic action makes for smoother operation. Our only gripe is that the cases are finicky to close. A dashboard-mounted indicator lets you know if they are fully shut. In total, the Hold Wing Tour offers nearly 32-gallons of cargo capacity...  Find out more: https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/story/reviews/2021-honda-gold-wing-tour-dct-mc-commute-review/   Photography: Drew Ruiz  Video/edit:  @AdamWaheed    Motorcycle Riding Gear Worn  Helmet: Shoei RF-SR Jacket: REV’IT! Hudson Gloves: REV’IT! Chevron 2 Pant: REV’IT! Austin Boots: TCX X-Vibe EVO Air  Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyclist Shop Products We Use: https://www.amazon.com/shop/motorcyclistmagazine   See more from us: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/

Transcript

00:00 Hey folks good morning and welcome to this special edition MC commute coming

00:05 to you live from the official US press introduction of Honda's 2021 Gold Wing

00:13 Tour. Let's swing a leg over this bad boy and see what it's like to ride. Alright

00:19 folks here we are at the official North American press introduction for Honda's

00:26 2021 Gold Wing Tour. We are riding the Gold Wing Tour with Honda's optional DCT

00:38 dual clutch transmission. It's a $1,000 upcharge and it removes the manual

00:48 six-speed transmission and substitutes that for a seven-speed fully automated

00:58 dual clutch transmission. Honda's been doing these dual clutch transmissions

01:04 for 11 years now. It sounds insane to believe it's been 11 years but it has.

01:11 Over the 11 years they've made so many improvements to this transmission package

01:19 that's hard to even know what sequence or what generation they're in. I believe

01:23 it's the eighth generation DCT transmission is what this 2021 bike uses

01:31 which is the same as the previous year's dual clutch transmission. Now these DCT

01:38 gearboxes are just so awesome because they allow you to ride the motorcycle so

01:47 easily. There's no clutch lever to work, there's no gear shift lever on the left

01:54 foot peg to work up and down and it's just a very automated seamless and

02:00 scooter like experience. Now I'm a scooter guy but a lot of you listening

02:06 out there might be like "what a scooter like experience" I don't want that but the

02:10 thing is the DCT goes from mild to wild with a push of a button or a twist of

02:16 the wrist. This transmission it changes between each of its seven cogs so

02:22 quickly that it literally feels like a high-end sports car. When you're riding

02:27 this motorcycle you'll think you're driving a 2021 Porsche with a

02:32 PDK transmission it just changes gears that fast. It has auto blip the

02:38 programming of the transmission is very refined now where it really knows and

02:45 understands what gear to be in based on your vehicle speed and your throttle

02:52 input. But also awesome feature that I like about this DCT and this is specific

02:58 to the Goldwing is right now we're riding in the tour power mode and we'll

03:04 get to the power modes in a little bit here but when you put it in the sport

03:08 power mode so when you put in the sport power mode I don't like sport power mode

03:12 because the throttle is too sensitive and too touchy but I love the

03:17 transmission mapping in sport mode. When it's in sport mode it it changes gears

03:23 so quickly and when it changes gears it hits hard BAM BAM it's like you're

03:30 driving a race car just how hard how much pressure is in that shifting pattern

03:37 and you wouldn't think that that milliseconds of time it's shaving would

03:42 even matter but it does it absolutely matters so I absolutely love running

03:48 through all seven gears in sport mode the transmission hits hard and it

03:53 really delivers a very euphoric acceleration experience. My only

03:59 complaint is I wish you could pair the sport DCT shift pattern into the

04:05 tour map because I like the tour map because it's a little bit less sensitive

04:10 in terms of throttle response. So right now we're riding on the freeway and

04:18 these Goldwings are all about freeway comfort. There's a lot of room here the

04:26 adjustable windscreen is nice and tall goes up and down with a push of a button

04:32 I also like that the windscreen it always will remain at the position that

04:38 you left it so when you turn the key off or when you turn this ignition switch

04:42 off the windscreen automatically retracts but when you put the power back

04:47 on it will it will lift back to its original position very very nice touch

04:54 and as you can hear this cocoon of wind is just excellent like there's no noise

04:59 there's so little noise let's turn on the radio

05:04 now right now we are riding this motorcycle on a California interstate

05:14 road in the carpool lane motorcycles are allowed to operate in the carpool lane

05:23 in the state of California and this Goldwing is just this bike is is

05:29 absolutely a motorcycle that you can ride every day not only does it work in

05:35 a touring sense of the manner as we're doing right now it also performs really

05:39 well in the canyon so let's take it out there finally guys we're off the freeway

05:47 and we are in Malibu California there's Pepperdine University place of sight of

05:53 the world's biggest lawn world's biggest grass lawn right there at Pepperdine

05:57 University just joking I don't know that but they have a big grass lawn there so

06:03 we're off the freeway we're cruising in Malibu North and ergonomics on this bike

06:09 gosh this bike is just this bike is at the zenith of two-wheeled comfort there

06:21 isn't a motorcycle manufactured today that is more comfortable than this Honda

06:29 Goldwing tour now not only is it comfortable for the rider but it's also

06:36 extremely comfortable for the passenger who we will talk to in a little bit now

06:43 for 2021 Honda has made some careful modifications to the passenger seat to

06:51 make it a better place to stay planted for hundreds and hundreds of miles when

06:59 you're touring specifically the density of the foam seat has been modified the

07:08 cantor of the backrest has been moved so it's a little bit more relaxed says

07:13 Honda and they did that to make it just more comfortable now rider ergonomics we

07:22 have a nice handlebar it's it's almost like a cross between an upright handle

07:28 bar almost like a set of clip-ons it's a good balance between both it's actually

07:34 surprisingly in a way surprisingly sporty the the angle of of these raised

07:41 clip-ons and just the way that they're positioned in terms of our height it's

07:47 actually a pretty sporty handlebar package but it's not too sporty and it's

07:53 not too relaxed you have good control good control and good command of the

07:58 vehicle so the foot controls don't have your feet out in the wind the 1833

08:06 single overhead cam six-cylinder engine the cylinder heads protrude out the side

08:12 of the engine just like BMWs boxer twins so there's no room for for four to

08:17 controls controls are nice I like controls on this bike they're not too

08:22 far for they're not too far backward I have good comfort there's not a lot of

08:27 strain on my knees and this bike has a surprising amount of cornering clearance

08:35 for a luxury touring brick course when you're getting some in the corners you

08:41 are going to scrape the foot pegs but it's not bad bad one pro tip to help

08:48 mitigate any foot peg scraping is to make sure you're using the maximum shock

08:55 preload setting so the maximum shock preload setting indicated by the two

09:01 motorcyclist icons and the luggage icon that indicates that the shock absorber

09:08 isn't its full preload tallest position and that gives you a little bit extra

09:13 cornering ground clearance now the seat the rider's seat god this is a great

09:21 place to do work from I love how much support and cushion this seat offers yet

09:30 the density of the seat material isn't too soft it's firm as good support but

09:35 is also very thick and I also like that the seat it really really grips my

09:43 posterior it really grips it in this bottle so you know this motorcycle it

09:49 makes a lot of power which will get to you know over a hundred pound feet of

09:53 torque and when you give this thing the beans especially in the sport shift

09:57 pattern this thing gets up and goes it puts you back in your seat and there's a

10:01 nice ridge in the in the rider's seat to help you keep you in place from moving

10:07 backward also when you're breaking on this motorcycle you know even though

10:13 this bikes heavy it's got a strong set of triple disc hydraulic brakes which

10:19 will get to and this thing has some stopping power when you're when you're

10:23 leaning on the front brake lever and the rear brake pedal this thing it stops and

10:28 I like that the there's a good amount of room to grip the motorcycle with your

10:37 knees really secure yourself when you are breaking like you would on a sport

10:42 bike obviously a lot of people aren't gonna probably operate the vehicle in

10:46 that kind of manner but you can because this Goldwing is a surprisingly sporty

10:54 rig if you want to ride it that way of course we have heated grips you can turn

11:00 on the heated grips right here there's an insignia right there that lets you

11:05 know they're on it's 70 degrees right now and we're doing a lot of stop-and-go

11:09 so we don't need it there is five settings I like the heated grips

11:13 because in the highest setting the grips get pretty warm you can ride on a 43

11:21 degree morning and not be wearing insulated gloves and your hands are

11:25 still at an okay temperature I like that there's also rider and passenger heated

11:31 seat which is activated by pushing this button now this is a important difference

11:38 because the Honda Goldwing standard the bagger version without the toxic top box

11:44 does not have this so you're getting heated passenger seat and for the rider

11:52 and passenger which the standard DCT bagger Goldwing does not have and those

12:00 heated seats make a big difference when it's cold out you know you want to be

12:04 warm you want to be comfortable and this vehicle will deliver that kind of

12:10 experience when you are on the long haul all right folks we are back and look at

12:15 that view look at that view it's even sweeter at the cockpit or at the helm of

12:23 a nice luxury touring bike like Honda's Goldwing Tour DCT we talked about the

12:35 ergonomics we talked about the freeway capability this bike let's talk about

12:43 the powertrain specifically the engine this Goldwing is powered by Honda's 1833

12:53 CC overhead cam flat six so horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine this engine

13:03 saw a major overhaul for the 2018 model year so for 2018 Honda revamped this

13:12 powertrain they added additional valves so now it's 24 valve the old engine was

13:20 12 valve they lightened the things they made it more powerful and power is one

13:28 thing that this flat six certainly has this engine is good for over 100 pound

13:36 feet of torque over a hundred pound feet of torque it's just incredible amount of

13:42 torque output horsepower wise it makes right around 85 horsepower so not the

13:49 most fast in terms of horsepower but in terms of torque it sure is and all that

13:55 torque really allows this motorcycle to accelerate off the line just with

14:02 tenacity and not only does it allow it to accelerate off the loud line with

14:08 with tenacity but it allows it to carry a seventh speed you can be in seven in

14:15 top gear at 60 miles per hour with the engine only revving right over 2,000

14:21 rpm and you twist the throttle and the thing goes doesn't need to downshift you

14:27 don't need to grab another gear you just twist the throttle and the torque just

14:33 comes piling on it's really an awesome experience

14:40 the throttle response on this gold wing this bike employs ride by wire throttle

14:48 now when Honda first came out with ride by wire throttle I think I believe with

14:54 the 2017 CBR 1000RR sport bike they kind of flubbed it but they learned quickly

15:03 how to improve it and the ride by wire system on these new Honda street bikes

15:10 it's just it's so good they really they went from flubbing it to having one of

15:16 the best setups in the industry it's really amazing how good the throttle

15:21 response is on this bike now there is a variety of modes on this bike right now

15:29 we're riding in tour mode there's also sport mode whoa

15:34 econ mode and rain mode now I really like the tour setting because it gives a

15:42 good balance between throttle response and a wise shifting pattern this throttle

15:50 response works really well for me whether I'm cruising on the highway or

15:56 burning up my favorite back road now if I put it in sport it just like we talked

16:03 about before I love the shifting map in sport and I love how fast it hits the

16:09 gears up and down but the throttle response is just a little too twitchy

16:15 for me but if you're the kind of rider who likes a real sharp throttle response

16:22 you really want the bike to feel jumpy when you twist the wrist you're gonna

16:26 like this sport setting we're gonna go back to tour the econ setting I've ridden

16:35 this bike quite a bit in the econ setting and you think that oh my god the

16:40 econ setting is just a gimmick but it really does work I remember many months

16:44 ago I had to ride from from San Diego to Fresno California and I rode on the

16:50 Goldwing DCT not this exact vehicle but the Goldwing that's missing the top

16:57 case and I was riding at a very quick speed I think it took me four hours to

17:04 go from San Diego to Fresno so you can figure out the speed I was going but the

17:08 bike literally averaged 38 miles per gallon at that speed I couldn't believe

17:12 it 38 miles per gallon I did have it in econ mode I've noticed that when I ride

17:20 in tour mode for whatever reason I usually get about a mile per gallon less

17:24 so econ mode is a good solution if you are just gonna be on the freeway and you

17:31 need to cover ground now the engine sound these Goldwing flat-six engines

17:38 now the Goldwings always had a really nice exhaust note but it's always been a

17:45 little bit subdued you've had really had to pay attention for it with your ears

17:49 well with the overall of this engine for 2018 model year Honda really put

17:56 emphasis on the character of this flat-six and the exhaust note from this

18:04 bike is much more rowdy than past editions and that rowdy exhaust note I

18:12 just love it like when you start when you hit the starter button on this

18:15 motorcycle it just the the engine note is just awesome and when you when you

18:22 nudge it notch it in the gear into drive gear and pull away like that that torque

18:27 E flat-six sound it makes you it just reminds me of again like a Porsche car

18:32 it just it sounds so good a lot of times Honda motorcycles get knocked for not

18:39 sounding awesome this Goldwing sounds awesome get the exhaust note isn't too

18:45 loud where it's gonna cause you undue attention or annoy people that could

18:52 potentially get you in trouble ie law enforcement so if I was to make this

18:58 bike mine I would totally leave this exhaust alone I like the way it sounds

19:03 stock sounds pleasing to the ear when you give her the beans and then when you

19:08 short shift it and lug it no one's gonna be looking at you just the way I like it

19:12 this 1.8 liter engine drinks from a five and a half gallon fuel tank five and a

19:19 half gallon fuel tank the engine does not require premium fuel you can run 87

19:26 octane in this bike there's no difference it that you won't notice the

19:29 performance difference you won't notice anything I like the ability to be able

19:33 to run the less expensive fuel but the 5.5 gallon fuel capacity it's a thing

19:40 for me the previous 2001 to 2017 or 16 Goldwing that thing had a 6.6 gallon

19:49 capacity fuel tank and and this bike needs a bigger gas tank I mean

19:56 realistically you can go around 150 even 160 miles on a tank of gas but that's

20:02 not enough just based on how comfortable how suave this bike is you need

20:10 it'd be great if this bike would go 220 240 miles on a tank and I know that

20:17 other customers haven't really complained about it but to me it's a big

20:21 deal this bike should have a bigger capacity fuel tank after all BMW GS

20:27 bikes they have over seven gallons they're carrying over seven gallons of

20:31 fuel now that's touring honnestly please have a larger capacity fuel tank now the

20:38 character of this engine not only is it sound pleasing but God it's smooth it

20:43 delivers just a hint of vibration through these clip-on style handlebar

20:51 controls but it's not off-putting at all it actually adds to the experience

20:58 very very smooth engine very smooth engine power I mean if you looked up in

21:06 the dictionary you know smooth power trains Honda's Goldwing DCT would be

21:14 there maintenance maintenance and durability is a big thing for Honda

21:22 Goldwing owners and it's one area where Honda really goes above and beyond now

21:29 this vehicle comes with a three-year manufacturer's warranty so Honda stands

21:36 behind these Goldwings and offers a three-year manufacturer warranty

21:41 realistically these bikes are crafted in Japan they are so well built that Honda

21:48 could offer a 10-year warranty and you probably wouldn't have any problems with

21:51 these bikes these are very well engineered well put together bikes but

21:56 three three-year warranty is standard Honda also offers a protection plan

22:02 which allows you to extend your warranty I believe out to seven or eight years so

22:09 seven or eight years of warranty on anything that goes wrong that's just

22:14 amazing that that that would be customers can have that kind of

22:19 purchasing protection maintenance on this Goldwing there's a reason why you

22:25 see Honda Goldwings with well over a hundred thousand even well over two

22:30 hundred and fifty thousand miles on the odometer and that's because these

22:34 vehicles they are built to last now Honda

22:43 says that these bikes should have an oil change every 4,000 miles well initially

22:49 your first oil change is at 4,000 miles because this is a DCT bike you're gonna

22:55 have an oil filter for the engine and an oil filter for the transmission to

23:00 change out so 4,000 miles oil change new oil filter new transmission oil filter

23:07 after that the service interval bumps up to 8,000 miles so 12,000 miles is your

23:15 next service and at that time you get to skip an oil filter and transmission

23:23 filter change and then the next ones another 8,000 miles and then you have to

23:29 swap out the filters it's literally that easy this DCT bike carries almost five

23:38 quarts of engine oil which is about one quart more than the manual transmission

23:46 equipped Goldwing so these bikes don't require a lot of maintenance to keep

23:54 running and they go the distance great finally some turns yes going straight on

24:06 Honda's Goldwing tour certainly is magnificent but it's even better when

24:11 you're turning now the Goldwing has a very interesting chassis and suspension

24:19 package so Honda led the charge for a long time with their twin spar aluminum

24:25 frame that offers good rigidity a nice slim chassis and good overall handling

24:36 now they've taken things a step further by introducing a new front suspension

24:44 design so as opposed to the previous Goldwing or pretty much any other

24:49 motorcycle made that has a telescopic style hydraulic fork this bike has a

24:57 unique double wishbone style front suspension so you can see the the arms

25:04 moving right here so that replaces the traditional fork on the front suspension

25:12 now what Honda did with this double wishbone suspension is it's actually a

25:17 very ingenious and technically complicated and advanced suspension

25:23 system and what it does is allows the motorcycle to deliver and I've said this

25:30 a million times so it's kind of sounds like a broken record but I don't really

25:33 know a better way to describe it but literally a magic carpet ride this bike

25:38 floats over bumps with just the ride quality is literally regal it's as regal

25:45 as it goes so it just goes over the bumps so well and delivers just an

25:51 astounding level of comfort not only that but this is front suspension allows

25:58 this motorcycle to be very maneuverable when you have the wheels spinning in

26:04 motion this 839 pound Goldwing DCT Tour model feels a lot lighter than it

26:13 actually is you really don't notice the weight of it until you are trying to

26:18 maneuver it on a hill with a passenger then you notice oh my god this thing

26:23 weighs kind of a lot but if it wasn't for that setting you'd think this thing

26:29 weighs nothing because it's so agile it's just unbelievable how cleanly it

26:35 steers speaking of steering the steering radius of this bike is actually pretty

26:40 good you'd be surprised how easy it is to turn in a parking lot when you are

26:46 riding by yourself and you don't have the bags full of lead so that is what is

26:53 so awesome about this front suspension now the only real knock you know if you

26:59 have all these good things there's got to be a knock the knock I have with this

27:02 suspension is it just doesn't feel like a traditional fork so you don't really

27:09 feel it when you're riding casually like we are now but when you start hustling

27:13 this thing in a fun section of turns like you'd want to hustle a more sporty

27:18 motorcycle the the front suspension it doesn't have the traditional dive

27:24 compress dive bite sharpen steering of a telescopic fork so it feels a little bit

27:32 almost vague and not only do you not have that traditional type of bite

27:39 sensation compress bite turn sensation it just it it just it doesn't have that

27:47 same level of feel it certainly goes around corners really well but it just

27:52 it feels a little odd when you're really getting after it in a quick succession

27:59 of turns again like when you're riding at a casual pace and casually through

28:03 turns even at this it feels great it steers really nice and it's easy to put

28:09 where you want but when you're getting after it it just doesn't have that

28:12 traditional telescopic front end feel which realistically I don't even know

28:18 why I'm complaining about it because it doesn't even matter because you're

28:21 really not gonna ride this bike like that anyways and the advantages ie quick

28:27 steering super comfortable they outweigh that little gripe so it doesn't even

28:31 matter so well done Honda rear suspension this has a hydraulic shock

28:40 absorber it is electronically preload adjustable the non tour model has a knob

28:47 on the right side of the vehicle under a plastic cover that you can manually turn

28:51 this thing is electronically adjustable which we can do at a stop you literally

28:56 feel the rear end of the motorcycle moving up and down when you adjust that

29:01 setting so it's really cool and the suspension this motorcycle just

29:07 works so well you know the rebound is not too fast it's not too slow it

29:11 absorbs the rough stuff really well I mean we just hit that little pothole

29:17 right there and you felt it but barely and if you're just looking for a

29:21 motorcycle that just can deliver just a ridiculously high level of suspension

29:29 compliance and overall comfort I mean I'm talking about like luxury like a

29:34 hundred and fifty thousand dollar luxury sedan style comfort this twenty nine

29:41 thousand three hundred dollar Goldwing tour DCT delivers that kind of ride

29:46 quality no joke it's just unbelievable how how good this thing steers how good

29:51 it handles how good the suspension action is so good job Honda all right

29:58 folks here's where the real fun starts this is the whole point of Honda's

30:04 Goldwing tour to get out of town now we covered the powertrain covered the

30:10 engine transmission the suspension the handling let's talk about the

30:15 electronics and I know we touched on the electronics a little bit this bike it's

30:21 if the whole bike is electronics realistically but let's talk about some

30:26 of these type of electronics that you use to make the ride better now all

30:32 Goldwings all come with navigation so this is a standard feature it's non

30:37 options come standard now this GPS navigation is very nice because it

30:45 allows you not to have to use your phone so you can just plug an address on using

30:53 this switch gear here and get to your route but at the same time using this

30:58 switch gear it it the switch gear has nice tactile feel and and Honda did a

31:05 reasonably good job of laying out the controls but you have to hunt and pick

31:10 for every letter it's really time-consuming there's got to be a

31:14 better way to be able to input addresses and input information quickly in to the

31:21 vehicle I mean Apple does it or smartphones do it with their with their

31:26 user interface why can't on I don't exactly know how to figure that one out

31:31 but it would be nicer to be able to have faster inputting of addresses

31:37 information into the computer now this computer works really well sometimes

31:44 I'll actually zoom in using the button here and I'll zoom in where I can

31:50 actually see the corners before I'm actually taking them so I know how the

31:55 road is going to route me and that just helped me ride with a little bit more

32:00 confidence through the turns I know whether if I'm going right or left so a

32:06 neat feature now this particular Goldwing has an FM AM radio so you can

32:15 listen to the radio if you'd like it also has XM satellite radio capability

32:23 we don't have a subscription to XM satellite radio so we're not going to be

32:28 able to listen to it today but that is an option you can also pair this vehicle

32:33 to a Bluetooth enabled headset or your smartphone it's now when this bike was

32:42 released for the 2018 model year this bike was only compatible with iOS

32:48 products well Honda has updated the the firmware and now this vehicle is

32:56 compatible with Android devices too so if you're an Android user you're in luck

33:02 now your smartphone can pair to the vehicle now I have my iOS enabled

33:10 smartphone paired to the vehicle and it allows me to listen to music right now

33:15 we can't listen to any music because I selected a streaming service and the

33:21 streaming service doesn't have connection because I don't have I don't

33:25 have cell phone service because I'm in the wilderness now I like the display of

33:31 this Honda Goldwing I like the dual analog gauges that's a nice touch even

33:37 though I'm new school I'm still old school at the same time and I really

33:40 value analog gauges especially when it comes to the good old tachometer I also

33:48 like how the the LCD displays are adjacent to each analog dial and there's

33:57 some good information there the only problem is these LCDs are a little bit

34:02 tall they're a little bit small they're also kind of clunky to navigate you have

34:06 to know what button to push like for instance here you have to hit the select

34:11 button to make these and there's three buttons here and it's like why can't it

34:15 be more simplified or why can't you be able to adjust these features with this

34:21 control panel here instead of having three individual buttons to control that

34:26 that interface I'm sure there's people out there that probably like having the

34:30 separate function but I wish I wish this joystick would be able to just just

34:36 manipulate everything through that joystick and if you want to use these

34:40 separate buttons use those too but at least allow the joystick to do

34:44 everything and here's where the ride really gets fun folks now this is the

34:50 area where this Goldwing without having a conventional telescopic fork it feels

34:56 a little vague it just that the front end is not really doing anything like a

35:02 typical motorcycle it's not there's no pitch there's no pitch bite sensation

35:07 that you typically experience with this traditional motorcycle so it's not

35:13 saying you can't ride this bike at a good clip but it just takes some getting

35:17 used to to do now this Honda Goldwing tour is equipped with the linked brakes

35:25 and I love the linked brakes when you use the front brake it automatically

35:31 diverts a little bit of brake pressure to the rear brake conversely when you're

35:37 using the rear brake it automatically diverts pressure to the front brake and

35:42 on these big 839 pound cruisers you have to have a big strong back brake because

35:49 these bikes just weigh so much they need the extra stopping power that a big back

35:55 brake can handle and usually you're going to be riding these motorcycles

36:00 with a passenger with the bags full of cargo and it's good to be able to have

36:06 that stopping power from a good sized back brake back to the brakes so the

36:13 linked brakes automatically divert pressure to the other opposite circuit

36:19 and that helps keep speed in check and helps for a safer ride especially if

36:27 you're not super familiar with using both brakes at the same time

36:32 the brakes also have ABS so always on fixed ABS is on and

36:42 and the always on fixed ABS does a great job of keeping those slips I like the

36:51 way that guy's driving of keeping things under control if you use either brake

36:59 lever too aggressively it totally mitigates any tire lockup this bike also

37:06 has traction control Honda calls it Honda selectable torque control but you

37:11 can't select the torque control level it's just one level tied to the riding

37:18 modes so the tour mode has a different traction control setting in the sport

37:24 has a different traction control settings in the rain and econ but

37:29 realistically we have never ridden this bike fast enough or hard enough to feel

37:34 the traction control come in we wouldn't want to traction controls more of a

37:39 safety aid for let's say you're riding in inclement weather or you hit a

37:47 slippery surface somehow wet surface that is what the traction control is

37:52 more for rather than a performance aid to help you to help mitigate wheel spin

37:59 when you're whaling now at any time if we want to downshift the motorcycle we

38:04 just push this minus button here on the left and switch gear and that will have

38:11 us downshift into a lower cog conversely if we want to upshift there is a plus

38:17 button that is actuated by your left index finger finger

38:24 this motorcycle puts out a ton of torque so much torque that you can run it in a

38:32 higher gear than you would another motorcycle just because it has the torque

38:36 to pull that gear if you're a rider who loves torque engines you're gonna love

38:45 this thing right now we're manually shifting the motorcycle even though it

38:51 is in fully automated mode we can hit the M button here and now we're in full

38:55 manual shift so we're gonna select the gears of course if we're riding the bike

39:03 in too low of vehicle speed for the speed traveled the transmission will

39:08 automatically shift into a lower cog so there's always that failsafe now while

39:16 this navigation system slick and the switch gear is pretty good too there are

39:24 some squawks I don't like not being able to make

39:29 adjustments while I'm riding it so a lot of times you'll want to make adjustments

39:34 in the menu and you can't because the vehicle is disabled settings disabled

39:40 and the vehicle is in motion I know that's a safety thing but I wish you were

39:45 able to make on the adjustment on the fly adjustments while you're riding that

39:50 would be really cool I also think Honda could do a better job with the menu

39:58 layout now if you study the manual and you spend some time with this motorcycle

40:03 you can figure out the various settings and understand the menu navigation

40:08 pretty well but it still needs to be simplified and could be cleaner I mean

40:14 for instance the gold standard with with user interface these days is our

40:19 smartphones you don't need an owner's manual to be able to work on it's very

40:23 intuitive very easy very logical and I would like to see some of that logic be

40:29 built into these Honda electronics again not not bad but if they could lean on

40:41 companies like Apple and they kind of are you know integrating Apple CarPlay

40:46 but if they could lean on those companies a little bit more to help them

40:50 engineer more intuitive just menu and display setup I think that would really

40:58 go far to making these bikes just take them to a new level that we've never

41:02 seen before all right folks well there it is Honda's 2021 Goldwing Tour DCT

41:11 that was a fun touring style ride through California let's show you some

41:16 other features when this bike came out the top case was so small they enlarged

41:21 it by over three gallons it is now deeper it's taller and it's wider and

41:28 you can now easily accommodate two full-size helmets with Bluetooth

41:35 communicators this is a big deal I am so happy Honda that you increased the cargo

41:41 capacity of this top case it makes a huge difference I also like this top

41:47 case because there's hydraulic lifters so it opens and closes very smoothly I

41:52 wish the closing mechanism you see how it doesn't totally close I wish the

41:58 closing mechanism was a little bit better it feels very plasticky and cheap

42:02 there is a button detent you press down here to open it so again very nice job

42:08 but Honda let's get this closing apparatus a little bit better we have

42:13 two other additional hard case side cases here again they have hydraulic

42:18 actuators to make sure it's smooth operation decent cargo capacity but the

42:24 shape is a little strange here so you can't you have to be really careful in

42:29 how you install things in to carry again a button right there is how you open

42:37 that here is the other case you press the button here there it opens this has

42:44 an even more odd shape as you can see it goes over here so fitting stuff in this

42:51 is a little bit of a Tetris type game but still I like the hydraulic actuators

42:56 we've said a couple times now I like the electronic lock system very good Honda

43:02 we didn't touch on it but the four speaker stereo right here these things

43:06 are 45 watt speakers now to fuel this vehicle with fuel you press this door

43:14 there is the fuel door press that and that is how you feel fuel the motorcycle

43:19 it runs on standard 87 octane awesome the key here is the key I am NOT usually

43:29 one to like electronic key fobs but for this particular vehicle it works it

43:35 works because there's an easy place to store the key right there so it works

43:39 for my lifestyle I also like Han's attention to detail look at this inset

43:44 gold wing on the key look how nice this key is other manufacturers key fobs can

43:51 look kind of crappy and cheap this Honda gold wing key looks premium and fitting

43:58 for a motorcycle that is as awesome as this bike is look at the seat cover

44:04 this is another change for 2021 look at the seat suede with nice stitching on it

44:11 God the seat cover looks awesome it looks boss I love it and the passenger

44:17 seat is thicker it is at a more relaxed contour and more comfortable for logging

44:25 miles alright folks let's do some Q&A real quick let's talk to the Instagram

44:30 machine and see what is up let's see what's up let's go straight to the top

44:38 gold wing or K 1600 be I love BMWs inline 6k bike that bike is unbelievable

44:48 it has such awesome character when you're riding it you feel like you're

44:52 riding and driving an f1 car that engine makes all the right noises but this gold

44:59 wing takes luxury to a new level if you're the kind of rider who's really

45:05 gonna wail on back roads and carve up the canyons I'd probably go with the BMW

45:10 because I like the conventional front suspension for wailing around corners

45:15 better than I like this but for day to day all-around touring all-around

45:19 comfort you can't beat this bike overall because of its lofty levels of comfort

45:24 and it's very slick shifting 7-speed DCT I would buy this bike over the K bike

45:31 but the K bike still an awesome machine but can it wheelie I'm sure it can

45:36 wheelie but I can't do it so we're not gonna talk about that how is the power

45:40 delivery and overall performance when compared to the K 1600 GTL well the K

45:46 1600 GT GTL that engine is a monster gobs of torque gobs of horsepower it

45:54 makes the most incredible sound it sounds even better than this Honda gold

45:58 wing with its electronic quick shifter it mashes through at six speed six gears

46:05 very well but not as well as this DCT overall I'd have to say I like the the

46:14 actual engine of the K 1600 I like better than Honda's flat six but the

46:20 transmission package on this Honda gold wing is at just such a another level

46:26 compared to any other motorcycle manufacturer on planet earth that the

46:30 nod goes to Honda good job Honda you guys did a great job is there an

46:36 optional porta potti seat available from Honda ha ha ha ha ha no but we do wish

46:43 the fuel tank was larger so we could really stretch the limits of our bladder

46:48 when we're riding on this motorcycle how does it compare to the K 1600 bagger

46:53 Indian Challenger and HD road glide we talked about the K bike the K bike has

47:00 an awesome engine it's a very sweet bike and if we were riding on Ortega Highway

47:05 or some Canyon Road I would rather be on the K bike but for all other situations

47:11 I'd rather be on this bike this compared to the Indian Challenger there literally

47:16 is no comparison this is a Mercedes and the Indian Challenger is a Fiat Harley

47:24 Davidson same thing Harley Davidson's a little bit better than a Fiat but still

47:27 I mean there was a time where I was like I'm gonna buy a Harley Davidson electric

47:31 glider a beggar but now Honda has gotten this gold wing and gold wing tour to

47:36 such a high level that if I was gonna buy a touring bike of any kind it would

47:41 be this bike there is no other there's no other question in fact if Honda took

47:46 this bike away from me and like we need it back I will buy this bike because I

47:50 love it that much alright folks that is a wrap from the 2021 Honda gold wing

47:58 tour DCT MC commute coming to you live from the official North American press

48:03 introduction of this model would I spend my hard-earned dough on this motorcycle

48:10 yes I would I would absolutely buy this bike you know I might actually buy this

48:14 bike because I like it that much it really just works for my lifestyle it

48:18 works as a as a city bike it works as a touring bike it enables me to live my

48:23 Southern California life in a more pleasurable and time-efficient manner

48:29 log on to motorcyclists online comm that's where all of my written content

48:35 lives check out our new podcast we just interviewed Ryan Dungy a couple weeks

48:41 ago who is retired championship level winning supercross motocross racer

48:45 check that out give this video a thumbs up if you liked it please thumbs it down

48:50 if you didn't and we'll see you guys next time thanks for watching

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49:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]

2021 Honda Gold Wing Tour DCT Review | MC Commute

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