Honda’s flagship tourer, the ‘king of kings’, the Gold Wing is celebrating its 50th year in production in 2025.
The Gold Wing is more than just an incredibly capable touring bike, it’s a feat of engineering and a design icon that has received numerous accolades over the years. And it’s no secret that we’re big fans of the Gold Wing here at Adventure Bike Rider.
In recognition of the anniversary, Honda is releasing special editions of the Gold Wing with heritage liveries and some minor tweaks.
But first, let’s take a look at the history of the Gold Wing and see how the bike has evolved over five decades.
The first Gold Wing: GL1000 1974-1979
After the success of the original CB750, Honda began looking at concepts for a new flagship motorcycle. Originally, the idea was for another superbike, but after learning how many people were clocking huge numbers of miles on bikes from Harley-Davidson, Moto Guzzi, and BMW, Honda switched to making a motorcycle that would be capable for mile-munching.
The pre-production team settled on a bike with a water-cooled, flat-four engine and a shaft drive, with a 999cc capacity that could make 80bhp.
From the off, the Gold Wing was aimed primarily at the American market, being first presented at the Las Vegas dealer show in 1974 and assembled in Ohio for most of its history.
Originally, Honda planned to sell a line of accessories with the bike, including fairings suitable for long-distance travel. However, the moulds for these were accidentally destroyed and Honda never got around to making them, so the Gold Wing was only sold as a naked bike, without fairings, a windshield, or luggage.
It didn’t take long before aftermarket manufacturers jumped in the fill the gap, and sales of the Gold Wing over the next four years were strong enough for Honda to release an updated version.
The Gold Wing goes full-dress: GL1100 1979-1983
By the late 1970’s, the other Japanese manufacturers had released their own answers to the Gold Wing, and so Honda decided it was time to refresh its own offering.
Updates included a bump in displacement, the addition of tubeless tyres and air suspension, and versions available as full-dress tourers.
Marketed as the Interstate and the Aspencade models, these were the first full-dress tourers from a Japanese manufacturer, and featured full fairings, saddlebags, a large top box with pillion seat, and a huge range of accessories such as a stereo, CB radio, and an onboard air compressor to adjust the air suspension pressure.
Emilio Scotto rode a GL1100 on his record-breaking global, clocking up 457,000 miles over 10 years on his Gold Wing to complete the longest ever motorcycle journey.
Nimbler and easier to handle: GL1200 1983-1987
The Gold Wing one again received engine updates and a displacement increase to keep it competitive in an increasingly crowded market segment, with the chassis also tweaked to make it more nimble and easier to handle.
Within the first few years of the GL1200, the naked Standard model went off sale as customers overwhelmingly opted for the full-dress versions.
All engine production for the Gold Wing was also switched from Japan to Ohio, making the Gold Wing more of an American bike than ever.
Overhauled: GL1500 1987-2000
With few options left to update the original flat-four engine, Honda began work on a new engine for the next generation of Gold Wing.
This arrived in the form of a flat-six, 1,520cc engine that could create 100bhp and 150Nm of torque. Alongside the new engine, the chassis was redesigned, with the bike only available with full fairings from now on.
The new Gold Wing was bigger, more powerful, and more luxurious than ever. It also featured a reverse gear for the first time, and this model remained in production for 13 years.
In 1991, a GL1500 was the 500,000th motorcycle to roll of the production line at Honda’s Marysville, Ohio plant, and a few years later, another Gold Wing became the 1,000,000th Honda motorcycle to be produced in America. For many in the States, Honda had become synonymous with the Gold Wing.
A new millennium: GL1800 2001-2017
The dawn of the new millennium saw another major update for the Gold Wing, with the power increasing and weight decreasing to allow the Gold Wing to handle better than ever.
Safety was also becoming more in focus than ever, and along with optional ABS, in 2006 the Gold Wing was the world’s first motorcycle to be sold with an airbag system.
In 2009, after contributing to most of the over 600,000 Gold Wings that had been manufactured, Honda’s Ohio plant closed its factory doors. Production shifted to Japan, and two years later, Gold Wings were rolling out of the Kumamoto factory in Japan.
By the end of the Gold Wing’s fifth generation, over 700,000 had been produced since the very first model.
Full circle: GL1800 2018-onwards
For the latest version of the Gold Wing, Honda overhauled the bike one again. The capacity remained the same but power and torque were increased, although the biggest changes were in the frame and body.
Honda managed to shed 41kg from the previous model, and the re-engineered frame, suspension, and dimensions have given the bike a sportier character than ever before. In some ways, it’s almost the bike that was originally envisaged by Honda’s engineers back in the early 1970s.
There’s more tech than ever, including Honda’s Dual Clutch Transmission, and the bike has only become more luxurious over the years.
You can read our review of the Honda GL1800 Gold Wing after a two-up tour of Europe here.
50th anniversary updates to the Gold Wing
With emissions restrictions stricter than ever, Honda has tweaked the bike’s ECU settings and added an additional O2 sensor for this year to help it pass Euro 5+ laws.
And, to celebrate the 50th anniversary, Honda is releasing special editions of the Gold Wing, including one with a vintage Eternal Gold and Mahogany Brown livery that looks straight out of the ’80s.
Plus, these special editions will come with unique ’50 Years’ badges on the key and the TFT display, and in a nod to the engine’s capacity, the first 1,833 Gold Wings sold across Europe will come with a mini replica model.
You can find out more about the 50th anniversary Gold Wings at Honda’s website here.
