The modern choice for a 20th-anniversary gift is platinum, but as today’s Nice Price or No Dice Honda proves, gold is just fine too. This 20th Anniversary edition Gold Wing has all the bells and whistles, but we’re going to see if its price is divorced from reality.
It’s been said that home is where you find it. Few of you, however, found yesterday’s 2013 Dodge Caravan camper conversion homey enough to account for its hefty $13,500 price tag. Despite a few positive traits, the sleep-away Dodge just didn’t seem to add up to that asking, and it fell in a 77 percent No Dice loss.
If traveling in comfort is your groove, but you still have a gnawing need for the exhilarating feeling of freedom that only a motorcycle can offer, then have I got a ride for you.
This 1995 Honda Gold Wing GL1500 SE comes in Pearl Green and celebrates the model’s 20th anniversary. Much had changed for Honda’s grandest tourer over the span of those two decades, although the basic tenets of a horizontally-opposed engine, ample accommodations and a pliant suspension continued throughout.
The Gold Wing was heaviest this model year, with a fully-optioned bike tipping the scale at over 800 pounds. To move that much metal and plastic, the 1520cc SOHC flat-six produces an even 100 horsepower at an almost loping 5200 rpm. Paired with a five-speed manual, that gives the Gold Wing reasonable acceleration all the way to a top speed just over 100 miles per hour. Given the bike’s size and weight, you’ll be glad that a reverse gear is also on hand. That’s separate from the transmission proper, being operated off the starter motor.
There are 61,120 miles on the bike, and the seller claims that the majority of those were racked up on the highway. That’s where these bikes do best, what with their air suspension, lazy steering and BarcaLounger seating position. But around town, the Gold Wing’s considerable size and weight can quickly become tiresome.
Both the front saddle and rear pillion get comfortable-looking velour seating surfaces, with the latter having the additional luxury of armrests on either side. Commemorative badging denotes this as a 20th Anniversary model, and nicely the bike also comes with fitted Anniversary luggage. Other add-ons include a pair of color-matched helmets with intercom and both the original repair manual and a 20th Anniversary Gold Wing book. That’s a lot of kit, although the GL1500’s double panniers and a trunk should be able to easily swallow it all.
Things to look for on older Gold Wings include corrosion showing up at the swingarm pivot and excessive brake wear, as the covered rotors tend to make for less frequent inspections. Other than that, these are generally pretty solid bikes. This one seems to be problem-free and has a clear title. Plus, the seller touts it as being a “must see.”
We’ve now seen it, and hence we can move on to judging both it and the $4,650 price the seller has set for it. What’s your take, is this 20th Anniversary Gold Wing worth that $4,650 asking as it sits? Or, is that just too much to spend on a rolling den?
You decide!
Minneapolis, Minnesota, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at rob@jalopnik.com and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.
DISCUSSION
Owned one of that generation. Easy and comfortable trans-continental travel and 60,000 miles ain’t nothing for these bikes. It’s actually low mileage. There are a lot out there with more than 300,000 miles on them. No stupid paint jobs or an excess of chrome, so Most Definitely a Nice Price!