Thinking about a new bike

[Kirby]

Hey guys, my wife has been hinting at me trying out a wing for my next bike. Is there someone or some place I can go to kinda get familiar with the features and failures of the bike?I think I'm really more interested in the failures than I am the features because the features will become pretty evident once I bite the bullet.I was looking on here for a place like "Known problems" for the Wing. Is there an article here?

[Eck]

Let's see, Goldwing 1800 failures..

 

The listed failures below are the main ones that I persistently hear about.

 

Presently there is an open recall on every GW out there for the rear brakes locking up. Root cause unknown and Honda does not have a fix yet...(temp fix- take to dealer, or loosen rear bleeder to relieve pressure and keep riding..)

 

Alternator failures range anywhere from 80k miles to 200k miles. (You can get a spare - rebuilt Alt for around $175.00 and carry it with you on long trips if you want or have on a shelf ready to install)

 

Starter Relays A and B tend to fail with no warning. Failures begin around 100k miles and up.. (I have heard of some failing on bikes with50k to 70k but very unusual).

I brand new ones in my side bag at all times. Cost is around $14.00 ea

 

Several of the switches stick, like the 4-way flasher switch, cruise switch, and reverse switch, but all are very easy to fix. The fix may last a year or two and then begin to stick again. These problems all depend on how often the bike is parked or rode in the elements.

I have several links and pictures on how to remove, take apart, clean and reinstall each switch if anyone needs help here. Just contact me.

 

The front fender is a two piece fender containing a front and rear section. The rear section has been known to crack only on those bikes where the owner has installed the rear fender extension.

If anyone decides to install a rear fender extension, I have a simple fix that you can do BEFORE you install the rear fender extension so it wont crack.

 

Most any of the known problems with the GW are easily fixable as is on the Ventures. One only needs to know where to go or who to contact to get this information same as the ventures.

 

I am not at all trying to lead anyone away from the Venture for they are very fine bikes and I truly miss my old Venture, but I will gladly offer my help with how to questions anytime to anyone, just feel free to contact me. I have tons of tech articles (some contain great pictures) and I have some know how that I have learned and if I don't know how, I do know where to go and or who to contact with most any problem on the GW 1800's.

 

Here is mine:

[SilvrT]

Two things I found on my GL1800 that is a real PITA ... changing the air filter and changing headlight bulbs. I guess they had to make something difficult to offset the simplicity of removing the rear tire LOL.

[Eck]

in 113k miles I have changed my air filter twice and only had to replaced both low beam bulbs since I owned mine.

[SundayRider]

Seems like I have read quite a bit about transmission problems. If I recall it involves losing 2nd gear. Do a search on GW trans issues, it will pop up.

[Brake Pad]

Noop. 27k on mine, no issues, just tires and oil changes. I bought an extended service contract on the bike so I have 7 years of service

[M61A1MECH]

Here is a link to forum that is like Venturerider in that there are lots of good folks with lots of good information.

http://www.gl1800riders.com/forums/index.php, poke around, join, ask questions I am sure you will find what you need, including several ex-Venture riders there

[SilvrT]

Here is a link to forum that is like Venturerider in that there are lots of good folks with lots of good information.

http://www.gl1800riders.com/forums/index.php, poke around, join, ask questions I am sure you will find what you need, including several ex-Venture riders there

 

That's where I hung out when I had my Wing. A pretty good site although there are a few a-holes that like to get under ppl's skin.