Honda Gold Wing ABS 2005 – 2011

In Nov 2005, I bought this Gold Wing from Abernathy’s Honda in Union City, Tennessee.  Planes, trains, rental cars got me to Union City and with a favorable weather window, I rode the 1150 miles home in about 30 hours.  I will begin farkeling it over the winter here in Colorado for touring and long distance riding. More to come!

Gold Wing Farkels

The following customizations or “farkels” were added from Dec 2005 to present.  Most are oriented to Long Distance Riding in either safety or comfort areas.

My fuel cell just got installed the first of August 2006 and is a work of art by Wayne, a local expert fabricator who made one for Bud Yates, a fellow IBA friend here in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He plans on making 3-4 more depending on demand so feel free to contact me if you want him to contact you about selling you one!  This should extend me out to about 350 miles+ per “tank full”. It is a simple gravity fed setup and a vent tube running under the trunk out behind the rear tire.  Fuel filters were installed in each hose.  A tested design by my friend Bud, who has 10,000 of miles on his fuel cell this one is modeled after!

 

My next mod was a new Wingsoft seat modification… I got the large one that allows me to sit back 1″ at the base of my seat and a full 2″ at the top of my hips.  With the extra padding, et al, it makes a great “semi-custom” seat for tall riders.  The Goldwing now feels like a motorcycle under me rather than I am sitting in an easy chair.  Look at John’s website for more pictures and details above.

 

 

After seeing first hand an install of RAM Mounts on my friend’s  Ron’s Goldwing I decided he had done it right and copied his install. Imitation is the best form of flattery.  On the left you can see my mounts for my cell phone and Garmin SP III.  On the right is my Sirrus Satellite Radio and future home for my Escort 8500 radar detector.  All devices interface with the bike’s intercom through the Kennedy Dual set (GPS and Radar) and Kennedy Cellset (Cell phone). All of the Kennedy stuff is plug and play on the GL1800! The Sirrus radio could be connected via the aux input wire, but I prefer to operate it like I did on my ST1100.   I simply transmit it wirelessly on FM 88.1 to the motorcycle’s FM radio — works perfectly. The only thing I had to do was run a power line from my acc fuse block.  All of the Kennedy wires cover power and audio and they all run up the handlebars out of sight.  The nice thing about these RAM mounts is that when you are just riding locally, you just take them off and the bike looks OEM.

This picture shows slight refinements on the electronics on the dash.  I sold my SPIII to a friend and bought a Garmin 2820 that interfaces via Blue tooth to my cell phone.  This solves exposing the phone to the elements. I now carry the cell phone in the trunk or on my waist and make all of my calls through the GPS.  I also added a water tight box for the radar detector so I do not have to make any stop when it starts raining.  Lastly, although the Sirrus radio remains the same, I got a marine grade waterproof cover for it so I can keep riding through the rain and not worry about my electronics.

 

The Kuryakyn Hi-way pegs (Model 4056) were added in mid Jan and will provide alternate sitting/leg extension options on long rides.  After having hi way pegs on my ST during the 2003 IBR, I know these will become very valuable additions.  I found them well built, easy to install and rock solid.

One of the first additions was a luggage rack for the trunk.  This is a Show Chrome Luggage Rack purchased over the internet.  It looks great, makes a nice handle for the trunk and I will use it to put a small bag on it for long distance trips of essentials during stops.  Harry turned me onto the idea on his BMW LT of having a trunk bag (small).  It goes on somewhat easy; perhaps more art than science and you must drill holes in your trunk, but just close your eyes and do it!  :-).

After rigging everything on my ST from scratch it was nice having special made electrical components that someone else designed just for the GL1800.  I quickly installed a fuse block from Electrical Connections, a great company with great products.  The round ground block was also installed and allows for a clean grounding of all wires.

I also added Cee Bailey’s lens protectors for my OEM fog lights and a headlight protector for the rather expensive headlight assembly for the GL1800.  I am even debating on whether to add aux lighting as the GW’s lighting package is “just that good”!

Added a simple OEM trunk net for all of the little things you need night and day and do not want to waste time trying to find them.

After some research into the additional fish eye mirrors on the market, some for as high as $50, I settled on what worked for me on the ST, a pair of $3 wide angle mirrors.  A must have on the highway.

Again, many aftermarket trunk lights out there for $50+… how about getting a “book light” at Office Max and fixing it to your trunk.  If it is good enough to read by it is good enough to find something in the trunk.  Battery operated.

This is my completed GW1800 ABS!