Motorcycle Investor mag
Subscribe to our free email news
Our bikes: Twin Wings
Yep,
we've gone out of our way to raise the
absurdity level of the shed
(May 2024, Guy 'Guido' Allen)
It might be best to start this by saying
that owning a pair of 1975 Gold Wings was never the
intention. Honestly!
What happened was we had a '75 GL1000 a
year or two ago, got tired of it and sold it for a
surprisingly good amount. Then we realised that was a
horrible mistake, as they are fun to ride and I liked the
idea of having a now classic era motorcycle that had the
legendary Japanese reliability built in.
So we went and bought another, the blue
unit you see above. It needed a little sorting and has
turned out to be a good thing. See the story
here.
Time moves on and, though we weren't in
the market for one, we trip over the best example I've
seen since they were new. It's another 1975 build, out of
the USA, and the story goes it underwent a light
restoration (the paint on the dummy tank is still the
original) and was held for some years by a local
collector.
The 36,000 miles (58,000km) on the
odometer is believed to be correct, backed up by the
incredibly quiet and smooth engine. Apparently it spent
most of its life sitting dormant in a garage in Ohio – a
surprisingly common story for ex-USA bikes.
It was too good to pass up, particularly
given it had an original set of exhausts on board, which
can't be bought any more.
So the logical thing to do is to sell the
blue one, yes? You would think so. However moments after
putting it on the market, muggins came up with a cunning
plan. Next year (2025) marks the 50th anniversary of the
release of the Gold Wing, which has to rate as one of the
most influential touring bikes ever built.
We kind of like the idea of doing a
suitably epic ride on a first model, in part to celebrate
and in part to prove that touring on a half-century-old
machine is perfectly viable. And, hopefully, fun!
To that end we came up with the idea of
shipping one to Cairns and riding it back to Melbourne via
Brisbane – essentially following the Pacific Highway.
Winter next year would be a good time to do it. The
distance is around 3500km (2200 miles).
You may recall we did a similar thing
with a BMW K1200LT a little while back – shipped a BMW
K1200LT to Perth and rode it back to Melbourne via the
Nullabor. See the story
here.
So, a great plan, yes? Up to a point. The
catch is the shiny new red bike is too good to risk on
such a trip – the inevitable wear and tear and grime would
halve its value. So we're keeping that as a Sunday rider
and taking the blue machine on the big run.
See? It all makes perfect sense: we have
an everyday Wing, aka the casual Wing, plus the formal
Wing for special occasions.
Meanwhile a mate has asked me to let him
know "what that dugong is like to ride". The Honda Dugong,
huh? People can be so unkind...
-------------------------------------------------
Produced by AllMoto abn 61 400 694 722
Privacy: we do not collect cookies or any other data.
Archives
Contact