You have no idea how scared i am sat here typing on my keyboard knowing Nigel will see my grammer/spelling/subject mistakes, he will be pulling his hair out shouting over to Jo on her computer to show her what i have done, but YOU lot voted me in so its all your fault and i will deal with you as i see fit!! (except Nigel as he cannot be sued in any form)
So subject of my first report is the new 1800.
Front end of 1800
Q and I went to the NEC bike show and i took some pictures of it but could not sit on it as Honda had put it behind a barrier on a stand,staff were very helpful and i asked them to send me a brochure to study for any mechanical changes.With Dave Turvey being the first in our club to order one i thought i should get to know it as much as i can for when he comes asking me to fix it.
It has new headlights and at first you don’t they have been changed but then you realise that the chrome finish inside has been reduced so if you are thinking of lighting them up with LED’s it wont have the same effect Dave.
The panel above the headlights also has also been changed and you can see a new two slot arrangment so new chrome will have to be made to fit that, i bet it has already been designed in America.
Side view of fairing
When you move around to the side of the bike you can see it is all new with a two tone colour scheme going on with the new panels and a totally new shape for the radiator area, again more new chrome to be designed.
Some of you who are not anoraks like me will not realise that Honda have gone for an old style Honda logo as well which i think looks ace.
The lower parts of the fairing have been redesigned as well and will have to have different shape fog lights changing from round to oblong.
In this white colour under the NEC showlights the two colours were not easily noticed from a distance but stand out well on the Blue or Red.
And now to that controversial rear end
New rear end
This has caused the most chatter on Goldwing forums all over and i must admit i can’t see how they thought from the rear it looked OK? The lights just do not seem to match at all and look like they have been borrowed from BMW.
From a side view the panniers flow nice with the new fairing but it will be interesting to see how the aftermarket people decide to make lights for it.The panniers are bigger inside as there is no light bulge into the pannier so you can put even more stuff in there you don’t need.
That rear panel black trim will look good in chrome and i am sure you can sneak some lights into it.
Dave Turvey has about 850 LED’s left over from his last project so i am sure he will get busy making changes to it, don’t forget to post pictures Dave.
Well thats it for my first post, you have no idea how many times it took for me to put the pictures on here and i am still not sure i have done it right but i am sure i will be advised accordingly.For those of you in the club who don’t know me that well be careful what you tell me as it may end up as a blog subject and some naughty peple have accused me in the past of not telling the truth and changing the facts to make a good story.
In my line of work as a sweet taster for a very large chocolate company i have to always tell the truth 
Well done, Ed – as expected, you have exceeded my expectations yet again! Is there no end to your talents?
Comment by Nigel Mackintosh — December 1, 2011 @ 8:35 am
Nice one Ed.
Janet wants a chat with you about putting ideas in my head. Wear padding inside your shirt, you may have heard about her ‘chats’ before.
I have to think that the rear lights look better in the ‘flesh’ rather than in a photo but they are certainly controversial to say the least.
Colour-wise I preferred the white one to the other colour that was available to view elsewhere in the show, though I would like to see a red one directly.
I know unfortunately that it is all pipe-dreams for me to think about a new Wing.
Dave T
Comment by DaveT — December 1, 2011 @ 5:16 pm
Who would think i could be capable of putting idea’s in your head, i am sure Jan will be thrilled to bits when it arrives!
Comment by Ed — December 1, 2011 @ 11:56 pm
Well done ed. Crackin first report. lookin forward to reading more of them. Refuring (i think thats how you spell it) to honda’s rear end i would of thought that they would have made the top box lights transparent like the ones on the panniers. I cannot understand why they didn’t design there own instead of copying bmw’s ?. No doubt there will be an upgrade coming out soon for them. PS ive just gone back and checked all my spelling and grammer lol
Keep up the good work. jim & chandra
Comment by jim nightingale & chandra — December 2, 2011 @ 8:12 am
Loving the white model, but what about the Can-Am Spyder RT, that would look fantastic all lit up, now who would ride one of them? any suggestions.
Comment by Stevie C-D — December 11, 2011 @ 1:44 pm