There is something very satisfying about having the right motorcycle available for the job in hand. While the modern adventure bike might be a brilliant jack-of-all-trades, fulfilling many different roles, there is really nothing like a full-house, super-comfortable touring motorcycle for tackling a long-haul trip.
Dedicated touring bikes not only have all the bells and whistles but offer a riding experience out of all proportion to its size: it’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that they can actually be fun to ride anywhere, not just a straight-as-a-die highway. Here, we compare two of the most popular heavyweights: the Harley-Davidson Road Glide Limited and the Honda Gold Wing.
10 Road Glide Limited And Gold Wing Model Overview
Honda Gold Wing: The Honda Gold Wing first appeared in 1974 as their flagship sports motorcycle. It quickly developed into the fully faired touring model we know today. It combined comfort with a decent dose of handling and performance. Fast-forward to 2023 and the Gold Wing is bigger and heavier than ever, but also more competent in every department. Smooth, prodigious power, excellent dynamics, supreme comfort and Honda build-quality make for an extremely tempting package.
Harley-Davidson Road Glide Limited: Depending on which model you take your cue from, Harley-Davidson has been making large touring motorcycles since the late 1940s, getting ever heavier and better equipped as the years pass. The Road Glide Limited is a large touring bike in the traditional Harley-Davidson mold, with a big V-Twin engine, excellent weather protection, a lot of weight and plenty of style. Quality is right up there with the best, and for some, there is just no substitute for the traditional American touring bike.
9 Big Powerful Engines
The flat-six, 1,833cc engine in the Gold Wing pushes out 125 horsepower and a whopping 125 pound feet of torque in silky smoothness. The top speed of the Gold Wing is an impressive 140 mph.
The Harley Road Glide Limited gets the 1,688cc version of the Milwaukee Eight V-Twin, as traditional as you like but also brilliantly updated. It can’t hold a candle to the Honda for power - 78 horsepower sounds a little underwhelming next to the Honda - but torque is only marginally less at 110 pound feet. Top speed is ‘only’ 105 mph, but in the real world the two bike perform pretty equally. The Honda revs more freely, the Harley is a low-down lugger.
8 Two Heavyweight Cruisers
Touring bikes are not lightweight motorcycles. Let’s just be clear about that from the beginning. Harley-Davidsons have never been known for using lightweight aluminum to save weight and the Road Glide Limited is no different. However, having said that, the Honda Gold Wing is actually 28 pounds heavier than the Harley, which frankly surprises us. Despite the 13-pound weight reduction, the flat six engine in the Honda is still a big lump, but the benefit of this layout is that the Honda has a very low center of gravity. This actually gives the Gold Wing the upper hand in terms of handling dynamics. It’s just easier to tip into corners and feels a bit more lively than the Harley.
7 Different Approaches To Suspension
While the Harley uses traditional - but also up-to-date Double Bending Valve - telescopic forks, the Honda uses a system called the Hossack, which is actually double wishbones mounted to the headstock, with a single spring/shock unit. This set up controls the front end (which has a lot of weight on it) brilliantly, eliminating dive under braking. The Road Glide Limited’s traditional front forks might seem old-fashioned by comparison but, in reality, they work extremely well containing the weight of the bike and give positive feedback when cornering. Where the Harley wins, however, is in its simplicity. Both in terms of design and adjustment, which are complicated on the Honda, are very simple on the Harley.
6 Exceptionally Comfortable Ergonomics
These are touring bikes, so they need to be all-day-comfortable, with easy going ergonomics. There’s not much to choose between the two bikes, and in any case, the result is always going to be subjective. The Honda looks like it was designed and tested thoroughly in a wind-tunnel while the Harley has a much less complicated appearance, but works just as well, even if it has acres more surface area and therefore looks a lot bigger than the Honda’s fairing. If we had to choose, the Harley’s seat is the more comfortable of the two, being better shaped, but the rider triangle is very accommodating on both bikes.
5 Modern Electronics
You’d expect the Honda to walk all over the Harley-Davidson in this department, but actually, it’s a lot closer than you might think. Both are available with an internal measurement unit (or IMU) which allows for cornering ABS and traction control. Linked brakes, cruise control (obviously), hill-hold control are available on both, although only the Gold Wing has a reverse gear, which the Harley doesn’t have. The Gold Wing is available with an easy-to-operate Dual Clutch Transmission and four riding modes, while the Harley makes do with a conventional transmission and two ride modes.
4 Impressive Luggage Capacity
It’s nip and tuck in terms of storage capacity for both bikes. The Road Glide Limited has a total of 133 liters of storage space in the panniers and top box, while the Honda has 121 liters. Harley doesn’t break that down into individual capacities, but Honda does, the top box gives you 61 liters and the panniers 30 liters each. The top box of the Honda is larger than the Harley’s, easily taking two full-face helmets with space to spare, but the Harley has larger panniers. Nothing to choose from here.
3 Honda Has The Better Cockpit
The Honda Gold Wing continues to feel more modern with its cockpit treatment, which is a much more integrated design comprising analogue and digital elements and incorporating a large screen in the center. Everything is clear, but does take a little time to get used to. The Harley, by comparison, has the traditional four round analogue gauges mounted high in the fairing. They are easy to read at a glance without lowering your eyes too far from the road, and a large touchscreen for navigation, phone connectivity and stereo.
2 Traditional Harley vs Modern Honda
Despite taking completely different routes to get to the same point, the Harley-Davidson Road Glide Limited and the Honda Gold Wing are surprisingly similar in terms of ability. The Honda has the stronger engine, better gearbox, electronics, handling dynamics and electronic features, but not by much. The Harley can just about match the Gold Wing point for point, and in the suspension department, beats the Honda in terms of simplicity of adjustment. The Honda has a cleaner, more modern appearance and also looks a lot more compact, even if it is actually just as spacious when sitting on the bike.
1 Expensive Luxury Tourers
The Harley-Davidson Road Glide Limited costs between $29,399 and $33,194, depending on the paint finish you opt for. The Honda Gold Wing DCT retails for $29,600, so there really is nothing between them in terms of price (as long as you opt for the cheapest Harley Road Glide Limited color option), although the Honda gets slightly more equipment than the base model Harley.