Have You Trailered a 2018 Goldwing?

[Ray&Paula]

Just wondering if anyone here has trailered the new 2018 Goldwing yet? If so, could you share your method on how and where you tied it down. Pictures would also be great. I know I would sincerely appreciate it along with many here. Thanks, Ray

[AZgl1800]

The pictures of it coming out of a Honda Shipping crate could give you some ideas.

The straps they used, and where they placed them, did not make me feel comfortable though....
but, the motions a shipping crate receives is no where as bad as a trailer pulled by a car/truck.

That front triple tree is sure a lot different.

[Ray&Paula]

Thanks for the help ........ I have seen a few of those video's such as the one below of the shipping crate. I see that there are tie downs on the crash bars on the front. With that being said, the body work underneath it was not installed making it very accessible. Once the bike is completely assembled, the covers over the crash bars would need to be removed. That in itself probably won't be a big deal but, will the tie downs rub the painted section below them once in place? It appears that there is wood under the center and the wheels are between a track. The main center section is strapped around the top of the frame where the seat will be installed. I'm sure we'll get some more feedback once someone goes through the process. Thanks again, Ray


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[Alan_Hepburn]

I just talked to a Honda guy - I had sent this question in to their "Contact Us" area of their website and they respondd with a phone call. Honda's official procedure is stated in the Owner's Manual, on page 219, and states that tiedowns are to be used. There is no mention of where those tiedowns are to be placed, and they suggested I call a local dealer for further information. So, there it is - Honda says tie it down, but no idea how to tie it down!

[Ray&Paula]

Well there you go........ Thank You Honda for the GREAT advice. In other words, figure it out yourself. It looks like this remains to be an ongoing question.

[WingAdmin]

My outlook is this: tie the bike down as best you can, in a way that will not cause any damage.

The bike needs to be on its wheels, upright, NOT on its center stand or side stand - the suspension needs to be able to absorb bumps. I would start by fastening it down with four straps - two up front and two at the rear-ish. You need them to be forming triangles - both from top to bottom, and from front to rear. Sorry for my horrible drawing:

Tiedown points

In the top picture, looking at the bike from the front, the tiedowns are angled such that they are fastened to the floor a couple feet out from the bike, and fastened to the bike near the top of it, to a secure point on the frame. This keeps the bike from leaning either way.

The bottom picture, looking down at the bike from above, the tiedows are shown angled fore and aft - this keeps the bike from rolling either direction.

All the tiedowns are cinched down to partially compress the suspension - but not too much! You want it to be able to absorb bumps, but you don't want the bike bouncing up in the air.

Lastly, if possible, I would tie a pair of tiedowns from the middle of the bike, near the top, out to the sides of the trailer. That prevents the bike from leaning at all if the four main tiedowns go slack momentarily because the suspension is compressing from absorbing a bump.

Make sure the tiedowns are not going to rub on any bodywork or anything delicate, and secure any loose tiedown ends so they don't flap in the wind and damage paint or anything else.

[AZgl1800]

I never tie the frame down at all.

I use the double loops over the triple tree, pulled down hard forwards so it is compressed into the wheel chock. On an open trailer that I have, the "chock" is just two vertical pieces of Angle Iron and I use a short strap to go around the wheel twice pulling it into those vertical angle irons.

With the wheel snugged tight into those verticals, no way can the bike move forwards or backwards.

The rear wheel has a single strap that is wrapped around it and is secured tightly to either side of the trailer frame. Never once, in 45 years plus of towing have any of the bikes come loose.

I use straps that have a breaking strength of about 1,000 lbs.. none of those cheapy things for me and all of them have ratchets to snug things down. None of the press and snug cheapo friction locks.

[Outback]

I am curious, why would one wish to trailer a bike unless it had been crashed or had a mechanical issue of some sort? A motorcycle must be ridden from home, ridden around your destination/s and then ridden home. With the exception of breakdown or physical incapacity of course. I have no wish to be offensive but I am genuinely puzzled.

[Ray&Paula]

We totally agree........ We have rode our Goldwings from home across the country several times throughout the years, west, east and south. As for a couple reasons for trailering;
1) The 2018 Goldwing is quite different. Knowing good tie down points would be nice to know if needed.
2) Upon purchasing out of state. (Which I'm about to do).
3) To a destination (out of state). One example; My wife and I have made several western trips from Michigan. Crossing the flatlands can be miserably windy at times. Since I've done this before, we wouldn't mind trailering to Colorado. From that point I would ride through Colorado & Utah. Keep in mind, we have rode out west several other times therefore, we know what parts of the country we really want to spend our time and tour.
With that being said, we have never trailered a bike with the exception of picking up a new one. We have always left from home packing all of our gear in which we always preferred and still do but, we certainly would be open to the example above.

[WingAdmin]

Purchasing out of state: When I purchased my GL1500 out of state, I just flew one-way there, and rode back home!

But I agree, pretty much the only time my bike would be trailered is if it was disabled in some way.

I know some people have trailered their bikes when they were moving, and couldn't ride because they were driving the U-Haul or whatever.

[Ray&Paula]

Fly and Ride is a great option....... just depends on distance. My dealer is close to 600 miles each way. Easier for me to just trailer and make it a two to three day venture.

[AZgl1800]

I am curious, why would one wish to trailer a bike unless it had been crashed or had a mechanical issue of some sort? A motorcycle must be ridden from home, ridden around your destination/s and then ridden home. With the exception of breakdown or physical incapacity of course. I have no wish to be offensive but I am genuinely puzzled.

Health Reasons, pure and simple.
I am 75 now, and 10 years ago, an 18 wheeler tried to wipe me out.... damn near succeeded.
I have a lot of left over issues from that incident, the body's thermostat is broken. Hypothalmus gland was crushed. google that one.

when the ambient temp exceeds 85* I need to find an air conditioner "NOW!"
I can ride in hotter temps if I wear my Phase Change cooling vest... you dunk them in ice water at every gas stop, and that gives me 90 to 120 minutes of relief.

Long distance runs of 1200-1500 miles across the hot deserts and flat plains aren't fun for me any more.... why punish myself for 3 days running in 100*+ heat just to get to where the other guys will be so we can "all go for a tour".... I won't be touring, I will be crashed out in the hotel room trying to recover from 3 days of heat exhaustion.

No more, never again: we now have a Toy Hauler and the bike rides inside the garage. I ride in Air Conditioned comfort inside the truck.... when I arrive at the rallys, I am cool, refreshed, and can go enjoy the rides with everyone else.... if it happens to be warm at the rally site... I will wear my Phase Change Cooling Vest and the bike will have a receiver hitch rack to hold the ice chest.

So, to answer your question, until you ride in another man's shoes, do NOT ever question him as to why he had to trailer his bike to a rally.... he did it because he has to.

[maintchief]

Yes I have haul the new wing. There are two tie down holes in the frame just below the seat

[WingAdmin]

Look at that nice weld. All the frame welds on the new 2018 Goldwing are done by robots, I guess Honda learned their lesson with the cracked welds on the original GL1800.

[Ray&Paula]

Yes I have haul the new wing. There are two tie down holes in the frame just below the seat20180219_174306.jpg

Wow!! That's great to know. Why in the world didn't Honda point this out in their manual? Plenty of room for a nice pic following their trailering statement on page 219. Please let us know how it went with these tie down points. If you could give us a few pics, that would be beyond awesome. Thanks.... Ray

[maintchief]

I didn't ta k e any pictures on the trailer. I have a wheel chauk up front and strap through front tire secured forward and one on rear tire going aft for restraint.

[Ray&Paula]

I didn't ta k e any pictures on the trailer. I have a wheel chauk up front and strap through front tire secured forward and one on rear tire going aft for restraint.

Thanks for the feedback .........

[WingAdmin]

I didn't ta k e any pictures on the trailer. I have a wheel chauk up front and strap through front tire secured forward and one on rear tire going aft for restraint.

Normally strapping a bike down to a trailer in this way is a really good way to destroy the forks...but in this case, with the front suspension on the new Goldwing, it probably could take it quite easily.

[maintchief]

Tie down points

[KnoxSwift]

Hello all, I just came from a demo ride. The tie downs are behind some plastic pieces. In the front when plastic piece is removed there is the metal framing for the tip over. The back the exhaust tip cover bump comes off to expose a loop one point and a plastic cap comes off to expose a tie down which appear to be a frame point.

[Viking]

I am curious, why would one wish to trailer a bike unless it had been crashed or had a mechanical issue of some sort? A motorcycle must be ridden from home, ridden around your destination/s and then ridden home. With the exception of breakdown or physical incapacity of course. I have no wish to be offensive but I am genuinely puzzled.

I totally agree, including the part about the physical incapacity. That happens from time to time, and if one wishes to have a bike to ride when one arrives somewhere, sometimes it must be trailered.

[jpwpar]

Yes I am trying a different approach to aged riding. Bought a covered trailer used with a lot of features added. I have a Lock & Load wheel chock for the front and I removed the seat and side covers, looped soft ties over the frame the round frame rail just behind the tank. I secure the front wheel with the strap over the front wheel, and the back on each side with the soft ties. once the soft ties are installed I no longer have to remove the seat just the side covers to tie the bike down. For riding I simply fold the soft ties behind the side covers and install the side covers. works very well. I wish I could find a way to not have to remove the side covers.

[Touristas]

Hi Folks!

As to why a person might need to trailer a 2018 GoldWing: While maybe not strictly trailering, two (three?) scenarios present very similar tiedown challenges: Getting a disabled rig to a shop (tow truck) and prepping for travel on an extended ferry ride or an airplane ride. If you don't have your own tiedown gear with you, it will likely limit your options. Some practice at home before an extended trip will help guide your equipment choices and best tiedown locations that inflict the least damage to your nice rig. The crash bars on our 1500s were very helpful, but I haven't yet had the opportunity to evaluate my options with the GL1800 DCT Tour rig -- but I must.

Some of the entries on this thread would be well-served with relevant photos, especially since some of the terms used are not familiar to me (and quite likely, others as well). Thanks to those of you who included yours. This is a VERY important subject and none of us need to find ourselves at 'showtime' unprepared!

Touristas

[dalpol57]

Honda sells a strap that fits on the handle bars, works great. I went to Phoenix,AZ to get my new goldwing. They loaded the bike in the back of my pickup with a 8 foot bed. It fit just barely with the tailgate up. They used only four of my straps. Two for the front and two for the back. The rear straps hook to the saddlebag guard( remove the black cover and you will see where to hook the strap. The rear straps are positioned to shove the bike towards the cab of the pickup. They centered the new goldwing in the bed of my pickup and it hardly moved for the 700 mile trip home.

[dalpol57]

I forgot to add, the bike was standing the whole trip without the use of sidestand or centerstand.