Off-roading a Goldwing.....

[W109driver]

Took the GL out for some gentle greenlaning yesterday.
Was absolutely hilarious.
Anyone else had a go? .......

[LAB3]

Don't have any pictures to prove it but yeah, I've done plenty of that kind of thing since I typically camp as many months out the year as I spend living indoors. Most people scoff at the idea of going off the pavement but with some reasonable caution it's quit doable and relatively safe. A well packed two track that isn't wet is quite easy to navigate, put a thin layer of mud on top, some loose gravel, wet grass or sand more than a couple of inches deep changes that rule drastically. Same idea as any other bike, road tires are made for just that.

[WingAdmin]

I don't normally seek out unpaved roads, but I won't avoid them if I come across them...



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That said, most of the many miles of rural roads surrounding the small town where I grew up were either dirt or tar & gravel. So I've been riding on those surfaces since I was a teenager, including on sport bikes! Just keep your speed up and gravel and dirt is no problem.

[autonoob]

I don't normally seek out unpaved roads, but I won't avoid them if I come across them...



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That said, most of the many miles of rural roads surrounding the small town where I grew up were either dirt or tar & gravel. So I've been riding on those surfaces since I was a teenager, including on sport bikes! Just keep your speed up and gravel and dirt is no problem.

It seems like you guys had fun, I like how careful you are on unpaved roads.

[WingAdmin]

I don't normally seek out unpaved roads, but I won't avoid them if I come across them...



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That said, most of the many miles of rural roads surrounding the small town where I grew up were either dirt or tar & gravel. So I've been riding on those surfaces since I was a teenager, including on sport bikes! Just keep your speed up and gravel and dirt is no problem.

It seems like you guys had fun, I like how careful you are on unpaved roads.

It's hard to tell from that video, but that road was VERY steep, with a sheer drop on one side. Because it was so steep, and it was dirt, water had eroded some very deep ruts in it, so I had to be careful where I was riding to avoid dropping into a rut and dumping the bike. So yeah, I was going quite a bit slower than I normally would on a regular dirt road.

[Dirtrack650]

Does a 200 yard gravel driveway count?
There's plenty of YouTube videos of people doing very crazy things in the dirt on gold wings, check them out.

[77Goldwing]

My short story: back in the mid 80s I used to "sand drag" my 82 Jeep CJ7. Some afternoons I would bring the 4-wheeler home, grab the Goldwing, and return to the drag site to meet friends. Many nights, sometimes after a couple beers, I would ride the track using the bike. The rear wheel would whip back and forth as it sought traction, but I was always able to make the 100 yard run in a very slow time.

[paulrmedina]

Grandparents used to own some land down some gravel roads - it's where i learned to drive a car, how to back up with a trailer, how to operate a clutch, do all manner of repairs w/ Grandpa - I like to check on the property to see how its held up since the family sold it a number of years ago. I've also ridden around on same gravel roads that sometimes have to traverse a creek-wash type of thing - for the most part, the 1800 handles itself surprisingly well for its size. As always, the issue is weight/inertia management under a certain speed. And reading the lay of the road if you're going to stop, where your feet will go. This always exposes that my clutch/throttle work could always be improved.
I've ridden through some grass fields too, but for the most part - it's simply too heavy to do anything truly "fun." It's more fun in the sense of driving a cadillac down a muddy lane is fun, because it doesn't belong. If I removed all the bags and fairings, and if the idiot at the controls would lose another 50 lbs, could be something fun indeed... but ultimately i'd rather just get myself some sort of 250 cc fun bike to go ripping through trails. Never had one, they seem fun.

[Brendan65]

I don't mind gravel ... don't like mud !
Forest service roads are great - except for that logging truck that appears suddenly, taking up the whole road ..
I worry about losing the front end on steep downhill switchbacks - but I've been lucky so far.

Lone Butte 8.jpg

[W109driver]

I worry about losing the front end on steep downhill switchbacks - but I've been lucky so far.

Lone Butte 8.jpg

That is a big lump off tarmac.

I often wonder what mine would look and handle like with alittle more aggressive tyres. Scrambler type, but previous owner put brand new wheels and tyres on just before I got it, can't bear idea of binning them just yet...... ..

[W109driver]

[Sassy]

I've taken a shortcut a couple times on a gravel backroad to get an idea how this relatively new to me bike does in the gravel.
I have a Blackwing brace coming for next season hoping it gives me more confidence to go off pavement cause thete are lots a unpaved roads around here and new to me pavement is more than a day away.

[Rambozo]

[W109driver]

You'll have to tell me what we are looking at here. A 1500 GW engine, but what about the rest?

[joecoolsuncle]

honda-xr1500-r-cross-maa-vaere-en-potent-sag-cross-img-4040_0_1365459263.jpeg

will it wheelie??