I have been around Gold Wings a lot from when I was like a second son to my best friend's family that owned a outdoor equipment, Arctic Cat and Suzuki dealership. Some friends of the mother of the family she rode with every Sunday and snowmobiled with rode Gold Wings and where usually found at the shop power washing, waxing the bikes and adding the various many chromed accessories that Gold Wing riders always seem to adorn their rides with... They seemed to wax the bike like every week... No BS... I was sure they would wax the paint off to the primer and metal or plastic but somehow never did even though they where obccessed with the water beading off and the deep shine from the many wax applications they seemed to love buffing off.... It was like a cult of Gold Wing riders... Seriously... So anyway I rode 2 stroke enduro race bikes or 2 stroke MX race bike rides and then bought my first street that I could afford at the time a sweet Suzuki GS400E with 15K km on it like new and in really eye catching candy apple red with orange and blue pin striping that would usually make zero sense but Suzuki pulled off the colors and it was very cool to look at in the sun with a newly designed engine layout that replaced the previous 400 engine that existed for several years before with a extra 3rd crank bearing and bolting mount assembly in the center of the 2 crank rod journals that made the engine able to take way too much abuse and was maybe the toughest most abusable street bike engine I ever owned other than maybe the Kawasaki GPZ550 I rode very hard at pretty much redline most rides unless right in the city for 2 years and that the engine was nicknamed by motorcycle reviewers and riders alike as, The Hammer." Because it was so simple, simply blew oil out the crank breather hose when ridden all day at redline and never complained at all. Anyway... I asked one of the Gold Wing bikers that I was familiar with and talked to fairly often to take me out for a ride so I could see what all the fuss was about Gold Wing bikes... He had zero interest in that and was totally into the one task at hand of rubbing off wax from his Gold Wing and his Arctic Cat snowmobile that he always waxed near as often as the Gold Wing whether it was summer or winter. He I am sure went through a bottle of designer brand paint wax every week. I am sure of that. So I never have been on a Gold Wing and all the legends about the smooth ride are just urban rumors to me now. But I have been on a very large, totally configured for major long distance travel Harley Davidson. I was tired while hitchhiking out of a city I worked at but lived ~8 miles from in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of British Columbia. So I said screw it ima gonna walk down the road out of the city till I get a ride and get some exercise even if that means I must walk from intersection lighting then in total darkness till each illuminated intersection and eventually get a ride home. No ride was occurring and I was in a tricky section with narrow 2 lane road, tight banked corners that everybody treated like a race course because they where fun to sport drive through and a bit concerned that because of that and the lack of lighting over the road for maybe another 1/8 mile that nobody would stop because it was a high risk area to stop at. vehicles where zooming past me leaving inches between me and them because the shoulder of the road was very very small with a chain link fence at the edge of the shoulder and it was getting dangerous and I heard the slow chugging of a Harley approaching me from a seemingly far distance. I was just out of the corner and this huge Harley come up and stops right beside me, idled so smoothly and the older rider very efficiently shoved out the kickstand, got huge leather gloves and a helmet from a huge saddle bag and nicely but firmly told me to as quickly as is possible to get them on and hop on before we had a traffic accident. I had lotsa motorcycles by then, had been around hundreds of varying models and lost of makes but not Harleys because they don't really come to Suzuki dealerships. So I was majorly impressed at this guys organizational skills the way he handled me at about age 17 and that he made time for me and was so cool and generous to have stopped for me to get home. So I was fast fast, got on the bike and as fast as my ass was on the seat we where accelerating and up to speed. The gloves where a godsend because the air was cold and the bike was as smooth as could be I figured. It was like vibration free and made a really easy going smooth slow engine noise that was totally against everything I had before and experienced from any ride I owned or rode to that date. So anyway he was obviously a long term experience expert rider and it was for sure the smoothest safest ride I have ever being doubled up on. I was a bit smitten with the bike when he dropped me off at home, was really wondering what that kinda machine cost etc. Was a great night for sure...LoL. So I had a good opinion of Harley riders after that experience. It was about 10 years later I was saved from what would surely result in me being rear ended by another motor vehicle when I bought the Kawasaki GPZ 550 with 10K km on it in the City of Victoria and took the 1.5 hour car ferry ride ferry back to Vancouver and needed to ride into the city for about 15 miles and never knew the rear lighting was intermittent and that I checked it's operation before riding it was a not a properly operating lighting circuit as it went ON and OFF due to the foot brake lever contact switch needing contact cleaner because the bike had not been ridden in 2 years. I remember a car engine being very loud and suddenly the headlights behind me where very bright and then a dodge passenger car was honking it's horn and passed me at a fast speed. For some reason I decided to get off the freeway and take the old curvy windy cool road along the Fraser River that had like a 40 MPH speed limit and cars where honking at me and seemed too close behind me. So anyway this flashing of a headlight was behind me, and then a Gold Wing came up beside me and the rider was trying to guide me off the road and was shouting and saying something about I was nearly killed multiple times by cars. So I realized he meant good and I pulled over and he explained that he had seen me and followed me for a fair distance and saw my tail light go off way back and that multiple cars apparently could not see me in the night properly and nearly killed me by rear ending me at speed. He was very freaked out and said it was amazingly close to death for me for sure. So he opened his saddle bag and whips out tools and a can of contact cleaner and serviced my bike right there at the side of the road. I was so humbled and thankful and he would not accept any gratuity from me and said he was so happy to have been of use and to make my day that he loved that and that was his payment. Then he confirmed all worked well, asked if I wanted him to ride with me to make sure I got home safe and sound and was hesitant to ride off and leave me there to make my way alone. So my opinion of Gold Wing riders went sky high that night... Lol.That's not a motorcycle, its a 2 wheeled elephant
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- Thread starter W2S
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I have already got mine, bought new in 1997 and kept for summers ever sinceI'd requalify that a bit and add V6 or V8 to those 'sports coupe' qualifications, with a <$60k price tag.
Pickin's have become slim:
Camaros and Challengers are no longer and Mazda Miata does not count!
Even the Chevy Corvette has moved upclass, requiring its engine to be moved to the back-end for traction.
The Ford Mustang is about the only remaining such car for sale, in the US.
You can crash a Mustang on a track one weekend, and be able afford to NOT doing it again, the next weekend!
Adrian was one the journalists knew but he got bored with it. Lots of "backroom boys" from the Brawn team that became Mercedes F1 but they also got busy hiring F1 specialists and it is interesting because the rules are less restrictive than F1 and now the so called "budget cap" exists in F1 unless you are a driver or one of the 3 highest paid people - who are making a real killing in the rich teams - salaries are not what they were in F1.
Count Arthur
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Goldwings. I think they're very impressive, but there is a part of me that thinks, if you need that much luggage space and want comfort, buy a car.
Massive job Kudos.
Frank, I know it’s still early, but do you think anything sensible can be said yet about who might have the edge with the 2026 F1 rules? Mercedes is often mentioned for their PU expertise, but McLaren with the same engine and impressive technical momentum — might be in a stronger position. On the other hand, Adrian Newey is now working at Aston Martin, which will have exclusive Honda power units Newey also know well. How do you see these different elements possibly playing out in 2026?
Back in the late 70s, early 80s Honda and others were dumping their big bikes in the US in an effort to kill H-D and they had warehouses full of 2 and 3 year old unsold bikes. I was almost tempted to buy the basic Wing they make back then. I forget the prices but they could be bought so cheap it was ridiculous, an incredible amount of bike for the money. I was able to go into a dealer and take one for a ride, something mostly unheard of back then but the dealers were doing almost anything to sell one. Anywho I just couldn't pull the plug, it sat waaay to high & heavy, and flopped over into the curves, BLAH. Sometime after that President Reagan laid some big tariffs on Japanese big bike importing and the days of dumping bikes ended. Sounds kind of familiar huh? LOL
It is always difficult to judge but probably Adrian is the only engineer left in F1 old enough to have "seen it all" from the pov of car priorities and racing.
Mercedes, ie really the Ilmor company in Brixworth that they bought, have generally produced state of the art engines for their clients and certainly produced the best hybrid at the beginning but the guy who was in charge of that is now team principle at Aston Martin.
Honda have IME under performed in the first couple of seasons after they entered but maybe not this time because of continuity. Ferrari are also super experts in the IC engine, less sure about the hybrid side so the new engine rule does not play to their strengths.
Chassis wise big compromises will need to be made to compensate for the loss of the MGU-H at the same time as an increase of hybrid percentage. It will be very much a engine simulation formula to work out which part of the lap to use electric power and when to recharge which will depend on conditions.
The chassis rules are a big change and so far the drivers crash the simulator all the time I am told.
true..... around here especially if they are driving a BMW or a Civic. Sorry had to say it.We do from stop lights.
Yes there’s growing concern that the 2026 rules, especially the new Manual Override Mode system (replacing DRS), could lead to more lift-and coast driving hurting the racing. Nobody wants to see cars crawling through Eau Rouge at half-speed. Not waiting for a power strategy game.
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The thing is the bulk of the recharging came from the MGU-H which, instead of using a wastegate, used the turbo to drive a generator when the engine got to full boost. That meant it happened for several seconds on every straight and a lot of the time at full throttle. Now it is just engine and brake regen so sometimes the engine may be screaming away mainly charging the battery rather than mainly driving the car forward.Yes there’s growing concern that the 2026 rules, especially the new Manual Override Mode system (replacing DRS), could lead to more lift-and coast driving hurting the racing. Nobody wants to see cars crawling through Eau Rouge at half-speed. Not waiting for a power strategy game.
Ironically the objection over the MGU-H came from Renault and Porsche, who is the only maker who uses such a device on a road car, the latest 911 GTS, and neither are now going to make a 2026 spec engine
Ken1951
Major Contributor
I've loved F1 racing from when I could only see the occasional well-delayed partial broadcast or read about it in Road & Track magazines borrowed from my local library. I know that even though incredibly beautiful the older cars were incredibly dangerous. The new cars, while much safer, have the footprint of a Ford F-150 Pickup. Which when combined with the horrid hybrid nonsense makes it near impossible to pass on most any track raced at by F1. My dream would be for cars with a smaller footprint, less aero, no DRS, and the abolishment of any and all hybrid. Straight IC baby! Turbo or not, I have no preference. But I'd like to see what I consider actual racing. Keep it safe as possible but make it enjoyable to watch. I know, I know - the above is all just a fever dream...The thing is the bulk of the recharging came from the MGU-H which, instead of using a wastegate, used the turbo to drive a generator when the engine got to full boost. That meant it happened for several seconds on every straight and a lot of the time at full throttle. Now it is just engine and brake regen so sometimes the engine may be screaming away mainly charging the battery rather than mainly driving the car forward.
Ironically the objection over the MGU-H came from Renault and Porsche, who is the only maker who uses such a device on a road car, the latest 911 GTS, and neither are now going to make a 2026 spec engine
They are big but not that big
There has never been a lot of overtaking in F1 actually and the big overtaking opportunities back in the day were down to the difficulties in changing gear without damaging the gearbox and the extreme non linearity of the throttle response making it easy to spin up the wheels, either a slow shift of sideways moment due to too much throttle were when overtakes happened. The tyres had far less grip too so braking distances were much longer giving far better overtaking opportunities.
Nowadays the fly by wire throttle makes controlling the power very linear and predictable and the semi-auto box is computer controlled so my mother would be able to change gear perfectly without damage.
Journalists have been going on as if aero is the whole problem for decades but it isn't the biggest one, analysis shows too grippy tyres to be the biggest problem for 2 separate reasons and easy throttle and gearshift make mistakes rare.
The hybrid is actually a very good power unit in terms of power and response but it doesn't sound as exciting as the engines we used in my era.
Ken1951
Major Contributor
With a max width of 2 meters, which compares to the width of a basic Ford F-150 PU of about 2.03 meters!
I loved the sound of the F1 cars from the great @Frank Dernie era!
2026 F1 rules changes are like DejaVu all over again, in the 'preeminent sporting spectacle' it is touted to be.
The purchase of F1 by some media mogul -w/dark RayBans on- is the more worrisome issue.
Sooner or later the ardent fans of F1 will suffer, as we can see the writing on the wall that someone, sometime is going ask for ROI on a $5Billion purchase... especially when that purchasing corporation is named "Liberty Media".
I am afraid of the future of F1, as if the hyper-commercialization of every inch of an F1 car (and track) was not enough.
The purchase of F1 by some media mogul -w/dark RayBans on- is the more worrisome issue.
Sooner or later the ardent fans of F1 will suffer, as we can see the writing on the wall that someone, sometime is going ask for ROI on a $5Billion purchase... especially when that purchasing corporation is named "Liberty Media".
I am afraid of the future of F1, as if the hyper-commercialization of every inch of an F1 car (and track) was not enough.
Jimi Floyd
Senior Member
I am a F1 Ferrari fan since the early 70s. Nowadays F1 is such a different animal that I ought to watch the races, but I really cannot feel the race excitement anymore.2026 F1 rules changes are like DejaVu all over again, in the 'preeminent sporting spectacle' it is touted to be.
The purchase of F1 by some media mogul -w/dark RayBans on- is the more worrisome issue.
Sooner or later the ardent fans of F1 will suffer, as we can see the writing on the wall that someone, sometime is going ask for ROI on a $5Billion purchase... especially when that purchasing corporation is named "Liberty Media".
I am afraid of the future of F1, as if the hyper-commercialization of every inch of an F1 car (and track) was not enough.
Jimi Floyd
Senior Member
Beautiful!Back in the late 70s, early 80s Honda and others were dumping their big bikes in the US in an effort to kill H-D and they had warehouses full of 2 and 3 year old unsold bikes. I was almost tempted to buy the basic Wing they make back then. I forget the prices but they could be bought so cheap it was ridiculous, an incredible amount of bike for the money. I was able to go into a dealer and take one for a ride, something mostly unheard of back then but the dealers were doing almost anything to sell one. Anywho I just couldn't pull the plug, it sat waaay to high & heavy, and flopped over into the curves, BLAH. Sometime after that President Reagan laid some big tariffs on Japanese big bike importing and the days of dumping bikes ended. Sounds kind of familiar huh? LOL
Ken1951
Major Contributor
Over here, if F1 sells the TV rights to Apple TV+ they'll lose me and many people I know. I watch it and often DVR races, qualifying and practices to watch when I can fit it in. And that's on ESPN and using a DISH Hopper. No way I'm paying the Apple TV+ every month for the whole season as I occasionally will buy in for a month if there's somethings I want to watch. But almost the entire year?? No thanks.2026 F1 rules changes are like DejaVu all over again, in the 'preeminent sporting spectacle' it is touted to be.
The purchase of F1 by some media mogul -w/dark RayBans on- is the more worrisome issue.
Sooner or later the ardent fans of F1 will suffer, as we can see the writing on the wall that someone, sometime is going ask for ROI on a $5Billion purchase... especially when that purchasing corporation is named "Liberty Media".
I am afraid of the future of F1, as if the hyper-commercialization of every inch of an F1 car (and track) was not enough.
Nailed it!
We've seen this movie play-out before.
America's Cup and The Dakar races both went "dark" behind paywalls and behind reach.
I am also guessing the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will be banned soon... ummmm... wellll..., because 'them old gassers spew-out so much smog into our beautiful coastline and air!'...
Never mind the over-tech approach that has made F1 procedural and downright boring. Now it is the prima donna drivers blasting their teams in public and trashing their employers. There is not a single F1 driver I much respect. Same with MotoGP, just stfu and gather data and help improve stuff. If I was your supporting team staff and you keep denigrating my effort in public... I'd do zero overtime to help your privileged, spoiled rich ass. Which is very replaceable these days.
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