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The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Honda Gets in Touch with its Bad Self and Builds a Gold Wing Bagger

By Paul Crowe

2013 Honda Gold Wing F6B - no frills, just a basic bagger
2013 Honda Gold Wing F6B – no frills, just a basic bagger

It seems the designers at Honda are getting a little jealous of all of those Harley baggers. The Gold Wing is a wonderful touring platform and you see them cruising the interstates all the time, but the black leather and razor stubble crowd isn’t buying it, from their reactions, you would think someone was asking them to wear a dress. It’s obvious a lot of folks think the Gold Wing can be modified and they’ve been doing it for years, but Honda? Well, I guess the pent up frustration overflowed, because for 2013 they’re introducing the Gold Wing F6B, low windshield, no trunk, just a lean, low and bad bagger.

Honda has re-aimed their flagship at a different rider, forget the cross country journey, now it’s “perfect for around-town, shorter trips, or even a weekend getaway,” or maybe just bar hopping. The Gold Wing has gone over to the dark side.

It comes standard in black, the deluxe adds a low back rest, center stand and heated grips.

2013 Honda Gold Wing F6B Deluxe - heated grips, center stand and back rest for those who want a little extra
2013 Honda Gold Wing F6B Deluxe – heated grips, center stand and back rest for those who want a little extra

Look at the Honda website, no happy retired couple pulling a trailer as they ride through Yellowstone on the F6B or successful twosome riding away from their jet, no sir, it’s a guy dressed in a dark leather jacket, a forgotten shave or two with the wind in his face (low windshield, remember?), someone who could just as easily be on a Harley. I wonder if they’ll have to keep it off in a corner of the showroom so the bad crowd won’t scare off their other customers.

Available in Black or Red on both standard and deluxe models. Price: $19,999; Deluxe $20,999.

Link: Honda Gold Wing F6B

Posted on November 12, 2012 Filed Under: Motorcycle Business


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Comments

  1. Linwood Fiala says

    November 12, 2012 at 10:08 am

    This bike reminds me of the Valkyrie Rune.

  2. B50 Jim says

    November 12, 2012 at 10:08 am

    Honda won’t convince many of the Faithful to cross over, but they’ll certainly convince a lot of other riders to take a look. That is one fabulous-looking bagger!

    • rohorn says

      November 12, 2012 at 11:30 am

      A LOT of neo-faithful are tired of getting burnt legs – either these or more convertable cars are next.

  3. Tom Lyons says

    November 12, 2012 at 10:32 am

    I’ll bet it does everything just perfectly, and is real quiet and comfortable.

    • Nicolas says

      November 14, 2012 at 11:32 am

      … plus they haul @ss …

  4. Peter Laird says

    November 12, 2012 at 10:46 am

    Looks kind of cool, but I don’t really see how eliminating the trunk and the larger windshield (two of the best functional features of the Wing, in my opinion) are going to make this a more appealing option… or any more “perfect for around-town, shorter trips, or even a weekend getaway” than the existing Wing.

    It’s fun to see that Honda is not sitting completely still with Wing stuff, but I’d much rather see the revival and continuing development of the Valkyrie line.

    • Mark Gross says

      November 13, 2012 at 12:30 pm

      Exactly. They would have probably spent less in R&D by making a modernized Valkyrie. A Valkyrie with the larger modern Fuel Injected motor and the single sided swing arm of the Rune. Removable saddlebags and options for Batwing style fairing or removable windshield. All that sleek body molding gets in the way of chrome or blacked out accessories and aftermarket exhaust options that had been a big selling point of the previous Valkyrie. What the Honda folks came up with is really neat, but they sort of dropped the ball too… I think a Valkyrie should be brought back to the line up.

    • Rob says

      November 14, 2012 at 8:03 pm

      I have a Harley Street Glide and love this new Honda. Having a trunk (tour pak) to lug around is a pain. Ive ridden with one. Much better to have a luggage rack. They make some great luggage( T-Bag) you can strap on so when you get to destination you can take it off and not have a top heavy trunk to ride around with

  5. Bart says

    November 12, 2012 at 12:18 pm

    I think they will sell every one at/near list, it looks like a winner to me. Add a Ventura pack instead of a hard case and just follow your nose where ever it goes!

  6. bbartcadia says

    November 12, 2012 at 12:59 pm

    Honda does a Street Glide. Hope they sell a ton of them so some of the profit can go to developing other interesting models, too.

  7. Ray says

    November 12, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    They’ve gotten a reaction from me that I never thought would happen…I want a Goldwing. Nice job, Honda.

  8. Tin Man says

    November 12, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    The Honda Road Glide looks like a winner to me!! Nothing like the Honda Fury chopper clone that bombed so badly. Honda has no reason to be ashamed of their heritage and they are now on track showcasing their own engines instead of building V-Twin clones.

  9. marc says

    November 12, 2012 at 2:24 pm

    NO NO wait ! i want that one instead O gezz what is honda trying to get me devorced?!

  10. Tanshanomi says

    November 12, 2012 at 2:35 pm

    Can somebody explain the attraction people have to these low windshields? I mean that seriously; enlighten me. Every bike I’ve ridden with a windshield like that—from a Road Glide and a Vaquero all the way back to Honda’s old Sabre/CB900F/CBX touring fairing—has had horrible turbulence at helmet height. Always gives me a headache in no time.

    I would much rather have a full-size touring fairing and look through the windshield, or have no windshield at all and a clean blast of undisturbed air.

  11. OMMAG says

    November 12, 2012 at 3:31 pm

    Back in the days of the first Goldwings …. on of the first mods we did was to modify a stock seat into a deep pocket stepped saddle. This proved to be popular and it was not long before there were aftermarket products with the same features.
    The “gunfighter” style as I recall was a Corbin brand.

    • OMMAG says

      November 16, 2012 at 7:09 pm

      Still …. coming back to look at this bike …. I’m thinking that a 6 into 6 exhaust setup would be cool.

  12. Mick says

    November 13, 2012 at 4:38 am

    Stop mucking around
    Get a bobber wing going now that would be ultra cool!

  13. Garrick says

    November 13, 2012 at 7:51 am

    A Victory Vision Knock-Off?

  14. Qwerty1 says

    November 13, 2012 at 8:24 am

    Um although it is a cool looking bike, I agree with others that perhaps this shouldn’t be a Gold Wing but should be something else. I would like to see the sales figures for Gold Wings to justify this. While Honda should perhaps be applauded for looking into the future i.e. NC700X, I think it is risky messing with the basic ingredients to what make people buy a particular bike in the first place. Recently Honda did this with the new VFR. Current VFR owners were rubbing their hands thinking they were going to get a 1000 V4 in their nimble chassis with a few other upgrades, but got a big tourer with a smaller fuel tank!! Different ingredients don’t create the same dish.

  15. Domino says

    November 13, 2012 at 2:24 pm

    I will be making a lot of money off my aftermarket “Tall” windshield for the F6B…

    • Steve says

      November 16, 2012 at 12:35 pm

      10-4! My first thought, maybe not tall but tall-er.
      Otherwise like many others I think this is a great bike! Best of both worlds…
      Bad and good!

  16. steve w says

    November 13, 2012 at 7:21 pm

    They can build all of them they want. For the Harley faithful it is about HOG or events. they will get some crossover but I never like hiding your true identidy. I always thought the origional Valkyrie was nice because it showed true Honda. The Rune was ruined from day one. I suppose the riders will still be wearing Harley shirts just like they do when they ride Shadows and such.

  17. Neil Blake says

    November 14, 2012 at 12:40 am

    That looks hot!

  18. david says

    November 14, 2012 at 8:46 pm

    HDs R&D dept must be proud of their asian counterparts at Honda. chop the windscreen, remove the trunk and spray on some black paint. Nice job Honda!

  19. scott says

    November 16, 2012 at 7:14 pm

    That’s the first KAWASAKI that Honda has ever built…..congrats!

  20. william aarnio says

    November 18, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    Bring back the valkyrie.Leave the Gold Wing alone.I have both and lovi them for different reasons.

  21. Ian Wright says

    November 28, 2012 at 4:09 pm

    It’s a great shame..Everyone and his dog crticises Harley Davidson, but when it comes to customs/baggers/cruisers they just follow the MoCo lead with styling….
    Companies like Honda used to lead the market…now they follow. The innovators are the Europeans and Good ‘ole Harley…The current rush of all black bikes can find their roots fairly and squarely in the ‘Dark Custom’ range from HD…
    For everyones sake Honda….don’t just copy…try to come up with something of your own…
    .

  22. Raj says

    December 5, 2012 at 12:36 am

    This one’s a looker. Though i agree with most of the folks here that a slightly taller wind-screen would have been better.
    As for the comparisons with the Valkyrie, that was more of chromed beauty, this one’s more ‘Bat-bike’.
    This kinda reminds of the DN-01. Loved the way that one looked

  23. just another seven foot doofus says

    December 5, 2012 at 3:17 pm

    …best looking ‘wing I’ve ever seen, but they ain’t made a Harley out of it yet…

  24. daryl coolbauhg says

    April 18, 2013 at 3:27 am

    Just found this thread, so if anybody’s out there….Well, to me anyway, the f6b is great. I have had a wing for years and loved it. (I came from the H.D. fam. btw). (Wwwould nnever dddo thaaat agggain)! The ride, the performance, the reliability, and the longevity of the Honda machine is unsurpassed. I have met only a few ‘bikers’ that were uninformed enough to deny this, very few. (Of course I have only been riding since 1974, so I may have missed someone).
    That said, this innovation means I can ride with better confidence as a smaller rider at 5’8″- and finally enjoy these attributes without the top heavy feel and light foot to ground contact. This on past occasions has made me uncomfortable. I have been hoping for a pared down- lighter version with a lower center of gravity..
    This is just the ‘wing’ without a trunk and a shorter windshield. (I for one appreciate the windshield’s configuration, as I prefer to look ‘over’ a rain soaked shield, feels safer to me). Of course you have to be willing to actually ride in the rain etc. to appreciate this, not just to your local bar, or to get to the neighbors’ house- you know- like a real bike lover. The price tag, is very reasonable even though it is more basically equipped. Especially when you consider that for the same price or a bit more you must settle for a used 2 or three year old, antiquated technology, that is neither reliable nor has near the longevity? You know who you are. Just don’t see the common sense in showing the world that you spend too much, ride too little- too slow, drip, break down, get cold too soon, dress in a costume of “individuality” (cracks me up), etc. etc.. Guys, 1960 called- the tough guy, bad biker syndrom is being recalled. Maybe spend your next buck on your girl, instead of a new bandanna! Just sayin’….PS: I’ll look under the sink, maybe i’ll find something to bolt on my f6b to “make a Harley out of it”….. really? all this in good spirit eh?

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