After picking up the 'Wing, loaning it to Jason Fogelson for his opinion, and riding it like a sportbike, it was finally time for the inevitable: washing the thing.
Motorcycle washing is either a tiresome chore or a prime opportunity to meditate on matters much larger than soap and water, but however you slice it it's hard to deny that feeling of pride of riding a clean bike. So I finally decided to park in the shade and wash the thing, but I had a few concerns.
For starters, the Honda Gold Wing is unlike most motorcycles; from its navigation screen to its speaker system, there are plenty of surfaces that look like they shouldn't be splashed with water. But needless to say 'Wings are meant to be ridden regardless of the weather forecast, so I laid those fears aside... but why not check the owner's manual to make sure there's no secret protocol, some special Gold Wing technique that departs from the standard way to wash a motorcycle? Not so easy, it turns out; a pull of the left trunk release lever, which should have opened the compartment where I stored the owner's manual is stored, produced nothing. And no trunk release, no owner's manual.
Empty handed and lacking the reassurance that I was properly prepared to wash the 'Wing, I did the next logical thing: post a query on our forum, where I received great advice from Gold Wing owners and non-Wingers alike. I tried a couple things, including a quick (and admittedly not very wholehearted) attempt to access the hidden release latch in the center trunk, but the left lid remained jammed, a problem that is apparently common enough to warrant a service bulletin from Honda. Frustrated by the lid but determined to wash the 'Wing, I finally relented and took a hose to it, figuring there wasn't too much damage I could do with water.
Sure enough, no sparks flew when I washed the 'Wing, and its complex electronic systems experienced no debilitating meltdown. It turns out the Gold Wing takes a lot more work to wash than most bikes (especially when considering the sheer square footage of surfaces to clean), but there are enough flat areas to keep the task relatively easy. The windshield and the chrome bits require more care than the rest of the bike, but it's still a somewhat straightforward job.
I'm looking forward to taking care of that pesky jammed trunk once and for all, and now that I've washed the bike and become more familiar with the details of its form I can't wait to put more miles on it-- with all three trunks operating normally, of course.
Related:
Related:
- Gold Wing Update #7: Hittin' the Open Road
- Honda Gold Wing Update #6: About that Tire...
- Honda Gold Wing Update #5: My (Feeble) Attempts at Hypermiling the 'Wing
- Honda Gold Wing Update #3: Riding the 'Wing Like a Sportbike
- Honda Gold Wing Update #2: Jason's First Impressions
- Honda Gold Wing Update #1: Welcome the 'Wing!
