HONDA GL1500 Gold Wing (1994-2000) Specs, Performance & Photos

In 2000, the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer launched the Honda GL1500 Gold Wing, a powerful machine that delivered great comfort with luxurious features. The bike was the perfect motorcycle for long-distance touring, with its touring accessories and a massive six-cylinder engine.

The story of the fourth generation Gold Wing started in 1984 when a design team was put to work by the Japanese maker to develop a new touring machine. Honda claimed that the development of the Gold Wing involved 60 stages and 15 different test models, including an original M1 six-cylinder engine fitted in a GL1200 frame.

In developing the new machine, Honda's most significant focus was on the engine being as smooth, quiet, and powerful as possible. Almost three years later and 13 years after the first original Gold Wing appeared, at the 1987 Cologne Motorcycle Show, Honda presented the new GL1500 Gold Wing model with the most modifications as a GL was ever fitted with.

The most considerable modification to the new model was the engine with two more cylinders in a flat six-cylinder layout. As in the earlier models, all six cylinders were fed by 36 mm Keihin carburetors instead of every cylinder with its own unit.

In the appearance department, the new GL1500 machine came in a larger package, with a larger windscreen that offered enhanced wind and weather protection, two extra cylinders, additional body panels, more electronics, a longer wheelbase, and more weight due to the additional enhanced elements.

The 2000 Honda GL1500 Gold Wing had fitted a tubular steel cradle frame under its clothes with an air-adjustable telescopic fork on the front and an air-adjustable Pro-Link shock absorber handling the rear suspension. The braking performance was achieved by dual-piston calipers with two 296 mm discs on the front wheel and a dual-piston caliper with a 316 mm disc for the rear wheel stopping power.

As for power, the 2000 GL1500 machine had fitted behind the front wheel a 1,520cc liquid-cooled six-cylinder engine fed by two constant velocity Keihin carburetors, delivering a power output of 100 poneys at 5,200 rpm and 150 Nm (111 lb-ft) torque at 4,000 rpm.