Touring on a motorcycle is a luxury, some would say. But you also need the right motorcycle to make it a memorable experience. You see, you can technically tour on any motorcycle, but things like uncomfortable seats, small fuel tanks, short gearing, and no wind protection all go from minor inconveniences to a pain in the, well, everywhere, after a few full days of riding. The only real way to do it (if you can afford it) is in the lap of luxury.There is no shortage of buyers of luxurious touring motorcycles. A cursory search of various motorcycle manufacturer vehicle ranges shows that there are many options for a touring motorcycle with incredible features, and a price that can get you a compact car. However, we’re always on the lookout for value, even when it comes to a luxury product, because why not? There is one motorcycle that offers unmatched luxury, easy handling, and all at a price that makes it a good value as well. This is the best touring bike for riders who crave luxury. The Honda Gold Wing Tour Is The Best Touring Bike For Riders Who Crave Luxury Price: $29,500 (Before Destination Charges) HondaThere are a lot of brands vying for your attention at the luxury touring end of the market. There are brands like MV Agusta and Bimota ready to offer you products that will not only be comfortable and luxurious, but will also turn heads. There are also the obvious choices when you want a luxurious touring motorcycle – Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycle – that have some of the best and most authentic V-twin touring experiences you can have today.However, we’re going to go in a different direction, with a brand that is known for value products and small-displacement two-wheelers. It is the biggest manufacturer of two-wheelers in the world. Honda isn’t a brand you’d usually associate with luxury, but the Gold Wing brand is known and beloved in touring circles. It is so popular, in fact, that production used to be in only two places in the world: Japan and the U.S. Now it is produced only in a single factory in Japan and shipped all over the world. It has all the features that you’d want and expect from a luxury touring motorcycle, and a few that aren’t available with any other motorcycle today. Because of its great feature set, smooth engine, enjoyable handling, and great reliability, the Honda Gold Wing Tour is the best touring bike for riders who crave luxury.In a nutshell, the Honda Gold Wing Tour is the only touring motorcycle with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, with reverse speed available. The flat-six engine is smooth as silk. It comes with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and a navigation system that works even in tunnels. You can go for the optional airbag with the automatic version, and not to mention, you get the reliability of a Honda. A 1.8-Liter, 125-Horsepower Engine Powering It The Silky Smoothness Of A Six-Cylinder HondaIf you’re looking for luxury, this engine should definitely be on your shortlist. It is the only horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine in the two-wheeler world. This format is rare even among cars, with only Porsche using this format, and not even for its entire range anymore. You’ll find a similar format in the GWM Souo S2000, which is, to be honest, a copy of the Gold Wing. The only other six-cylinder engine available in a production motorcycle today is available in the BMW K 1600 series of motorcycles.The Gold Wing engine was recently upgraded with four valves per cylinder, but the challenge of keeping it narrow even with the increased valvetrain was met by Honda’s patented Unicam SOHC head. This uses up less space than a conventional DOHC head, keeping it narrow. The length of the engine was also reduced by putting the transmission directly below the engine. This has given Honda the ability to make a shorter Gold Wing and to make the weight distribution better. The longitudinal engine means that a shaft drive makes a lot of sense, and it also reduces the maintenance required. Honda has even looked to reduce the rocking motion of longitudinal engines by spinning the output shaft in the opposite direction to the engine crank. Honda Gold Wing Tour Engine Specifications All of this engineering has electronics to back it up: a by-wire throttle, cruise control, ride modes, different modes for the automatic gearbox, traction control, and a reverse gear. The gearbox’s shift points change based on input from the throttle and six axis IMU, there is manual control over shift points if you want it, and if you opt for the manual gearbox, the reverse gear is an electric motor – you don’t have to push the Gold Wing around in a parking lot! Honda Gold Wing Tour Chassis Electronic Assistance Provides Ultimate Luxury HondaLike the engine, the chassis of the Gold Wing uses a combination of engineering and electronics to deliver the kind of luxury that makes other touring bikes envious. The chassis is a twin spar frame made of aluminum to keep the weight down. There have been a few big changes in the current generation that make it better to ride. The shortening of the engine with the gearbox placed under it is complemented by the new double wishbone front suspension. This makes the front wheel go up and down vertically rather than up and backward like with conventional telescopic forks. This has allowed Honda to place the engine further forward, reducing the reach to the handlebars, improving weight distribution, and making the handling better.The rear suspension is a linkage-type single shock that suspends a BMW-ish single-sided swingarm that houses the driveshaft as well. The rear suspension preload can be changed with a button, and the damping adjusts to the situation automatically. The brakes consist of twin 320 mm discs and six-piston fixed calipers, while the rear is a 316 mm disc and a three-piston floating caliper. The brakes offer C-ABS, as befits a flagship Honda, meaning no matter what lever you actuate, the Gold Wing will put the braking force wherever it is needed the most. At the chassis side, the six-axis IMU helps with the ABS, preventing it from locking up while leaned over. No Dearth Of Features On The Honda Gold Wing Tour HondaWriting about all the Gold Wing’s features will take an incredibly long time, so we’ll limit ourselves to the highlights. We start with the keyless ignition, and remote locking/unlocking luggage. The temperature of the heated seats can be set individually for the rider and pillion. The audio system’s volume changes automatically with the speed. Speaking of the audio system, the rider gets a seven-inch TFT screen exclusively for various features, while the driving information is provided by analog clocks on either side of the screen.Mechanically, you get the two-wheeler world’s only: horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine, seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, and motorcycle airbag. You also get hill-hold assist. The linked brakes were a world first when they were first launched on the Gold Wing as well. Honda Gold Wing Tour Competition Lots Of Options, But The Gold Wing Is in a Niche Of Its Own BMWThe luxury touring bike market is awash with a number of products vying for customers’ attention. However, being luxury items, they are mostly priced such that they compete with small cars. The Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide, for example, retails for $45,999. The BMW R 1300 GS, widely acknowledged to be the leader in the adventure segment, gets quite close to $30,000 when you spec it with the automatic gearbox. From this perspective, the Gold Wing Tour’s sub-$30,000 price, even for the automatic, is good value. Therefore, keeping ourselves to around the same price as the Gold Wing, we get a few options.Harley-DavidsonThe BMW R 18 Transcontinental is a large twin-cylinder touring motorcycle, but it doesn’t have a V-twin engine, opting for a large-displacement flat twin instead. This isn’t as technologically advanced as some of the others on this list, but that also reflects in its price. A better selection from the Bavarian manufacturer would be the K 1600 GTL, the only other motorcycle model today with a six-cylinder engine. The inline configuration gives it incredible smoothness, and the lack of power-sapping counterbalancers gives it a massive 160 horsepower output.If you want to go traditional, though, there is nothing better than good old American Iron. The Indian Roadmaster Thunderstroke uses an air-cooled large-displacement V-twin, but that’s the only low-tech component on it. You’ll find it equal to anything on the market when it comes to features. If you must have the most popular American brand, though, the Harley-Davidson Street Glide Ultra does a little from both worlds. The large-displacement V-twin engine has water-cooled heads for more reliability and performance. Both the American bikes use a final belt drive, while the rest all use a shaft final drive.Source: Honda