1985 Honda Gold Wing Aspencade

   I have owned motorcycles since I was 14...My first real motorcycle when I moved up from scooters was a Mustang. Since then I have owned Zundapps, Nortons, Triumphs, BSA's, Hondas, Kawasakis, Yamahas, and of course, Harley-Davidsons...but never a Suzuki for some reason. All of my rides listed above were in the cruiser catagory... In 1999 I bought a 1985 Honda Gold Wing.. my first highway bike.

     Okay,...Hold off on the 'white legs' comments...  I paid $2500 for this bike and bought it from a Hawaiian dude that worked as a cook for the local Holiday Inn. Evidently he didn't have much of a social life as he sunk most of his money into the bike. When I bought it there were 24 lights on the rear end of it.

    I had removed some of them by the time of the above photo...but it still looked like Christmas time when I applied the brakes at night. It was a super running bike as the 4-cylinder 1200cc engine was fed by 4 carburetors. The later 6-cylinder Gold Wings had 4 carburetors and lacked the immediate punch of the older four bangers. Now they are all fuel injected. This was the Aspencade model which was the top of the line for Gold Wings at the time.

   If Honda offered an accessory for this bike the previous owner had it installed. At this time I worked at a job 183 miles from my home and I rode this bike back and forth many times as it was a joy to ride. It had air-suspension for an incredible ride for someone accustomed to riding hard-tail ridged suspension bikes. It also had cruise control, AM-FM-CB radio, and air conditioning..   Okay,.. little joke on that last option. The dash was all-digital and the gas gauge was a series of bars that kept getting less and less as the gas got lower in the tank. One time while stretching it to the limit I sweated out the final couple of bars and when the last one went out I turned into a gas station just as the engine quit...  Lucky-Lucky !

   They say the only way to improve on photos of a bike is to place a pretty girl on it..  This is Momma looking good in the saddle. She is not a rider, except on the back when I am in the pilot's seat. That Queen Ann seat for the passenger was as comfortable as a recliner. Those arm rests would swing out to allow the passenger to get aboard, and the saddle-bags & trunk were spacious enough to allow us to take lots of stuff with us on road trips.

   When I would get to work in Palestine the bike would sit for five days until it was time for me to come home. Momma made this cover for the bike so it would not have to suffer at the hands of the elements. It did keep the sun and dust off, but since it was made of denim it offered no protection from rain. When wet it weighed about fifty pounds and added to weight already in the trunk on my ride home. I had this Gold Wing for over a year and finally sold it to Plano Honda for $5000, which I thought was a good deal. They put it in the middle of their showroom and sold it for $6500.