Faults:

None, except for a broken accelerator cable.

General Comments:

Very big, very heavy, very sophisticated, and very reliable. Great for long-distance touring or relaxed scooting through the scenery; too portly for inner-city use.

The big fairing offers very good protection from the elements and the winter cold, but tall riders with big helmets (like me) suffer wind buffeting. A self-built short "bubble" screen was so far the only remedy to this; gave a bit better gas mileage (now 6 liters/100 km) and less wobbling at high speed (140+) too.

The engine is wonderfully smooth, although with all the weight, it wants to be kept over 3000 RPM.

Once decently tuned in and properly taken care of, this bike will last decades without ever giving major troubles. Most important is to change the timing belts in time. The air-assisted forks should be only filled with a hand pump to avoid blowing the seals.

Faults:

Leaking fork seals. I pulled the forks and let Honda replace the seals.

General Comments:

The 1983 Honda Gold Wing Interstate was a quirky motorcycle. It was the first year of the integrated brakes, which worked quite well. It was the body style that had the center stand that would drag on the right side while cornering. The factory driver seat sucked out loud. The next year, 1984 was the 1200cc Gold Wings.

The 1100cc Gold Wings were quick bikes. In a flat out race they were probably as quick as the 1500, unless you load them down or pull a trailer. These bikes had nice lines. When I bought mine, someone had already dressed it up with light bars and antennas. It was a good looking bike.

All in all, I really enjoyed this bike. It was possible for my wife and I to ride the three hours to Asheville NC to the Honda Hoot and back home in the same day with no problems. Man, those were the good old days. If you're looking at a GL1100 Interstate or Aspencade, and the price is right, you'll get a decent motorcycle. Watch the hard right corners.