Honda’s M1 Concept Motorcycle Directly Led To The Gold Wing’s Creation

Honda’s M1 Concept Motorcycle Directly Led To The Gold Wing’s Creation
The Honda Gold Wing has been a stone-cold classic since its debut. Out-Harleying Harley-Davidson as a comfortable, versatile long-distance cruiser with serious straight-line power, the Gold Wing is a powerful presence in the motorcycle world since its release in 1974. The engine in particular draws accolades for its power and reliability, and the Gold Wing’s fixtures and fittings define top-of-the-line luxury across the worldwide road bike market.
However, Honda owes much of the Gold Wing’s success — and therefore much of its position as a major figure in the American cruiser pantheon — to a prototype bike that never even reached consumers. Without this mighty yet mysterious beast, there would have been no Honda Gold Wing, and potentially no resurgence of Japanese makers in the luxury motorcycle marketplace.
Instead, the innovations from the design of the Honda M1 Prototype became the features gearheads worldwide loved about the Gold Wing and its successors.