Honda Gold Wing Tour

Story and Pics by Howie da Blazing Saddle

At 08:00 on a freezing morning I had already been in the saddle for an hour. The pale anaemic sun offered no warmth at all. When I left home at 07:00 the ambient temperature read out indicated 3°C and stayed there as I navigated the heavy traffic on the N12 East. But as the Benoni mine dumps, the outer vestiges of the conurbation, disappeared from the rear view mirrors the temperature dropped to 1°C with a wind chill factor of minus eissh. On many motorcycles other than the 2018 Honda Gold Wing Tour I think I would have taken severe strain but in fact I was in a very good space. I was dressed for the ride in thermal underwear, thick leather pants, layers of fleecy tops, my excellent twenty year old Lookwell jacket, winter gloves, and a balaclava to stop the wind getting down my neck. The electrically actuated windscreen was in its highest position and I rode in a cocoon of perfectly still air. The double bonuses were the heated grips and saddle. On a cold day a blazing saddle heats the core of your body and if your abdomen is warm so is the rest of you. As the traffic thinned I set cruise control at 160km/h and travelled east at speed. I only had the Gold Wing for one day and I intended to have a good long day on the road.