Honda’s new Gold Wing REVEALED. DCT, rider tech and more mpg coming. OFFICIAL drawings for next gen bike

Honda’s new Gold Wing REVEALED. DCT, rider tech and more mpg coming. OFFICIAL drawings for next gen bike.

Honda’s Gold Wing may have a few weird and whacky ideas pending in its future, but for the next phase of the massive mile-eater the big bike is getting a host of tech to make thing much more user-friendly. As behind-the-scenes files we’ve been sent, show.

The Gold Wing has just had a set of patents filed for it that show the bike getting DCT (dual clutch), the bike is also getting a ride-by-wire throttle and riding modes that will make it more efficient in touring mode to boost MPG.

Last year we brought you the first picture of the now updated Wing which showed you the new model for 2015 and 2016 – here’s the picture we showed you as a first back in October when the new bike was actually tucked away on the car portion of the Honda stand in Japan at the Tokyo Show:

A month before the picture above we also brought you a world-first look at an official patent of a duoloever-style front end clearly earmarked for a Wing of the future. The official Honda patent for that funky Wing front end was this:

Which looks extremely similar to the duolever front end of the BMW K1600, which is this:

So what we have already shown you is that there is a new Wing for this year (check), a Wing of the mid-to-far future is getting a new duolever front (check) and now we have official information that the next wave of the Wing is getting DCT alongside a host of new, rider-friendly bits.

Essentially, a DCT is an automated manual transmission which uses two separate clutches, one of each odd and even gear sets. It makes sense for Honda to put this on the Wing because the company has already fitted DCT to its new Africa Twin, VFR1200F and NC750X. The tech is proven to work, is widely refined and although it can add up to 10kg in weight on a motorcycle, does help up the mpg return with efficient gear changes and smoother all-round riding on motorways.

Here’s the patent drawings for the new DCT tech on the Wing:

Whilst it’s not totally clear in the drawings, the description that is filed along with the above illustrations clearly states that the motorcycle illustrated is getting DCT. And the bike illustrated is a Gold Wing.

On top of the tech going to the Wing is a new, more intuitive set of rider-friendly electronics that are likely to be centred around a new centrally-mounted console. Mid-corner ABS is also mooted for the new bike as an extension of the current C-ABS linked braking system used by Honda.