Test Ride the new GL1800

Honda Grantham invited Trevor to test ride one of the new 1800’s and as we’ve been wondering about them since they came out we decided to give it a go. They were doing them on Friday/Saturday and when we booked Friday the weather was looking cool and dry - of course the system moved a bit faster than expected and and Friday was actually slightly wet, but nothing drastic. So we put on extra waterproof layers and turned up on the Friday afternoon.

Trevor had the impression when he booked it would be a guided ride but when we arrived they decided he looked safe enough (or the staff didn’t fancy getting wet) and let us take it out on our own. They had 3 variations to choose from : the DCT tour, Manual tour and a bagger, but only the white DCT automatic one was of interest to Trevor and had a full back seat for me.

The first test was to try our helmets in the top box, after a few tries Trevor managed to put them in but the lid wouldn’t close so that was no good! It looks like two Shoei Neotecs will not fit without forcing the lid.

Test 2 was for us to try and find a comfy position. All seemed well for Trevor as the lower seat and weight was good for his relatively short legs. My seat seemed ok except I couldn’t find any where to place my hands unless I held onto Trevor.

Next was a trip down and back up the A1. It was quite busy so we didn’t get to go fast, but when someone pulled out he did get to test the brakes. They slowed us down very efficiently but unfortunately it resulted in me sliding forward on the seat and this happened several times during the rest of the ride.

The main ride was a loop round to Bourne and Corby Glen then back towards Grantham. Trevor seemed to be enjoying the automatic, but as time went by I was getting increasing uncomfortable. The seat and back were both much harder than our 2001 1800 and the shaping didn’t support my legs at all. When we got into traffic in Grantham the bike turned itself off every time we stopped which is a nice feature (once you know it is doing it and not broken).

I think the overall result is that it’s fine if you’re a solo rider but no good for couples. So if they find a way to put an old style back seat on it we’ll be interested but as it is - no thanks.

Marion