This bike had all of the controls for the radio, CD and CB mounted up on the bars next to your normal switchgear. Quite handy there they are too. However, I did wish for a 5 inch thumb occasionally, especially whilst making a stab at the mute button, whilst changing down for traffic lights. Its a shame that they are not illuminated either. I'm sure familiarity will aid nighttime adjustments, it was just a minor poo poo.

The GL also came with a nifty cruise control. It too was a little finicky in operation due to placement, (How long are the thumbs on a GL test engineers hand?) Getting the cruise activated smoothly took a knack and lurched a little due to the previous mentioned abruptness rolling off the throttle. I got better at it and more miles aboard meant more practice. This particular bike would "cruise" at just over 125mph indicated, although I wouldn't know because I'm not like that… err, Officer.

The miles breezed by, and with the comprehensive instrumentation, meant I could keep an eye on ambient temperature, fuel load, radio volume, and other good stuff. After 60 long, long, miles we arrived at New Smyrna and headed to the nearest seafood eatery. I picked my wife's brains on how the trip was going for her. She liked the seat immensely as it locked her into a safe feeling position. She liked the backrest and would have preferred the stereo to be louder at speed. She also mentioned that riding on this bike made her feel "randy". I'm not sure if this is a by-product of the seating arrangements, but it was enough to make me want to buy one.

Upon leaving the restaurant, we were pleasantly surprised to see the bike had changed color. The bike had metamorphosed from a burgundy to a gold color. After checking that indeed this was the same bike, by pressing the bike finder button, which in turn honks the loud dual tone horn. I used the same remote to unlock the saddlebags, giving you a wink of the turn signals to confirm the locking and unlocking procedure. I located the handbook and discovered that this was actually the ChromaFlair paintwork in action. Kewl.

After showing our long distance steed off to friends, we headed off home. The temperature had dropped 10 degree's to a "chilly" 65 degree's. This 60 mile return trip was starting to look bad. Big mileage AND bad weather. Nothing to do but press on. It was dark now, the lights impressed. There is an electrical adjustment next to the preload adjuster that moves the front headlamp up or down, depending on load carried and how much that guy in front pissed you off cutting in front of you like that. Full beam is stunning, if I wanted to travel fast at night, this Honda would top my list. Sticking that baby into the overdrive fifth gear, we were home in no time.

Later this year, the wife and I are thinking of going to Daytona. We are making careful plans, after all, it is 65 miles away. We'll probably play safe and grab another Goldwing. When long distances are involved, better play safe and take the tried and tested Honda GL1800. We're glad we did.