Honda Silver Wing Interstate Package

Honda Silver Wing Interstate Package

EVALUATION

Honda’s Interstate package for the GL650 Silver Wing costs about $1050 and includes a frame-mount fairing, quick-detach saddlebags and a top case that latches into position after the rear seat section is removed. The package comes installed on the motorcycle as a time-of-order option and adds 47 lb. to the Silver Wing.

The fairing, like the rest of the equipment, is plastic, color-matched to the Silver Wing’s paint. Turn signals and reflectors are built in and mirrors are attached to the fairing. The headlight is mounted in the fairing and can be adjusted up or down with a knob on the fairing dash. Two pockets are included in the fairing, one covered by a piece of vinyl cloth equipped with snaps, the other secured with a locking plastic cover. The fairing includes plugs and a cover for installation of extra gauges and an optional radio and speakers, but that stuff isn’t included in the basic Interstate package.

Each saddlebag fits onto a system of rails and two latches, the bottom mount latch being push-button quick-release and the upper, key-operated latch doubling as a helmet lock.

The helmet-lock levers also secure the rear seat section or the top case, whichever is in place at the time. One key unlocks the ignition, gas cap, fairing pocket, saddlebags, top case and helmet lock.

The Honda's top case replaces the passenger seat because mounting a heavilyloaded top case out behind the seat on a rack can unbalance a bike as short as the Silver Wing. The drawback is that two people need more luggage capacity than one person. The Silver Wing gives the rider two choices: no passenger and more carrying capacity; or passenger and less carrying capacity.

Honda has a big advantage over aftermarket touring accessory companies in that the motorcycle and touring parts can be designed to accommodate each other. It’s obvious that a lot of thought went into making the saddlebags easy to install and remove without sacrificing mounting security. The front saddlebag mount, for example, extends forward of the bag to meet a push-button, quick-release buckle attached to the frame at the passenger footpeg. Removing the saddlebag leaves this mount extension sticking out forward of the saddlebags. But pulling a lever allows the extension to fold back and stow on the side of the saddlebag, out of the way.

The saddlebags won’t pass for real luggage because they're contoured on one side to fit the motorcycle and because of the mounting hardware. But for transporting from motorcycle to hotel room, their function cannot be denied.

One place where the engineering didn’t quite work out is in access to the helmet locks with the saddlebags in place. There’s no way to hook a helmet's D-rings on the helmet lock with the bags in place. Honda’s solution is a short circle of chain, which the rider loops through the helmet’s D-rings and hangs on the helmet lock hook. It works, but there’s a certain makeshift air to the arrangement.

And the fairing wasn’t designed just for the Silver Wing. It’s the same fairing used on the GL1 100 Interstate and available for other Hondas, and it’s too wide and too tall for the Silver Wing, forcing an average-size rider to look through the windscreen and limiting vision down and forward, critical for safely splitting lanes through traffic jams. The economics of using one part on several motorcycles took priority over the functional advantage of designing accessories to fit each model.

The fairing also concentrates engine heat and directs it at the rider, a blessing on nippy evenings, not really noticed in moderate temperatures, and a cause of discomfort in hot conditions.

Even with the Interstate package, the Silver Wing does pretty well on a tank of gas, mileage ranging from 50 mpg at a steady 65 mph on the highway and dropping to 40 mpg on a twisty road with lots of third and fourth gear running. Cruising at more than 80 mph on the highway dropped mileage to just under 40 mpg, still respectable.

Respectable. That’s the Silver Wing. It's not as heavy as a Gold Wing GL1 100, but it's got enough power for serious high-speed touring and it’s got the same nice touches like one key opening every lock on the bike, a touch that means more and more as the days on the road get longer and longer. It is a good touring package. g]