Honda Gold Wing: Manual vs. DCT 

As long as the person paying for it likes it, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks!

Love the DCT in Sport Mode. Makes me almost slide off the seat! Yes, in the most naughty meaning. I have other bikes for manual.

I have a 24 Wing 6 speed. I love it. For me, the control of the gears gives me a " connection " to the bike. After 40 years of riding, shifting is second nature to me. And yes, I have ridden a DCT. It's just not for me. I just feel more in control with the manual. It really boils down to personal preference. Whatever you pick, stay safe and have fun!!!!

Thanks for the shout out. That video is creeping up on a million views. Everybody bought Goldwings and I'm still rocking the Ultra. My next one will probably be the bagger version of the Wing. Thanks again.

Thanks for the mention Mike. I had a great time on the fireside chat. I did catch a lot of flack in the comments on my video about DCT vs Manual. I didn’t knock the DCT I just said it was for me. Anyone who calls the DCT an over size moped has no idea how fast it is. Like I said on the fireside chat, and you mentioned you twist the throttle and it just goes, in sports mode holy cow. I’m sure my next one will be a DCT. Ride safe and often. And yes mine is the Tour model.

y man thanks for the shout outs. I will demo ride a Gold Wing this summer. Ride Safe

I like how Pete put it...”The DCT in Sport Mode goes like stink!”

Purchased 2022 DCT Tour, The holy grail of bikes for me. A care free easy cornering joy of a ride. Walking forward/reverse, electric windshield, hear the radio at highway speeds with a full face helmet closed, linked very strong brakes. Riding with my feet on the highway pegs while street riding and CORNERING is awesome !!!!. It really is the Cadillac of bikes, so smooth.

Lol that Happy Jack video got me too when I started looking at the goldwing - Harley rider rides a 2018 DCT or something. After that, there was no turning back. I test rode 3 over a year at 3 different dealers - all DCT because no one had a 6 MT. I bought after the third ride in Rockingham. I was really looking for an F6B as a second bike but didn't realize a new generation came out for 18 until I saw the Happy Jack video. Love my Tour DCT, and really love the silence.

Hey Mike , first thing I had to do when I picked up my Goldwing was to adjust the shift lever . I could hardly get my toes under it . Much better now Listening to you and others , I wish I would have spent the extra money and had gotten the DCT . Oh well , the next one . Ride safe .

2018 tour manual. Love to sift through Dragon!

I love the way you explain things its HILARIOUS!!!!

Hah, that Happy Jack video is what gave my girlfriend the idea to dare me to test ride a new Wing! She had no idea I'd actually love it so much I'd buy one, her mistake. OH and I knew I loved it on the first test ride, but it took a 2nd test and a daylong demo to convince me to leave Harley Davidson. After that daylong demo I had no more excuses. 😎

Finally got to ride a friend's DCT. It is definitely a scooter. It will "scoot" your ass down the highway like never before!

I love the new Goldwing - such a champ bike with a new found muscle that was needed! Honda makes a solid DCT - have been on around three types including the GW, think I would like the DCT on a cruiser of that caliber.

I have the 6 speed, hated the lever position also. Salesperson said they'd have to order a part to move it, nope loosen two nuts and rotate the shaft and the gear lever goes up or down. Took me 5min. to do. Completely changed the bike for me, love it. Too bad they don't sales people don't learn things about the products they sale.

Great looking bike, I keep changing my mind between this and a harley

Nice Jacket !! This is a great review of the differences, Thanks.

All this GW talk and friends that ride them, makes me want to try one. Ride safe brother....

I really prefer using a clutch. It adds enjoyment for my riding style and driving style for cars. My wife and I always buy a manual transmission for our cars and that carries over to motorcycles for me. I agree with your opinion on the GW manual. I was having a heck of a time getting my foot in the shift position. Ride safe!

I’ve been watching your vids for the past two weeks and I finally decided to pull the trigger and put a down payment on a g-wing. Thursday I’ll officially be the youngest owner of a 2018 gold wing tour at 23 lol

I still drive standard, as the civic Si only comes with standard transmission. My spyder is semi automatic, and my nc750xd is dct.. So I got all flavors..

Have fun and ride safe,

I'll get a DCT, PDQ when my ALS makes me SOL and I have to apply for SSDI!

I’m this close to buying a DCT wing cause of you!!!!

I’ve test driven both and love both .. would be happy with either one except for the manual does not offer Reverse

Automatic trans frees up mental bandwidth, makes riding much more enjoyable and SAFER. Did you ever have to brake hard then have to down shift quickly to get the heck out of trouble, but missed it, then went hunting for the right gear again? Meanwhile that semi was bearing down in front and grandma was about to run you over from behind. Yea. That'll make you soil yourself. I've been enjoying CVT on my Suzuki Burgman for 10 years now. Looking at the Goldwing now, so I can take my wife with me on trips. But automatic, well, I can't say enough good about it.

NASCAR still uses a 4 speed manual. F1 uses an automatic that is manually shifted.

Ur jacket looks cool bro

That goes without saying of course the DCT is a better choice in terms of speed. For manual mode motorcycle, each time the rider change to the next gear, there will be a loss in timing for sure. So, definitely DCT is a clearcut winner. No doubt about it.

I think I mentioned this before. Bought the 2018 DCT, but was so used to riding and shifting the BMW, I found myself in manual mode cause I was so used to the revs rising and falling. Didn’t like how the DCT shifted when in auto mode. Wasn’t until I performed several clutch initializations that smoothed out the shifting, that I became an automatic convert. The last time I was in manual mode was in the mountains of WV last September where I felt I needed to be in certain gears to control of the torque to take those very tight, decreasing radius turns.

No, NASCAR is still old-school manual with a 3rd pedal and a shifter. I’m anxious to test ride a GoldWing DCT but having a tough time finding a local dealer that will allow that. Ride safe

Do you work k-12 or higher ed? I work in higher ed in IT. This whole mess has changed things a lot. As far as test rides, don't get me started. Worst for me was HD, best was a BMW/at the time Victory dealer. The latter didn't really care that I had their bikes out an hour. The HD dealer made me follow the salesman for 4 miles. If a bike is good, riding it will sell it if it's any good and I mean riding it more than 15 minutes or a few miles.

I remember that video when Happy Jack went with you to the dealership, had that gun to your head and said "BUY it or else!" LOL I may have to do a video reply to this one on the way home from work today.

Mike my left hand isn’t disabled so I can still use a clutch and by no means will I let a over sized boot influence a touring bike purchase , you should have never have the stage 4 installed and been happy

Just my opinion i can't stand heal shifter haha. for the neutral issue ,, it always goes in neutral when u don't want too> try too get it in there when u want ? not a chance ! lol.

I ride a CTX 1300. I want to upgrade to a Goldwing. My only reservation on the DCT is slow-speed maneuvering in parking lots. You know, like tight turns in cone patterns on a parking lot. At least I hear it's not as easy to do slow-speed maneuvering without being able to ride the clutch friction zone. What's your opinion?

Gemma? what is Gemma? I find it funny how people will say DCT is better coz then I can concentrate on other things like sight line through corner, finding a gear, etc. what? How hard is it to ride and move appendages 2" to make the bike do your bidding..........

miss the HD world??

I bet these guys that hate on DCT don't kick start their bikes anymore. hahaha

For those of us that prefer to ride manual, where is videos comparing apples to apples the 6 speed against the 5 speed. Why should I give up my 5 speed? I am not interested in how the 6 compares to the data. I'm not an engineer and duh, I bet they are worlds apart.