The Honda Gold Wing is certainly a very special bike and Michelin is focusing on the needs of this bike to present a tyre developed specifically for it. Under the name Michelin Road W GT, this tyre has been presented at the Milan 2024 show.
The Gold Wing is undoubtedly one of the largest GTs on the market and this means that many of its users have a very high annual mileage. According to Michelin, its low centre of gravity, which gives it commendable agility for a bike of its size and weight, together with the torque and response of the high-displacement six-cylinder engine, subject the tyre to extreme stress, especially when accelerating, braking or taking successive curves.
For this reason, Michelin has created a tyre with a reinforced structure, a specific tread pattern and a silica-based rubber compound. The front tyre features Water Sipe technology, which consists of sipes that improve water evacuation, which, together with the new compound at the rear, provides better sensations in the wet.
A three-layer radial casing in the front tyre and a reinforcement at the top of the tyre - Aramid Shield technology - also achieve greater handling with a high level of agility, so that 67% of Gold Wing users who have tested the new Road W GT in tests carried out in June have highlighted the wet performance of the new Michelin.
The new Michelin W GT will soon be available in one front size, 130/70 R18, and two rear sizes, 180/60 R16 and 200/55 R16 radial rims, the typical sizes of the Gold Wings that are currently being rolled.