Creating a custom out of a Gold Wing seems like a daunting challenge no matter how you slice it. Just wading through all that bodywork alone feels like a weeklong mission. But when Southern California’s Steady Garage got the call from American Honda for a cool custom based on the long-haul tourer that would be unveiled at Daytona Bike Week, the folks there knew they had to answer—even though they had just 45 days to do the deed.
The challenge was doubly difficult because with the Wing’s new design there’d be little guidance from existing builds. The Steady guys—Kevin Dunn, Duy Nguyen, Jimmy Chen, and Ray Tong—wanted to create a bike with modern styling while still giving a nod to the Gold Wing’s legendary heritage. “Stylish but functional” doesn’t always turn out to be as easy as it sounds.
Luckily, these guys have friends. Designer Francis Clemente came up with a design that appealed to both customizers and purists, using the air suspension and contrasting mufflers to shape the silhouette. A handcrafted leather saddle, exposed metal details, and scallops in the paint provided the “Cool Wing” those quirky design elements that instantly gave it a new identity.
It then became a team project, with Steady Garage calling on several other top pros to help out. Mooneyes built a mold specifically to make the retro disc covers for the Wing’s front rim, and Platinum Air Suspension chipped in air shocks to get that slammed stance but without completely trashing ride height. Onboard stainless steel air tanks from Dirty Works store the needed air, which is then delivered by a single Viair 380c air compressor.
Paint is often the main attraction on a custom build, and in this case, Maxima Imagen applied color to 33 individual parts. But don’t assume this Gold Wing ditches its high-tech DNA; you’ll also find the industry’s first motorcycle blind-spot monitoring system (BSM) here, thanks to the Cub Group. Adding the icing on this cake was Rogelio’s Auto Upholstery who fashioned the ribbed leather seat.
It seems like a win-win for everybody on this one; “The Gold Wing is one of our halo products,” says Honda Motorcycle Shows and Public Relations Manager Chris Cox, “and we wanted to highlight the fact that while it’s rightly known for its amazing touring capabilities, it’s also a very high-performance machine that can be appreciated by a broad range of enthusiasts. Steady Garage embraced that theme for this project, and we’re very pleased with the result. Cool Wing has a youthful, creative, exciting spirit, while still respecting the Gold Wing brand and what it stands for.”
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