FIRST leaked shots of the 2018 Honda Gold Wing

Secret photos from Japanese sources have the bike coming along with the hugely-improved duo-lever front end.

These images, not from any official source, are reportedly the first pictures of the new-for-2018 Honda Gold Wing. No doubt this motorcycle is going to be packed with features and more electronic wizardry than the International Space Station – but the first thing that stands out most about the bike is the new front end.

It was September 2015 when we first told you about the Duolever front suspension unit coming to the Wing; at the time the idea seemed pretty logical because the complex steering system is widely regarded as giving a better quality of ride and feedback on the move.

Soon after the idea was floated by Honda insiders, a couple of patents filed by the Japanese factory revealed that this plan for the bike was at least one of the ideas that had made it past the first stage and into pre-production planning for the iconic super-cruiser-tourer.

And if these images of the finished bike, claimed to be a direct leak from within Honda, are accurate then the Duolever system has been put on the flat-six cylinder powered, 1832cc tourer. Gone are the previous, conventional 45mm telescopic forks fitted with anti-dive and 140mm of travel in favour of the Duolever system. Other changes visible between the current model and next year’s version extend to the fairing which is narrower than before.

The bike’s headlights are multi-LED items with the mirrors now pulled in to be a flush part of the frontal outline of the bike.

The windscreen also looks considerably larger on the new bike than the one it replaces. The Bagger version of the Wing’s screen is around the same size as the one on the current motorcycle though.