I Love My Honda Goldwing - But...

I have not found any official notice or news piece, but here in Vancouver at least I know from talking to my own dealer that Honda Canada is cutting back to only 3 dealers from the current 5 in the region - and my dealer, CR Cycles here in Maple Ridge, is one of those on the chopping block. The "Find a dealer" portion of their web still lists CR, but does not tell you that your warranty period would outlive their life as a dealer - which expires the end of this year. In talking to their service manager I learned that they won't be able to order parts directly from Honda anymore either - boosting the cost of my repairs, even if I do keep going back to them.

Yesterday I visited one of the 3 shops that is being retained - Holeshot Motorsports - across the new Golden Ears bridge (and a toll charge) away in Langley, and even though it is a much larger dealership, didn't even see a Goldwing on the floor.

My current bike is a 2003 that I purchased new in 2004, and since I ride it both all year and for business, it has quite a few kilometers on it. I'm at the point where I'm looking to trade it in on a new machine this year and now I have to decide if this will be another Honda, and if so, where I'll get it from.

There are many Goldwing riders I've run across who have simply gone to the US to purchase their new machines. The saving, even with the cost of flying to some place like Florida, is enough to more than justify the minor hassles of getting non-Honda warranty and getting the minor modifications done necessary to get it licensed in Canada. The change in value of the Canadian dollar vs. the US dollar has made this even more appealing.

Now I have to deal with getting my bike serviced literally miles away from where I normally am. Carter no longer has their dealership in Coquitlam, only their original one down on Granville Island. The Honda Centre is almost as far away, and Holeshot is a pain to get to, even though not all that much farther away than CR is.

In an age when their competition is opening up new dealerships and already have more than the few that Honda has, I'm wondering what is going on. Honda has just built a new factory in Japan where all motorcycles in their line are being made - including the Goldwings which were previously made in a plant in the US.

I love the GL 1800 - it truly is my dream machine - but maybe it's time for a new dream. Sorry Honda, you've annoyed me.