Honda FSC600A3 Silver Wing

A New Silver Age

Remember the original Silver Wing? It wasn't a scooter; it was a motorcycle. Honda used the CX 500 transverse-mounted V-twin platform to launch their version of a slenderized touring machine, the GL500 Silver Wing Interstate. A sort of Gold Wing "lite" if you will. After all, it was the early '80s then, and Diet Coke, Bud Light, and Richard Simmons were all the rage. Slimming down was looking up and the Gold Wing suddenly had a baby brother.

But in this first incarnation of the Silver Wing, "less filling" apparently didn't "taste great" to the touring crowd of the day. Despite offerings in either naked or fully faired trim and receiving increases in displacement and power over several model years, the Silver Wing just never caught on. By 1984, gold signified the only wing aloft in Honda's aerie.

Fast-forward nearly 20 years – my, how things have changed. Leg warmers are history, Keith Richards actually looks healthy, kind of, and the Silver Wing tag has made a triumphant return to the streets. In 2002, Honda reintroduced that long dormant designation on a machine that, in an odd sort of way, is similar in spirit to its long-lost, Reagan-era cousin. Also receiving conceptual cues from the venerable touring titan, the Gold Wing, the new Silver Wing offers a comfortable ride, good protection from the elements, and the means to leave town on a whim no matter the destination. Unlike its namesake from the '80s, the latest Silver Wing is a scooter and it has all of the easy-to-ride amenities that today's scoots are known for. If a machine that promises enough punch for any highway, a fully automatic transmission, comfort to spare, and a user-friendly attitude sounds good to you, then Honda's "other" Wing may just have you believing all that glitters is not necessarily gold....

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