Today, Honda's long-running Gold Wing line is synonymous with luxury long-distance touring, even though the model was introduced in 1975 as a standard-style naked bike – factory-installed fairings, saddlebags, radios, GPS systems and safety airbags were to come later. At the time, the big news was the Wing's powerplant, a liquid-cooled opposed-four that was super-smooth, reliable as an anvil and loved to pile on the miles.

The Wing's inception goes back to 1972 and the development of a proof-of-concept prototype code-named M1, which used a liquid-cooled flat-six displacing 1500cc, a Honda CB750 front fork assembly and a BMW shaft-drive rear end. Leading the R&D team was Soichiro Irimajiri, the young engineer responsible for Honda's all-conquering multi-cylinder 1960s Grand Prix racers. The goal was to design the 'King of Motorcycles,' a machine that would set new benchmarks for overall performance, smoothness and build quality. At the 1975 debut the M1 had lost two cylinders and 500cc to become the GL1000 Gold Wing, the first Honda motorcycle to employ liquid cooling and shaft final drive. Forty-plus years and some 700,000 units later, the Wing is one of Honda's most successful models, and remains the standard for luxo-touring bikes. Interestingly enough, the current production Gold Wing now has six cylinders, just like that long-ago prototype.

It's fair to say that the machine shown here has to be one of the most unique Gold Wings ever. It runs the enlarged 1100cc four introduced in 1980 but thanks to Hollywood prop masters not much remains recognizable from the bike's stock configuration. Looking more like a cross between an antique steam boiler and a Roman chariot, this Wing-powered rig is a minor movie star, having had a bit part in the 1995 fantasy western "Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill," starring among others Patrick Swayze and Scott Glenn. In the film Glenn plays greedy land developer J.P. Stiles, apparently an early adaptor of mechanized transportation, whose company logo is embossed on the front and rear of the sidecar.

Following its star turn, the retired Wing eventually made its way into the Bothwell collection, where it was sometimes pressed into service giving rides around the orange groves, delighting all within earshot, we're told, with the sound emanating from its single high-rise exhaust pipe.

In 2017, the motorcycle was sold for$ 5,500 at Bonhams auction

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