2008 Honda GL1800 problems & reliability
47 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2008 Honda GL1800, alongside 4 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
3 complaints report injuries (4 injured, 2 deaths reported).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2008 Honda GL1800 vehicles were involved in 20 fatal crashes with 20 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Power Train | 9 | 19% |
| Steering | 8 | 17% |
| Tires | 7 | 15% |
| Service Brakes | 6 | 13% |
| Suspension | 6 | 13% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 5 | 11% |
| Exterior Lighting | 4 | 9% |
| Air Bags | 2 | 4% |
| Electrical System | 2 | 4% |
| Equipment | 2 | 4% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 18,500 miles (middle 50% between 4,450 and 31,600 miles), based on 30 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The contact reported on a 2008 Honda Goldwing GL1800 Motorcycle. The contact is an Attorney and stated that the motorcycle was traveling at an undetermined speed and the braking system malfunctioned causing the operator to lose control of the motorcycle and drive off the road, down an embankment, and crash into a…”
Service Brakes · filed Nov 23, 2021
“Tl* the contact owns a 2008 honda goldwing. The contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 15v700000 (service brakes, hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. Hall's…”
Service Brakes, Hydraulic · filed Jul 1, 2020
“V6 transmission started having problems getting stuck and popping out of 5th gear took to motorcycle factory woodbridge va where I bought it they said no problem later it is now completely wasted transmission and needs what everybody knows that it was a bad design and needs work at least 4-5 k to fix that may show up…”
Power Train · filed Mar 8, 2019
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- Southern Honda Powersports
Audit Query AQ12001 · opened May 14, 2012 · closed May 13, 2013
Technical service bulletins
17 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2008 Honda GL1800. The 10 most recent:
"dealer message - on december 11, several sections of s/b gl1800 #23 were revised to include information for the repair of trike coversions."
GL1800 NO. 23 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 11, 2015
"service bulletin - honda is launching a safety recall of 2012-2015 gl1800/a and 2013-2015 gl1800b/bd motorcycles, and is implementing a recall remedy for 2001-2010 and 2012 gl1800/a motorcycles already subject to…
GL1800 SECONDARY · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 11, 2015
Newsletter - the repair procedure for the secondary master cylinder (smc) recall is very involved, so make sure to read through the entire bulletin before hand so you can visualize the procedures before you start. Not…
MC - THE WRENCH · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 10, 2015
"dealer message - effective immediately the secondary master cylinder (smc) kits for this recall are available on open order. As indicated in s/b gl1800 #23 and other communications about this recall, it is absolutely…
DLR MSG - MC - S · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Nov 24, 2015
Service bulletin - honda is launching a safety recall of 2012-2015 gl1800/a and 2013-2015 gl1800/b/bd motorcycles, and is implementing a recall remedy for 2001-2010 and 2012 gl 1800/a motorcycles already subject to…
SERVICE BULLETIN · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 29, 2015
"dealer message - the service bulletin in support of the safety recall of 2001-2015 gl1800/a and gl1800b/bd motorcycles for a potentially defective secondary master cylinder is posted on in. Servicebulletin safety…
DLR MSG - MC - S · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 23, 2015
Service bulletin - honda is launching a safety recall of 2001-2015 gl1800/a and gl1800b/bd motorcycles. Honda has determined that under conditions where the brake fluid is not replaced according to the maintenance…
INTERIM SERVICE · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 19, 2015
"honda is launching a safety recall on model year 2001 through 2015 gl1800/a and gl1800b/bd motorcycles to replace a potentially defective secondary master cylinder. Under conditions where the brake fluid is not…
DLR MSG - MC - S · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 16, 2015
Technician newsletter - navi map update cards, oil filter installation
MC - THE WRENCH · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 10, 2015
Dealer message - Honda has determined that, in some cases, the secondary master cylinder repair campaign conducted since 2011 (S/B GL1800 #20) was not sufficient to prevent the rear brake from dragging
DLR MSG - MC - S · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 20, 2014
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2008 Honda GL1800 has 4 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2008 Honda GL1800?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 18,500 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.