2026 Honda Gold Wing DCT vs 2026 Harley-Davidson Road King Special - Spec Comparison
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2026 Honda Gold Wing DCT
The 2026 Honda Gold Wing DCT is a premium touring cruiser designed for long-distance riders seeking unmatched comfort and technology. Its potent 1,833cc flat-six engine paired with automatic DCT transmission delivers smooth, effortless highway performance ideal for two-up touring. Known for legendary reliability and refined cruising capability, it excels at absorbing miles while maintaining luxury-car levels of comfort and control.
2026 Harley-Davidson Road King Special
The 2026 Harley-Davidson Road King Special is a heavyweight touring cruiser designed for riders seeking classic styling with modern performance. Powered by the Milwaukee-Eight 114 V-twin engine producing 95 horsepower and 165.4 Nm of torque, it excels at long-distance highway cruising with comfortable ergonomics and extensive storage. This iconic model is renowned for its timeless design, dependable reliability, and commanding presence on the road.
2026 Honda Gold Wing DCT vs 2026 Harley-Davidson Road King Special: the key differences
Both are touring bikes, so this is a like-for-like choice.
- The 2026 Honda Gold Wing DCT makes 23 hp more (118 vs 95 hp).
- The 2026 Harley-Davidson Road King Special has a 49 mm lower seat (696 vs 745 mm), which helps shorter riders.
2026 Honda Gold Wing DCT: Built for effortless, long-distance touring with maximum comfort rather than outright speed or sportiness.
2026 Harley-Davidson Road King Special: A stripped-down bagger built for relaxed long-haul highway cruising and open-road touring with saddlebags, windshield and cruise control.
Verdict: Choose the 2026 Honda Gold Wing DCT if you want more power. Choose the 2026 Harley-Davidson Road King Special if you want a lower seat. Check the full table below for every figure, and the size comparison for fit.
| Specification | 2026 Honda Gold Wing DCT | 2026 Harley-Davidson Road King Special |
|---|---|---|
| Other | ||
| Category | Touring | Touring |
| Color Options | - | Vivid Black, Whiskey Fire, Billiard Gray, |
| Fork tube size | - | 49 mm (1.9 inches) |
| Spark plugs | - | NGK CR9E, NGK CR9EIX |
| Brake fluid | - | DOT 4 |
| Tire pressure front | - | 36 PSI (2.5 Bar or 250 kPa) |
| Tire pressure rear | - | 41 PSI (2.8 Bar or 280 kPa) |
| Sprockets | - | 32/68 (front/rear) |
| Engine | ||
| Capacity: | 1833.0 ccm (111.86 cubic inches) | 1868.0 ccm (113.99 cubic inches) |
| Engine Type | Boxer, four-stroke | V-Twin, four-stroke |
| Bore x Stroke | 73.0 x 73.0 mm (2.9 x 2.9 inches) | 102.0 x 114.3 mm (4.0 x 4.5 inches) |
| Compression | 10.5:1 | 10.5:1 |
| Cooling System | Liquid | Air |
| Fuel System | Injection | Injection |
| Starting | Electric | Electric |
| Ignition | Computer-controlled digital with three-dimensional mapping | - |
| Valves Per Cylinder | 4 | - |
| Fuel Consumption | - | 5.50 litres/100 km (18.2 km/l or 42.77 mpg) |
| Lubrication System | - | Dry sump |
| Performance | ||
| Power | ✓118.0 HP (93.0 kW) @ 5500 RPM | 95.0 HP (69.3 kW) @ 5020 RPM |
| Torque | ✓170.0 Nm (17.3 kgf-m or 125.4 ft.lbs) @ 4500 RPM | 165.4 Nm (16.9 kgf-m or 122.0 ft.lbs) @ 2750 RPM |
| Power/Weight Ratio | 0.3164 HP/kg (wet) | 0.2706 HP/kg (dry) |
| Chassis & suspension | ||
| Frame | Twin-spar aluminum frame | - |
| Front Suspension | Double Wishbone Type; 4.3 inches travel | Telescopic fork, 49 mm dual bending valve |
| Rear Suspension | Pro Arm® single-side swingarm with Pro-Link® single shock; 4.1 inches travel | Twin shocks, premium low hand-adjustable |
| Rear Wheel Travel | 104 mm (4.1 inches) | - |
| Rake (fork angle) | 30.5° | 26.0° |
| Trail | 109 mm (4.3 inches) | 175 mm (6.9 inches) |
| Ground Clearance | 130 mm (5.1 inches) | 124 mm (4.9 inches) |
| Brakes & wheels | ||
| Front Brakes | 320mm x 4.5mm dual hydraulic disc with 6-piston calliper, floating rotors and sintered metal pads | Double disc. ABS. 4-piston |
| Front Brakes Diameter | 320 mm (12.6 inches) | - |
| Rear Brakes | 316mm x 11mm ventilated disc with 3-piston calliper and sintered metal pads | Single disc. ABS. 4-piston |
| Front Tyre | 130/70R18 M/C 63H | 130/60B19 |
| Rear Tyre | 200/55R16 M/C 77H | 180/55B18 |
| ABS | - | Yes |
| Dimensions & weight | ||
| Wheelbase | 1695 mm (66.7 inches) | 1625 mm (64.0 inches) |
| Seat Height | 745 mm (29.3 inches) | ✓696 mm (27.4 inches) |
| Wet Weight | 373.0 kg (822.3 pounds) | ✓366.0 kg (806.9 pounds) |
| Fuel Capacity | 21.00 litres (5.55 US gallons) | ✓22.70 litres (6.00 US gallons) |
| Overall Length | - | 2420 mm (95.3 inches) |
| Overall Width | - | 990 mm (39.0 inches) |
| Overall Height | - | 1150 mm (45.3 inches) |
| Dry weight | - | 351.1 kg (774.0 pounds) |
| Oil capacity | - | 4.90 litres (5.18 US quarts) |
| Transmission | ||
| Transmission Type | Automatic | Manual |
| Final Drive | Shaft | Belt |
| Clutch | 7-speed Automatic DCT transmission | Multi-plate with diaphragm spring in oil bath |
| Gearbox | - | 6-speed |
"Best" (✓) reflects that single spec only, not overall suitability - a bike can win on paper and still be the wrong choice for you. Ties are all marked; specs with no clear better/worse direction (e.g. displacement, wheel size) are never marked, only tinted where bikes differ.
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About this comparison tool
This tool puts up to four motorcycles side by side across their full specification sheets, drawn from a database of 43,000+ models and 1.60M+ individual specifications. Wherever a spec has a clear "better" direction - more power, less weight - the strongest figure in that row is highlighted automatically.
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What gets compared
Specs are pulled from the same categories used throughout the site: engine and transmission (capacity, power, torque, gearbox), physical measures (weight, seat height, fuel and tank capacity), frame and dimensions, speed and acceleration, and brakes, suspension, frame and wheels (including tyres) - plus general information and maintenance data where it's on record for a bike.
How the highlighting works, and its limits
A highlighted cell means one bike has the clearly better raw number for that spec - more power, less weight, and so on. Fields where "better" genuinely depends on the rider - seat height above all - are deliberately never highlighted: a lower seat isn't automatically the right choice, it's a fit question only you can answer. Winning a row also isn't the same as winning the comparison - a bike can lead on paper in half the rows and still be the wrong bike for you.
Frequently asked questions
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Are older model years included?
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