for the long haul, wind protection, a smooth ride, a comfortable seat, luggage storage, and power in abundance. In America in the early 1970s, long-distance motorcyclists had only a few manufacturers to choose from: Harley-Davidson, Moto Guzzi and BMW. The H-D Electra Glide was a comfortable, high-maintenance and high-vibration motorcycle with a loyal cult following. It faced strong competition from Moto Guzzi's 850cc Eldorado. BMW motorcycles were smoother and more reliable, if expensive. Other large Japanese motorcycles, such as the Honda CB750 and the Kawasaki Z1 were cheaper but were not ideal tourers with their small fuel tanks and rear drive-chains needing regular maintenance. The Gold Wing was aimed at a newly emerging market segment, namely, a new kind of American long-distance rider who was not likely to buy a Harley-Davidson or BMW but who would open their wallets for a reliable machine offering comfort, endurance, low maintenance, and a smooth, torquey, quiet engine. The Gold Wing's secondary target market was Europe, where riders prioritised handling and performance over luxury. (The European market's special demands subsequently led to the Honda Pan European). Though other motorcycle manufacturers build touring bikes, no other touring bike has achieved the popularity of the Gold Wing. M1 prototype & Project 371 In 1972, the project team broke from Honda practice to produce an experimental prototype motorcycle code-named "M1". Instead of the usual transverse engine layout with a chain final drive, the M1 had a longitudinal engine suitable for shaft drive. The M1 had a 1470cc liquid-cooled flat-six engine, (twice the displacement of the CB750). Instead of seeking high performance (as some engineers had wanted), the M1 engine was designed to have a broad torque output and to produce at 6700 rpm, with a top speed of . The brainstorming team's M1 project was never intended as a production prototype. Nonetheless, the M1 should be seen as the primordial Gold Wing because so many of its distinctive features appeared on the GL1000. The flat-six gave the M1 a low center of gravity, enhancing stability, but the extreme length of the engine/gearbox unit resulted in a cramped riding position. Instead, the project team chose to build a bike with a compact one liter flat-four engine. This bike was code-named "Project 371", and Toshio Nozue (who had worked on CB750 development) took over from Irimajiri as project leader. 1st Generation GL1000 The Project 371 team finally settled on