Sorry for all your experiences with the case damage.  Thanks for sharing your story in such detail!  I have a 2018 DCT Tour and also Progressive insurance.  Glad they took care of things!  I also have a crank-case guard plate that I have not installed yet.  Sure will now!

The good thing you are safe nothing else matters

There are aftermarket engine guards to prevent this but it’s a known soft spot on the GW and should be an OEM that comes with the bike from Honda.

Nice presentation Mark. I want to add a second bike to my garage and have thought about the NT but going back to a chain gives me pause especially if you take it on a long road trip. Good luck deciding.

That was a really good report / layout of the situation, I truly hope you get another Goldwing as I have enjoyed all the information you have shared throughout your ownership of the wing. Thanks for sharing and keep up the fight.

Informative video, also good to fall asleep too

What a shame!!!

There's nothing wrong with the chassis or body so...If you're so inclined, you might want to buy back the 'scrap' and find a wrecked GW to swap that engine into your chassis. Looking on EBay, there are quite a few 1800 engine assemblies available with the 6-speed manual transmission for $5000-$8000.

But a brand new bike is in order as well.

Glad your insurance is taking proper care of you in this situation!! Best wishes!!

So sorry to hear this Mark. Progressive rocks! They made the right call. Looking forward to seeing your next bike. All that you mentioned are definitely qualified candidates. God bless.

Another Wisconsin boy here. I'm now living in the Deep South of Alabama, 12 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. Sorry about your troubles but enjoyed you naming the UP/Northern Wisconsin towns on your route. I was a Green Bay resident for 34 years prior to my move (GO PACK GO!!!) and my relations were (are) all Yoopers so I'm very familiar with the UP from East to West. My first bike at 16 was a Honda 90 SuperSport. First Wing was a brand new 1974. Rode the daylights out of that bike - Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, Minnesota. My Harley friends wouldn't ride with me because "you ride too far". I averaged 15,000 miles a year in the short window of riding weather us Northern Wisconsin fellers have. Had my fair share of near misses (never went down or got squished) and one day I began getting this overwhelming message from the Universe that my time was up. Couldn't shake it. Reluctantly sold my last Wing and bought a boat - rarely used it. 74 now and bikeless for about 30 years. Now the Universe is talking to me again - "get a bike, get a bike, get a bike...". The fever is strong and I find myself searching Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for used Wings. Holy smokes! I was shocked at the number of used Wings out there for not a ton of money. Being a poor feller living on my meager Social Security I'm looking at a max price of $8000. I can pickup a great shape 1500 for cheap but carburetors? Not so sure about especially not knowing the maintenance history of the bike. Because of the ages of the Wings in my price range I'll be doing the maintenance myself. I've always been supernaturally drawn to the Pearl Yellow Wings. So I'm on the hunt for a Big Banana with FI. When I find one the first thing I'll do is install a Traxxion Dynamics belly pan to make sure I don't have a situation like you and others have experienced. Any hoo... new subscriber to your channel and looking forward to your new bike. My money is on the Wing. Take care, my friend...

If its totaled, i would by it back, i could have that welded up in 1/2 hour.

Little JB Weld it'll be fine. 😉
But I find it funny that while watching a video about a Goldwing,  I get advertising for Harly Davidson.  😆

If it was mine, I'd buy the bike from the insurance and have the case welded.  I've seen way worse case breakage; old Honda CB750's where the chain ventilated the crankcase get welded.  This small puncture could get TIG welded.  Funny how they'll do a weld repair on FRAMES and no problem there.....

Mark what a random event and strange location.  I agree with Progressive's assessment however.  I'm not sure that bike, once put back together, would be spec perfect, ever again.  Looking forward to your choice of replacement and again I say, the largest blessing here is that you were not hurt !!  God Bless.

Definitely check out the NT1100! I have both a Goldwing and an NT1100 and honestly, for solo riding, I prefer the NT1100. I actually just posted a few videos on my channel about the NT1100 and how it compares to the Goldwing. I’m just a rookie YouTuber, but I’ve had both bikes for a while now! Good luck in your search and ride safe!

There's a 2025 gold goldwing for 25k at stroom in Boundarant Iowa.  Brand new left over.   Put a traxxion guard on it.

I now have a skid plate under my Goldwing. I had put it off and sometimes forgot about it until I saw your videos here. I know Cruiseman and everyone else recommends the skid plate protection. We just had a minor fender damage on our car but insurance did total loss due to cost of repair vs value of vehicle. Thanks for sharing your experience. It definitely motivated me to immediately order and install a skid plate

That seems like a very small puncture. I'm thinking that a skilled Tig welder back purging the entire crank case could weld that thing up in about 10 minutes.

Hi Mark,   what a tough way for a great trip to end. I can only imagine the shock of hearing that bang, seeing the smoke, and then watching the oil pour out of your Gold Wing. I’m just thankful you were able to get safely off the road—that’s the most important thing.
It sounds like Progressive treated you pretty fairly through the process, and I am glad to hear that because *I ride with Flo too!* 😄 I think declaring it a total loss was probably the right call rather than completely tearing down and rebuilding the bike.
As a fellow Gold Wing rider, I’ll be very interested to see what you decide on next. The NT1100 and BMWs are nice bikes…but somehow I have a feeling there may be another Wing in your future! Glad you’re okay, my friend, and looking forward to the next report.

Very lucky in the uk I’m sure a insurance company would not pay out for engine damage

I watched a YouTube channel only the other day where a Goldwing owner was talking about a flawed with modern GW in that they bottom out too easy. His friend a fellow GW owner roder over a speed hump and the suspension bottomed out the engine case hit the road and cracked. He said that the repair was going to be $12,000 plus to fix. These bikes should have an engine guard as standard not an accessory.