Friday, May 25, 2012

New life for a crashed 1984 GL1200 "on the road"

Marvin stopped by to show me his "New" 1984 GL1200 once he got it on the road.



He changed the exhaust and added a windshield & luggage rack (that I supplied) to the low rider.



I am so proud every time I see the bike, to think of the shape it was in when I first saw it.



I hope Marv will get a lot of miles from the bike from here on.



Because he is taller he wants to change back from the struts to original type shocks for a smoother ride.



I am now on the look out for a good set of spring shocks that will fit the bike. All of the ones I have won't work, he needs a shock with the round eyelets on the top and bottom.

I put over 700 miles on the trike over Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, last week riding with the GWRRA chapter W. around the New York State Finger lakes.

Time out to visit my step-son in New Hampshire this holiday weekend, no riding or working.

Friday, May 11, 2012

New life for a crashed 1984 GL1200 Finished

Finished the crashed 1984 GL1200 today.

I put on the struts, and all that is left is for the new owner to do a clean-up on it.

I think it looks pretty good being that I used almost all GL1000 parts to fix it, and none fit right to begin with.

I took it down the driveway and I can actually touch my toes on it, no training wheels, if you remember I'm only 5' 2" and that's the stock seat I think.





It really rides smooth even with having struts on it instead of shocks.

I'm Happy

Thursday, May 10, 2012

New life for a crashed 1984 GL1200

Some of you might wonder why the posts have come to a halt all of the sudden, well
I have entered into a project with a guy here in Rochester that
purchased a 1984 GL1200 that was crashed and now won't run or start.
He is on a very limited budget and I am trying to get the bike going by
adapting parts from my GL1000 collection.

Also the wiring was hacked by the previous owner. He took off the ignition
switch and put in a toggle switch. He had the headlight hanging from one
broken bracket, and generally messed up everything he touched.

I am just trying to get it back on the road as cheap as I can for the guy.

I have almost finished the bike and it is ready to ride.

This is basically what I did.

I slit a set of GL1000 headlight brackets on the back side
and cut them to length to fit in between the triple trees.
I then slipped them over the forks and held them in place with 2 radiator clamps on each side.



I then attached a gl1000 headlight to the brackets.





I installed a GL1000 solenoid with a 30 amp inline fuse in the GL1200.

I welded a 1 3/4 adapter to the rusted through header pipes and cut some old custom mufflers at the inlets
and welded them to the adapters to make a one piece header muffler system for each side.







I cut off the rear of the slash on the mufflers.



I took a porta-power and straightened the rear of the frame that was bent.
I also straightened the front crash bar as best as I could because the GL1000 bars I had didn't fit the GL1200.

I also had to straighten the clutch handle to get the safety switch to work again.

I used gl1000 gauges, (the tachometer won't work because his was electronic and mine is cable driven) but the tachometer has a temperature gauge in it.



I cut the plastic bezel that goes around the ignition switch to make it fit.

I installed GL1000 handlebars.

I installed the fuel gauge from a GL1000 in a pod on top of the false tank.



I drilled the mounting holes on a GL1000 ignition switch and rewired it for the GL1200,
it works OK but it doesn't have an accessory position.

I bled the clutch and refilled it with clean brake fluid, with the air out it works fine.

I took out all the crimp connectors that the previous owner installed and soldered all the wires.
I had to cut up an old GL1000 wiring harness to get all the right colors of wires and connectors for the bike.

I took two GL1200 rear fenders and cut them then welded them together to make a rear fender.
I welded two brackets to the rear of the frame to hold the bottom of the fender.



I trimmed the front fender where it was broken from the crash.

I took the bike down the drive way, and shifted it through the gears
and it seems to go OK now, but needs shocks.

I am now making some solid aluminum struts for the GL1200 because the air shocks were frozen and the new owner wanted me to lower the bike as much as possible.

When the struts are done it will roll out of here and I will be done with it.
I have learned a lot about a Honda GL1200 and how they go together.



I wound up putting about 75 hours into the bike but I think it looks OK and it will be a good ride for the new owner.



Time for a rest.