Hard tail Honda GL1000 Goldwing Bobber #44

I finally got out to the garage today.

I finished drilling and tapping the frame to bolt the
left rear panel on.

I like the looks of it, I think I will keep it.
I plan on bolting it on with round head Allen bolts.

I built a frame to hold an auxiliary gas tank for starting the other Goldwings.

About a month ago I was searching E-Bay and found 3 old pin wrenches for $10.00.
The seller didn't know what they were for, but the price was cheap, and pin wrenches are hard to find.

I bought them and they sat in the garage because I wasn't feeling that well so I wasn't working.

Today I checked them out and low and behold the first one fit the big bearing nut on the Goldwing steering fork.

The second was close to the top nut on the forks.
A little grinding on the edges and I now have wrenches to use on the steering forks.
What a great buy.

The last thing I did was clean up the shop, I need to make some room for the New Trike when I get it.

I hope to get back to the garage tomorrow, I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Rigid Honda GL1000 Goldwing Bobber #43

If you have noticed that I have slowed down on the entries to this post, it is because I have some health problems.

These problems have limited my work in the garage, and have also got me thinking about how much riding time I have left in this life.

Man I had to grovel to get this one.

Once I got off my knees I purchased and picked up a 31,000 mile 1996 GL1500 SE beauty from the original owner who had a stroke and felt he couldn't ride safely any more.

I told my wife (Betty) that it will hold it's value so even if I don't last that long she can get the money back.

It is two tone Magenta (purple) loaded.

Immediately after buying the bike I delivered it to Mid-State Trikes to get a new independent suspension trike kit put on it.

I will get it back in about 5 weeks ready to go, I can't wait.

This in no way, well maybe a little, interfere with the work on the lowering of the GL1000 I still want to get it done if I possibly can. But I also want to ride this year.

I am getting help with the wiring diagram and I have been buying parts to use when I get back to work.

Stay tuned

Chopping a Honda GL1000 Goldwing #43

I picked up my radiator from Empire Radiator, the only shop in the city of Rochester that has a boil out tank.
They boiled it, and pressure tested it, so I don't have to worry about that when the bike goes together.

Great people to do business with in Rochester NY, Mike belongs to the local Goldwing club.
They are also making a one piece flexible rear caliper hose.

Back to the garage I cut up a battery box and took the mount for the rectifier and condensers and welded it to the piece under the seat.

I then traced out a piece of cardboard on the bike for a panel to go on the rear.
I cut it out of 12 gauge steel and drilled it to mount to the gussets.
I am looking for your input as to what you think of it.

I plan on fastening it with round head 6mm x 1.0 Allen screws.

Let me know if you don't like it because the holes can always be welded back up.

I am now thinking about running a similar piece of sheet metal under the gas tank to fill the void between the tank and the frame tube.

Honda GL1000 Goldwing Chopper #42

Saturday, I Thought I would take a different route and check out one of the other GL1000's that I had bought over the past summer.

You may recall that I had removed all the farings and bags from the 6 bikes when I purchased them just so they would fit into the garage and sheds.

One of the bikes looked to be mostly all there so I played with it and got it running.
It ran great, idled fine so it was put in the garage for storage until needed.

I decided to check out another of the bikes, a 1975 GL1000 frame number GL11013158, engine number GL1E-1013380.

When I started really looking at the bike, I noticed that it didn't have wire spooked wheels.
Then I saw that it didn't have a kick start either although it came with a kick start handle.

I rechecked all the numbers and they do go with a 1975 GL1000 motorcycle, so I am asking the question - - - did some of the 1975's come without the spoke wheels and kick start?

Both items could have been changed by a previous owner, so I am just curious.

Well after checking out the bike I found that someone had reversed the #2 and #4 plug wires and all the spark plugs were loose. The start button was not working, and #1 plug wire was not even connected (screwed into the adapter at the end).

I hooked up an auxiliary gas tank, although at first I always try to start it with a little ether only just to see if it will fire.

I checked spark to the plugs, the plugs looked new, but had carbon on them like they were run rich for a few seconds. I cleaned the plugs with a rag, and the black wiped right off.

That's when I found that the #2 and #4 were reversed, I traced the wires to the coil and they were wired #1 and #4 to the right coil #2 and #3 to the left coil. someone had reversed the wires in the rubber holder and then had the #4 wire going to the #2 cylinder.

After bolting everything that needed to be grounded to the frame in various spots, I gave it a shot of ether and it fired right off running for a few seconds with no knocks or back fires.

I put a little gas in the tank and it fired and ran about 30 seconds but then the center manifold started to fill with a little gas and the engine flooded out.

I think that possibly one of the carburetors may have a sticking needle and seat and the pump is overfilling the carburetor and the valve isn't shutting the gas off.

Any way the engine sounds fine, so I am 2 for 2 in getting engines that are OK from the parts bikes I purchased over the summer.

I am now trying to figure out what I would need to put together a starter board to hook up engines to so that they wouldn't need the wiring harness or extra stuff just to get them running.

Below is a photo of the bike with the wheels in question for a 1975 GL1000.

Did these come on a 75 or were they changed?
What about the lack of a kick start, the numbers match those of a 1975 on the engine?

Chopping a Honda GL1000 Goldwing #41

I went shopping for a couple of gaskets and the piston seal ring on the front forks of a GL1000.
Honda does not sell the plastic ring that goes inside the front forks on a GL1000.
My local dealer did a search and found that Geoff Bodine Honda in Florida had one in their stock.

I called them to order it (one is better than none) and they found another also, so I have the two I need to rebuild the front forks.
$13.18 in parts and $8.00 shipping, for two plastic washers that would fit in an envelope, but I am just thankful someone actually had them.

I am still looking for more, for the bike that will be stock with the side car.

Back to the garage yesterday, I started by rounding the corners of the rear seat mount.

I cleaned the grime from one of the front fork legs just to see what it might look like.
This is one of the newer front forks (1977 - 1979) I plan on painting the lower leg Black I think.

Next I decided to cut some filler plates to go on the frame below the rear of the gas tank.
After fitting them I thought they looked OK, and when everything is together they will dress up the rear tank area a little.

I welded them in and filled the front of them, more grinding to do here too.

I plan on getting into my space suit and doing all the grinding at one time.

I also made a lower rear fender mount and welded it to the frame crossbar.

I like this set-up better.



I plan on cutting off the one I put on before at the very bottom of the fender, because it would have been too hard to install the bolts later when I finish the bike.