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Now that it runs and rides, I think this project deserves its own thread.
In the beginning (last summer), I saw this picture, of a GL1000, and just had to have one. (This pic and all following are click able for hi-res)
So I started a search for my own. I found this one for $300 dollars on craigslist. It was a little rough, it hadn't moved under its own power in about 30 years, the clutch was so stiff you had to put your back into it and the tires belonged in a museum.
Then 2 days later, I picked up this 78 as a parts bike.
Turns out that 78 was in much worse shape that I had anticipated. The steering bearings felt like they were full of gravel and the wiring harness had been so badly modified, the fuse box was just a melted pile of plastic.
It did however give up a few parts that are on my 76 now such as the rear wheel and it had a Dyna S ignition which I've pulled but have not installed.
However, shortly after I picked up both of those, in late September I crashed my 1984 VF500F and broke my wrist. While that healed, that put a bit of a damper on my plans so the goldwings sat idle for several months. In the interim, I also build my 1993 CB750 which I sold for a small profit.
Anyways, around March, I got tired of looking at the goldwings in my garage and decided I actually wanted to get mine done, so the proper tear down began. Part of the reason I got mine so cheap was something in the wiring appeared to be broken, turning the key on with a good battery did nothing. It turns out there 2 six pin connectors in the headlight bucket, one goes to the ignition switch and one doesn't. At some point the previous owner confused them and when I put them back in the correct place, the electrical system was working perfectly.
Here is a shot of the workspace, my one car garage under my apartment.
I got the 78 torn down fully and sold off most of its parts. After I unloaded its remains cheap, I saw this 79 on Craigslist with a minty stock exhaust, something my quickly growing collection of parts was severely lacking, so I brought it home.
At some point it had been very near a fire. The left side of the engine was blackened with some char, the left hand grip was melted and the left fork scraper was also melted. Hence, it was quickly dubbed the 'firebike'.
It donated its forks, clutch cable, front wheel, and other bits and bobs to my 76, which now looked something like this.
From there I put in new cam belts, a freshly serviced radiator, new thermostat, new steering head bearings, and rebuilt forks, which got me to here.
From there I got the back end assembled with the firebike's rear brake setup, which amazingly was in great condition and got 2 wheels on it.
Now, at this point you may have noticed there are jackstands directly under the engine. This is a fine place to put them as they are very stable, however, getting them out is quite a challenged, especially since the GL weights 3 times what I do and I didn't have any help. Anyways, after I (barely) got those out, it was on the ground.
Part of my master plan was to use 78-79 control clusters. This was because a) I had a bunch of them in good shape and my right side 76 one was broken, and b) I didn't want to modify my original left side as it was in excellent shape. The problem is the 78-79 use plugs and the 75-77 use bullets, so I had a friend help me by building these adapter harnesses.
It may look like a mess but it works perfectly.
Once that got sorted, I hung some pipes and what do you know, it looks like a motorcycle again.
It even runs!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_nakGJRuuQ
Now it was time to tackle the last big job, the so called elephant in the room. The front brakes.
I pulled apart my stock 76 calipers, which other than being a bit sticky, looked to be in great shape from the outside. Once I got inside after freeing some stuck bolts with a hammer, I found this brown sludgy ooze.
It was no match for brake cleaner and I soon had them all shiny and new looking.
About a week later I finally secured a master cylinder and I can now declare it sort of finished, or at least mostly functional.
And look, it even goes (and stops!) under its own power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Mgg53aXCI&feature=player_embedded
Thanks for reading.
In the beginning (last summer), I saw this picture, of a GL1000, and just had to have one. (This pic and all following are click able for hi-res)
So I started a search for my own. I found this one for $300 dollars on craigslist. It was a little rough, it hadn't moved under its own power in about 30 years, the clutch was so stiff you had to put your back into it and the tires belonged in a museum.
Then 2 days later, I picked up this 78 as a parts bike.
Turns out that 78 was in much worse shape that I had anticipated. The steering bearings felt like they were full of gravel and the wiring harness had been so badly modified, the fuse box was just a melted pile of plastic.
It did however give up a few parts that are on my 76 now such as the rear wheel and it had a Dyna S ignition which I've pulled but have not installed.
However, shortly after I picked up both of those, in late September I crashed my 1984 VF500F and broke my wrist. While that healed, that put a bit of a damper on my plans so the goldwings sat idle for several months. In the interim, I also build my 1993 CB750 which I sold for a small profit.
Anyways, around March, I got tired of looking at the goldwings in my garage and decided I actually wanted to get mine done, so the proper tear down began. Part of the reason I got mine so cheap was something in the wiring appeared to be broken, turning the key on with a good battery did nothing. It turns out there 2 six pin connectors in the headlight bucket, one goes to the ignition switch and one doesn't. At some point the previous owner confused them and when I put them back in the correct place, the electrical system was working perfectly.
Here is a shot of the workspace, my one car garage under my apartment.
I got the 78 torn down fully and sold off most of its parts. After I unloaded its remains cheap, I saw this 79 on Craigslist with a minty stock exhaust, something my quickly growing collection of parts was severely lacking, so I brought it home.
At some point it had been very near a fire. The left side of the engine was blackened with some char, the left hand grip was melted and the left fork scraper was also melted. Hence, it was quickly dubbed the 'firebike'.
It donated its forks, clutch cable, front wheel, and other bits and bobs to my 76, which now looked something like this.
From there I put in new cam belts, a freshly serviced radiator, new thermostat, new steering head bearings, and rebuilt forks, which got me to here.
From there I got the back end assembled with the firebike's rear brake setup, which amazingly was in great condition and got 2 wheels on it.
Now, at this point you may have noticed there are jackstands directly under the engine. This is a fine place to put them as they are very stable, however, getting them out is quite a challenged, especially since the GL weights 3 times what I do and I didn't have any help. Anyways, after I (barely) got those out, it was on the ground.
Part of my master plan was to use 78-79 control clusters. This was because a) I had a bunch of them in good shape and my right side 76 one was broken, and b) I didn't want to modify my original left side as it was in excellent shape. The problem is the 78-79 use plugs and the 75-77 use bullets, so I had a friend help me by building these adapter harnesses.
It may look like a mess but it works perfectly.
Once that got sorted, I hung some pipes and what do you know, it looks like a motorcycle again.
It even runs!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_nakGJRuuQ
Now it was time to tackle the last big job, the so called elephant in the room. The front brakes.
I pulled apart my stock 76 calipers, which other than being a bit sticky, looked to be in great shape from the outside. Once I got inside after freeing some stuck bolts with a hammer, I found this brown sludgy ooze.
It was no match for brake cleaner and I soon had them all shiny and new looking.
About a week later I finally secured a master cylinder and I can now declare it sort of finished, or at least mostly functional.
And look, it even goes (and stops!) under its own power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Mgg53aXCI&feature=player_embedded
Thanks for reading.
Glad you had fun in the sun together 