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I decided to ride my '81 1000G to my brother's place in Phoenix this weekend. Left Anaheim around Noon Thursday. I really don't care for slogging up the I-10 with the trucks, so headed up through 29 Palms, Parker, and Salome. It was nice and warm, and I drank probably close to 2 gallons of water durring and after the trip. It was pretty darned windy in both directions, mostly a tail/cross on the way, and a pretty fierce headwind on the return, especially around Cabazon.
The bike ran perfectly. I had changed the oil, checked the valve clearance, and synched the carbs before leaving. It was a couple ounces under full after the trip there, so I topped it off. It was about 8 oz. low on return. I have not found a leak. There is no mess on it, its as clean as when I left, except for a little oil on the lower left leg of the center stand.
My brother gave me the aluminum trim from the tail of his 1000G. Mine was terrible, and the PO had glued it on such that the paint on the tail is ruined under the trim. His trim really helped what was the worst cosmetic flaw on the bike, so I really appreciated it. I don't really miss that trim on a G when its missing. It is missing on nearly all of our G's, but the paint on all those is good even where the trim used to be, and they look OK.
I was pretty unsure about riding accross the desert all day in the heat, but it wasn't all that bad. It would have been much better with some mesh gear though. The antique Hein Grieke textile jacket I wore is far from state of the art for ventilation. When I took a break in Parker, I found that I was a bit dizzy and overheated. The ride was finished up in a tee shirt after a liter of water and a 44 oz iced tea. I have a mesh jacket, but its in Maine.
Anyway, that was the shakedown of this bike. I go the PO wiring mods ironed out by replacing the wiring harness and left switch pod with one from Sedelen. It uses a Shinendgen Duaneage R/R. The Hagon shocks work very well. On the way back, the tach did act up a bit, it seemed to hang at about 4500 a bit while the speed fluctuated. Overall it was successful, but I'll have to figue out the oil thing. Also, I still have not figured out how to repair the self cancelling turn signals. At least they are at least blinking reliably now. I switched out the switch pod several times, the wiring harness, speedometer, and numerous controllers and relays, but no joy in Mudville with the self cancell.
The bike ran perfectly. I had changed the oil, checked the valve clearance, and synched the carbs before leaving. It was a couple ounces under full after the trip there, so I topped it off. It was about 8 oz. low on return. I have not found a leak. There is no mess on it, its as clean as when I left, except for a little oil on the lower left leg of the center stand.
My brother gave me the aluminum trim from the tail of his 1000G. Mine was terrible, and the PO had glued it on such that the paint on the tail is ruined under the trim. His trim really helped what was the worst cosmetic flaw on the bike, so I really appreciated it. I don't really miss that trim on a G when its missing. It is missing on nearly all of our G's, but the paint on all those is good even where the trim used to be, and they look OK.
I was pretty unsure about riding accross the desert all day in the heat, but it wasn't all that bad. It would have been much better with some mesh gear though. The antique Hein Grieke textile jacket I wore is far from state of the art for ventilation. When I took a break in Parker, I found that I was a bit dizzy and overheated. The ride was finished up in a tee shirt after a liter of water and a 44 oz iced tea. I have a mesh jacket, but its in Maine.
Anyway, that was the shakedown of this bike. I go the PO wiring mods ironed out by replacing the wiring harness and left switch pod with one from Sedelen. It uses a Shinendgen Duaneage R/R. The Hagon shocks work very well. On the way back, the tach did act up a bit, it seemed to hang at about 4500 a bit while the speed fluctuated. Overall it was successful, but I'll have to figue out the oil thing. Also, I still have not figured out how to repair the self cancelling turn signals. At least they are at least blinking reliably now. I switched out the switch pod several times, the wiring harness, speedometer, and numerous controllers and relays, but no joy in Mudville with the self cancell.
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