Anyone with Goldwing experience?

[Guest]

Looking at picking up a 77 GL1000. Has 50k miles, seems clean with the right mods (koni, dyna, etc). What do you guys think of these?

[GS1150Pilot]

They have a fantastic reputation. Randakk has done amazing things with those.

http://randakks.com/

[Steve]

Great bikes. Honda designed it as the first full-litre 'superbike', but the buyers kinda detoured that intention. With its smoothness and apparent reliability, they started hanging luggage and other accessories on it and went TOURING.

If that bike has been used somewhat regularly and somewhat recently, the main things to look for would be timing belt replacement and possibly the idler/tensioners for those belts. Some of the early ones had problems with water pumps, but that is relatively easy to fix.

.

[chuck hahn]

I have 80,000 on my 75 GL1000 and its rock solid. The "naked wings" are easy to work on too. Go to a forum called NGW CLUB and the home page has lots of links..much like the GSR has Bikecliff. Now be aware these bikes , as Steve said< were designed to be high performance race engines. That being said they DO NOT like to idle low without sounding chunky. Mine smooths out around 1300 so thats pretty much where I leave it.

Theres a pilot air jet mod that really makes the pilot circuit and cols tarting much easier. The factory pilot air jets really make it lean and you can choke it till the battery is almost worn down sometimes and it wants to fight. I just soldered up my jets and redrilled them per the tutorial and am very pleased now. Here the said read...

http://www.randakksblog.com/how-to-cure-off-idle-flat-spot/#more-241

http://www.ngwclub.com/

[Ecklund]

Recently bought a '75 myself. Has really turned out to be a great bike.

Currently has super bike bars and small mirrors but that can be changed easily enough.

As mentioned, LOTS of internet and other support.

[Ecklund]

Looking at picking up a 77 GL1000. Has 50k miles, seems clean with the right mods (koni, dyna, etc). What do you guys think of these?

Was a bit curious if you ended up with the GL.

And if you are going to mod it in any way.

[gsrick]

Looking at picking up a 77 GL1000. Has 50k miles, seems clean with the right mods (koni, dyna, etc). What do you guys think of these?

I brought back to life a friend of mines after it sat for a year and a half. The usual stuff, the fluid in the brakes crystalized, dead starter and a crankcase full of fuel mixed oil. His brother gave it to him and had drained the carbs before storing it, but while trying to get it going again he forgot to shut off the fuel valve. Starter rebuild is a simple process and after cleaning out the brake system, it impressed me enough that I have one of my FJs(project bike) on CList trying to trade for one myself. Here was his caféd out, the tail section used the original seat pan. He sold it reciently and it now lives down in the Ft. Myer area.

PS one problem I didn't like was that I never could get the front brake lever to give the feel I like. It had a lot of travel before it grabbed. I like a touchy brake, for those panic grabs. I bled and bled that front system till my fingers cramped, even did the overnight lever trick. I was told that it was probably the type of aftermarket pads that were on it. That the Honda factory pads used a thicker plate and friction material. Seems to me new pads no matter what brand should get pushed out to the rotor and the fluid fills in behind the piston, you know how it works as pads wear down. Guess I'll find out when I get one of my own.

[Ecklund]

Nice job on the GL.

The cafe tail section is not my thing and the bars are a bit low but I really like the nekked GL look and how they run. I wonder what shocks those are.



This is a pic of the '75 I recently bought. I have a set of black Daytona bars to install.

You can see the sidecar under the window.

[chuck hahn]

Mine... paid 300 bucks.

[Ecklund]

Nice bike. And for $300? Very nice.

I know lots of guys like air cooled bikes more but even at 40 years old this bike checks lots of boxes for me. Smooth, fast, good seating position with lots of room.

Mine has SS lines, but I'm going to do the suspension like my 1100e. Racetech springs and emulators and a fork brace. The PO dropped the forks about an inch. I'm thinking some better grade shocks at about an inch longer than stock.

Have to loose that goofy fairing the PO installed. Just a nice big round headlight is the look. I don't know what the PO was thinkin with the yellow headlight...

[Ecklund]

I brought back to life a friend of mines after it sat for a year and a half. The usual stuff, the fluid in the brakes crystalized, dead starter and a crankcase full of fuel mixed oil. His brother gave it to him and had drained the carbs before storing it, but while trying to get it going again he forgot to shut off the fuel valve. Starter rebuild is a simple process and after cleaning out the brake system, it impressed me enough that I have one of my FJs(project bike) on CList trying to trade for one myself. Here was his caféd out, the tail section used the original seat pan. He sold it reciently and it now lives down in the Ft. Myer area.

PS one problem I didn't like was that I never could get the front brake lever to give the feel I like. It had a lot of travel before it grabbed. I like a touchy brake, for those panic grabs. I bled and bled that front system till my fingers cramped, even did the overnight lever trick. I was told that it was probably the type of aftermarket pads that were on it. That the Honda factory pads used a thicker plate and friction material. Seems to me new pads no matter what brand should get pushed out to the rotor and the fluid fills in behind the piston, you know how it works as pads wear down. Guess I'll find out when I get one of my own.

Raddak sells an updated front brake master cylinder and level combo that he says fixes the issues you mention.

[overboostin]

Was a bit curious if you ended up with the GL.

And if you are going to mod it in any way.

Haven't bought it yet. Waiting on my next paycheck. I don't have any mod plans for it besides maybe some lower bars. Here's the bike (he already recovered the seat)




He's asking $2,700 and it also comes with this 84 GS550E that's currently not running. It includes a dynojet kit and a 4-1. What do you guys think, worth it?

[alke46]

[QUOTE=gsrick;2203996]I brought back to life a friend of mines after it sat for a year and a half. The usual stuff, the fluid in the brakes crystalized, dead starter and a crankcase full of fuel mixed oil. His brother gave it to him and had drained the carbs before storing it, but while trying to get it going again he forgot to shut off the fuel valve. Starter rebuild is a simple process and after cleaning out the brake system, it impressed me enough that I have one of my FJs(project bike) on CList trying to trade for one myself. Here was his caféd out, the tail section used the original seat pan. He sold it reciently and it now lives down in the Ft. Myer area.



That is one bad-ass looking GL. Nice job on the resto.

[nvr2old]

I have a '77 that I've modified a bit. Very cool bike to own. Smooth, quiet, comfy. My only complaint is the carbs. They were crap right off the show floor. Mine stumbles off idle horribly. Never have been able to fix it, even with a total rebuild. If I "launch" it in 1st gear it's fine and runs great once underway. Sounds like Radaak and Chuck have a solution, though.

[Ecklund]

Haven't bought it yet. Waiting on my next paycheck. I don't have any mod plans for it besides maybe some lower bars. Here's the bike (he already recovered the seat)




He's asking $2,700 and it also comes with this 84 GS550E that's currently not running. It includes a dynojet kit and a 4-1. What do you guys think, worth it?

Both bikes will take some work. Those square tube Suzukis are not the most attractive bikes. But personal preference is everything. Even if you put $200 in the 550 and sell it for a $1000 you'd still have $1900 in the GL. As that is the bike you seem to be after I would suggest doing a quick search in year area to see what GLs are going for. I think you will find that $1900 buys quite a nice GL. An unknown like the one you are looking at would easily be in the $1100 range or less.

And do you really want to mess around fixing up the 550 to sell?

There's a member on the forum, 83GS1100E_Tornado. He follows prices on older Japanese bikes pretty closely. He might be a good resource.

Even on this post you can see Chuck Hahn bought a reasonably nice one for $300. I'd say that's exceptional though.

There are bags of GL1000s out there. Be patient and you can find a decent one for a reasonable price.