Honda 79 GL1000 Questions

[twr1776]

I have a friend with a that is FINALLY going to let me install Progressive fork springs for him and he informed me he also needed a rear tire. I have seen a few wings with Elite IIIs but if anyone here has a suggestion I would appreciate it. He is currently running a 20+ year old crappy tire design and I need to "enlighten" him on Progressives and modern sticky tires.

[progas]

tires

The elites are good tires for that bike. You may want to look at the Metzeler 880 series, they are good tires, and would probably last longer than the Dunlops. I have sold them both with great results.....Bob

[Steve]

Not sure the Metzelers would outlast the Dunlops. I have several friends with Metzelers on their Wings, and they typically get about 15,000 miles on them. On my last two sets of Elite 3s, I have gotten 23,000 and 21,500 miles. I am now about 9,000 miles into my third set of E3s.

One of the biggest complaints about the E3s is that they 'sing' or 'howl' after a few thousand miles. The tread blocks, especially on the rear, will wear in a staggered pattern, causing the tire to howl when leaned into a turn. Does not have to be much of a turn, either, even a lane change will do it. Going straight is no problem, but what fun is a bike if there are no curves in the road?

I think they have been fixed by now, but there were several batches of Metzelers that were throwing chunks of tread from the tires with no warning. Didn't cause any air loss, but one chunk of rubber would be missing right down to the cords.

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[twr1776]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like the E3's to me, my friend does not lean it over at all and hopefully they have fixed the noise issue. I have the E3's on my 1100 and they are excellent tires IMHO. I am hoping once he gets new rubber and the progressives he will let me do the rear shocks as well. He has one of the cleanest GL's you will ever see but is big on the "OEM" look even though I am sure the rear shocks also need to go. Looking at the parts fiche the front forks look very similar to Suzuki forks. Any tips of the progressive install he does have a windjammer and I am hoping to slip them out the bottom or just flush them from the top.

[Steve]

Sadly, they have not resolved the noise issue, and probably won't, because that would involve a total re-design of the tire. The tread blocks on the rear tire wear in a sawtooth pattern and that is what makes the noise. In spite of the funny wear pattern, they last almost forever and handle well the whole time.

If he is that particular about having an OEM 'look', he is going to be stuck with OEM performance, too. Please convince him that tire technology has changed a bit in the last 30 years and to accept the new 'look'.

Just flushing out forks is not really a good way to do that. You will likely not get all the flush liquid out, leaving it to thin out the new fork oil, not to mention the old residue that the flush did not get out. Your best bet is to take the forks apart completely and also change the fork seals. This also gives you the opportunity to inspect the Teflon sliders to make sure they are not worn out.

Removing a Windjammer is relatively easy. Just inside the left panel (in front of the rider's knee) is an electrical plug. Remove that and four bolts from the mount and the 'Jammer lifts right off. Now you have easy access to the forks. When you get it all back together, use a suction device with a measured tube attached to ensure that you have the same level of FORK oil in both tubes. Depending on his weight and riding style, you might select either 10w or 15w fork oil. I use 10w in my 2000 GL1500SE, because the 15w did not respond to the ripples in the road, and actually made my wrists hurt after a couple hundred miles. Yeah, that's probably an all-day ride for some of you guys, but for Wingers, that's just a quick ride for coffee or DQ.

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[wazz]

If your only doing springs and not the seals, you should be able to do it for the top and not drop the fork legs ( worked on the connie ). Flush them well and it should be fine.

Check out Michelin for wing tires also.

-greg

[twr1776]

wazz If your only doing springs and not the seals, you should be able to do it for the top and not drop the fork legs ( worked on the connie ). Flush them well and it should be fine. Check out Michelin for wing tires also. -greg

I will probably check on the Michelins then I doubt the noise will be something he wants to deal with if he gets the Elite 3's. Greg, this is for Rons brown Goldwing that we went to bike night with.

Steve Sadly, they have not resolved the noise issue, and probably won't, because that would involve a total re-design of the tire. The tread blocks on the rear tire wear in a sawtooth pattern and that is what makes the noise. In spite of the funny wear pattern, they last almost forever and handle well the whole time. If he is that particular about having an OEM 'look', he is going to be stuck with OEM performance, too. Please convince him that tire technology has changed a bit in the last 30 years and to accept the new 'look'.

Steve, yes unfortunately he is that stuck on the OEM look. It has taken me three years to even get him to even consider fork springs because they are not OEM even though you cant see them and the originals are clapped out. He and I have an ongoing Honda vs Suzuki good natured arguement. He gives me a hard time since I am always working on one of my bikes upgrading something and he never works on his. Honda "reliability" you know.

[Don-lo]

If your only doing springs and not the seals, you should be able to do it for the top and not drop the fork legs ( worked on the connie ). Flush them well and it should be fine.

Check out Michelin for wing tires also.

-greg

If you're doing springs from the top, do one at a time or support the front of the bike. Removing both caps with the bike only on the centerstand will be bad.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Has he ever changed the timing belt ? Might be a good idea if he is still using the 25 year old original

[twr1776]

SqDancerLynn1 Has he ever changed the timing belt ? Might be a good idea if he is still using the 25 year old original

Lynn, thanks for the heads up. I am pretty sure he is on the original belt and I am also sure it needs to go. I have mentioned it to him before and maybe I can push him to do it this year. He keeps probably the cleanest bike I have ever seen but is not the greatest in maintaining other than oil changes.