Hey folks,
I introduced myself in the intro section (I went to all 9 grades, so that was pretty easy) and I'm going to fill in with some pics and more details on this thread. My bike was in ridiculous shape when I got it, and I feel very blessed to have gotten such a nice bike, especially for what I paid. Going through and looking at other bikes makes me feel even more fortunate for what I got. (I've seen a lot of project bikes that were filthy, rusty and seemed like they had been whipped hard and sent home crying. Didn't mean this as a slam on anybody's finished product or work in progress.) Even the carbs (which I just finished) were really clean inside. Really, the only thing I had to do besides fluids updates, tire changes and some minor stuff was to tweak the carbs and fix the leaky fuel pump. It really was a nice looking bike, but not quite what I wanted, as far as looks go. I tend to get carried away though and now she is almost down to the frame. I thought about doing Line-X on that action too, but cooler heads prevailed. Enjoy
Gator

Wecome to the Forum,from New Jersey.....Keep up the good work....

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1977 GL1000(rip)Thanks Hurricane Sandy!
1985 Honda Nighthawk 750(sold)
1979 Yamaha XS1100...........My wife says,''How come I can't get as much attention as your G.W.?"
My G.W. just says"lets go" -----DECISIONS, DECISIONS!!!!!

Welcome from California and to the NGW. Looks like you've jumped right in. We like that.

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Placerville - 1976 Yellow

Survivor - BOTM - May 2011

New and Confused ?
Push the Big Button

Thanks guys. Not sure how much my boss appreciates "jumping right in" and taking up so much space in his shop, but it won't be long. I've found a ton of great info from this site and I probably wouldn't have even tried all of this without knowing I could get help here.
Gator

Well, I finished putting the carbs back together last night. Way harder than I thought. Glad I took a few real good pics before and during assembly. I also have an exceptional memory, and I used to build turbine engines from little pieces I would pull from the parts room in yellow and brown envelopes. I would really advise taking a bunch of pics, and I should have taken more, from different angles as well. I also painted all of my DVP stuff tonight. The pics don't show that color well, but it is beautiful. I'll take some ASAP in natural light. We don't have anything scheduled for tomorrow, so I'll have plenty of time to start getting this girl dressed up. So if you haven't seen these before, here are a couple of pics of the carbs. BTW, if any of you gurus see anything suspect in these pics, I'm all ears.
Gator

P.S. I really didn't spend much time cleaning the outsides of these. This bike was just very clean, even inside the carbs. Yay for me!

Here are a couple of almost finished pics, as she sits right now. It was completely done except for the shelter, but I have numerous electrical issues to contend with, so I us just left it off. She fires right up, but backfires really bad from #1. Sounds really good outside of the frequent popping and cracking though, I still have one bad cylinder, the same one as before. I am excited my first run through these carbs was a success (at least for 3 of 4 ). Very disappointed it runs so poorly though. I really hope its just some fine tuning and maybe synching the carbs. I will now spend several hours searching the forums for answers to my problems. It was clearly amateur night in the paint booth when this bike was sprayed, but I hope you can see the color in these pics.
Gator

Good progress, do tell us you replace the timing belts. The wheels seem to be in very good shape too. That will be a very enjoyable ride.

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Proud member of the NGW Cartel
1977 GL1000 BAD DOG - Bring Along Deb, Decades Old Goldwing (April BOTM)
Motorcycle restoration is our hobby and we pay for that. But in the end of wrenching, the bikes are free!

Yay for me!!! Took the ignition out and was going to see if it was maybe just an iffy coil, but the other one I have is a bit scary. In doing so, decided to wire the ignition module to the battery instead of a rusty, random grounding point and a "hot" wire with 3 or 9 connectors between it and the battery. I drive an Olds Aurora, and have learned the importance of good grounding points, the hard way. So let that be a lesson for you young'uns. When in doubt, make sure your grounds and power leads are always solid.
Fired up sweet and ran smooth like butter. It idles at about 4300rpm to, so it should be pretty quick! It did a really good job of destroying my VHT ceramic header paint. Really, whats the point? They looked pretty sweet when I got them blasted. They looked real good after the paint, and now they look like I found them in the trash at Lowe's.
I also cut a bunch from the snout on the airbox. it was pressed right up against the coils and way too restrictive, and now it is not.
Tomorrow I will get after figuring out the idle issue as well as hammering out the other electrical issues. Thanks to Sidecar Bob, it may not be the only thing I do tomorrow.
Fred, I did not replace the belts. I did remove them and examine them very thoroughly. They are free from cracks, frays, splits, coups and other abnormalities. They really look brand new, par for the course for this bike. Not for nothing, they were substantially less than the Honda part @ $84 per. I promise I will update them soon.
Gator

P.S. Anybody know why I am unable to edit my post above with the pics?

I had the same experience. I stripped the old paint off my headers, wirebrushed all the surface rust away, cleaned them twice, once with degreaser and then a wipedown with acetone, and used the special (expensive) VHT primer and paint. And still the paint burnt up and flaked away within minutes when I tried to cure it according to the directions on the can. It's a waste of money.

The best solution is to have your exhaust powdercoated, but that's not cheap either. I have, however, had good luck with plain old BBQ grill paint. It's not as durable as I'd like as far as chips and chemical resistance, but it doesn't burn up and flake off either. And it's easy enough to touch up chips.

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Steve

1978 GL1000 - Gallery
1993 GL1500 SE - frame-up restoration in progress
1983 CX650C

You really got lucky with this bike. Seems the PO actually took care of it.

Do replace the belts soon, rubber gets old and you can't always tell condition by looking. Cascade Cycle has a great deal on the set.

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Steve -- IBA #8078 -- Winnie, the '81 Nekkid Bagger build

Thank you Steve. I may try the BBQ grill paint, perhaps with some clear over top of it. It might have just been that It wasn't running right and just got too hot too soon, but who knows. Yes Steve, I will get those replaced very soon, I promise.
Gator

great pictures. keep them coming

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Well, here's a little update for you folks. I have put about 230 miles on my bike just riding around town. I got the idle down to a consistent 2600~rpm. Not good, but a touch better than 4300. I laid it down twice, both at low speeds and with no damage but some road rash, for both of us. Today it passed inspection, thanks to a complete set of trailer lights from O'Reilly's, and some 'custom' brackets, and a fantastic color schematic in Sidecar Bob's gallery. And finally, while heading to the local Honda shop, mostly to see a neat little senorita working the counter, and to show off my new bike, I heard something clunk in the engine or tranny. It died and would turn over, but not start. I have been hearing what I think is way too much noise coming from the back of the engine/ front of the gearbox for a while (rattling and the 'diesel' noise mentioned on Randakks site). Guess I'll get to see what it looks like inside before I get to do any real riding. I hope you can see the color in these pics, its the best i can do.
Enjoy,
Gator

One thing I can tell you is that these old girls don't do well in a clean, neat, tidy shop. They run better and last longer with some tools kicking around and some empty cans laying here and there. Nice work so far, hope the clunking isn't too serious. If it's from the back, there have been a few who have turned the stator bolt loose while turning the engine over. You could pull the cover and look there first. I'm not sure if that would keep it from starting though.

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77 WING, under magnaficent scalpel
77 Wing. black and ready
83 Wing, ready to alter, finally... A title.

Just put a bunch of stuff up for sale here. Just thought you folks should know. http://www.ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=43561
Gator