Well, its well on its way. Found this $300 GL1100 Interstate a few weeks ago on Craiglist and decided it needed resurrection. Hooked up the trailer to the pickup and drove to Mocksville, NC to pick it up. These before pictures didn't show that it had slowly sunk into the mud and we had to use come-alongs tied to a chain on my trailer to get it to move. Tires were nearly flat, kick stand heavily rusted where it had sunk halfway into the mud. Fortunately, there wasn't a great deal of rust on the rest of the bike. Just on the chrome parts where it wasn't convenient to clean it because of bags or fairings or what have you in the way.

Anywho, here are the before pictures:



The owner had a clear title and kept everything that he had taken off the bike, including the carbs, Oh, oh, a previous owner carb rebuild project. No telling what I'll run into here:



Gas tank was full of grunge and about half full of a gas and rusty water mix. But no leaks, so that is a good thing:



This is about the worst of the rust problems, saddlebag racks and the passenger pegs were a mess:



Before we began tearing it down I bought a battery and checked out the electrical system as much as I could. I was encouraged that most everything seemed to work. Couldn't test the starter as there was none but the headlights, turn signals, running and brake lights all worked. Couldn't tell much about the instrumentation because not enough of the bike was assembled. We'll have to work that out when we begin putting it back together.



After completely disassembling the bike and cataloging everything in clear plastic bags the rebuild begins. Sent the tank and radiator out to a radiator shop for cleaning, sealing and painting. Very pleased with the results.



While the radiator was out I cleaned repainted the fan shroud, fan motor and hose springs. This is the reassembled unit.



Well, the wife is bugging me to take her out to dinner, so I'll continue this thread when I get back.

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Dean Spalding
Raleigh, NC

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." - Albert Einstein

'82 Yellow GL1100
'81 Blue GL1100

My Gallery
My 1100 Build Thread

Like seeing them rescued!

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I found the end of the internet

---- Bradshaw Bikes offers polishing and upholstering for your Wing!

Sweet!! now I know what I'm in for with the 1100 I got. Will be watching.

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love new ideas for old wing's. AS I have three and am always working on them

Well, back from dinner, wife is happy and I can get back to the important stuff, like posting pictures to this forum.

Had the frame powder coated as well as the saddlebag mounts. The guys at Carolina Custom Powder Coating know their stuff, especially when it comes to bikes. The owner is a big Triumph fan and has his restored 1965 model in the foyer that he has owned since new. He has a couple of other restored Triumphs in the building as well.







Decided not to powder coat the swing arm as it has a seal internal to it and its not available from Honda any more. We didn't want to take the chance that the heat from the furnace would damage the seal so after they sand blasted it I rattle can painted it with two coats of primer, 5 coats of black and finished with a clear. It looks very similar to the powder coat but I know it isn't nearly as durable.



While the frame was out I acid dipped the battery box and heat shield and repainted them as well.

_________________
Dean Spalding
Raleigh, NC

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." - Albert Einstein

'82 Yellow GL1100
'81 Blue GL1100

My Gallery
My 1100 Build Thread

It's gonna be a beaut!

Nice work ... it's good to see a documented frame-up resto going on.

Keep it up, Sagebrush.

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

Tried acid dipping the peg hardware which removed the rust just great but when I rattle can painted them I wasn't happy with the results the rattle can paint began to chip right away. So I sent them to be powder coated along with the frame. I believe these pegs will hold up just fine.

Reassembled pegs:

_________________
Dean Spalding
Raleigh, NC

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." - Albert Einstein

'82 Yellow GL1100
'81 Blue GL1100

My Gallery
My 1100 Build Thread

Most of the motivation to restore this wing is to provide an opportunity for my grandson to delve into the world of mechanics. Between high school, working part time at Wendy's and his girlfriend there has been precious little time to get together to work on the wing. Well, he dumped the girlfriend so progress should pick up a little.

Here he is masking off areas before we strip and repaint the engine.





Firstyeardeek will appreciate all the effort I've put in to my paint booth:



More later.

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Dean Spalding
Raleigh, NC

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." - Albert Einstein

'82 Yellow GL1100
'81 Blue GL1100

My Gallery
My 1100 Build Thread

Good to see that you're using the red strap. Those blue ones will forever give you nothing but trouble.

Sure is cool to tinker with the grand... eh?

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

it's all good Dean, but, ooooh, that's very nice!

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bulldogged 1978 GL1000 - "geekster" - daily rider
full dress 1979 GL1000 - SteamPunk Barge - daily rider
"found" a 1978 for $100
got another "new" 1978 from a member here
and my original '79 parts basket case.

A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out. ~ George Bernard Shaw

love it. nice job nice photos i am watching you!!!

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gl1000 1978

She is going to be beauitful.
Thanks for the pictures.

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The faster you go, the longer you sit at the light.
Slow down and enjoy the ride.

Jeff
'79 Wing (Old Gal), Daily Driver.

Young man, you are the next generation! Good work!

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I found the end of the internet

---- Bradshaw Bikes offers polishing and upholstering for your Wing!

Awesome! I love a powdercoated frame. (obviously)

If I can find a chrome powder I like, I just might strip mine and have it "chromed."

Love the booth... bet it didn't take you a week and a half to build!

-Deek

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"Eat, drink and be merry. For tomorrow we die."

1975 GL 1000 (First Year) under the knife; soon to be a cafe' inspired "Boss" of a freedom machine.

The rebuild looks great and gives me courage to look for another project cycle to go with my sulfur yellow salvage yard rescue.

Dr. Dave

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It does not matter what you ride. Just get out and ride. They were made for riding. Chrome only looks good when it is moving down the highway.

We had to remove the manufacturer's label from the head pipe before powder coating in fear of damaging it. I thought of how to put it back on for a while and hit upon this solution which worked well.

I drilled out the holes in the head pipe to accept 1/8" pop rivets as well as the holes in the label. The aluminum that the label is made of is very thin and pop rivets alone will not hold it in conformation with the shape of the pipe. It was glued and pinned from the factory.

I inserted the pop rivets through the label and then mounted it to the head pipe, I then masked just under the edge of the label in preparation for applying contact cement.



Once I had the area taped I then roughed up the paint surface to give it some tooth and applied glue to both surfaces.





Once the glue had dried to the touch on both surfaces I gently scored the line between the tape and the glued surface with a razor blade so I wouldn't pull any glue off when I removed the tape.



I then installed the label by inserting the pop rivets through the label first and then inserting the pop rivets into the previously drilled holes. This ensured that the label was positioned correctly before the glued surfaces came into contact with each other. Once installed I smoothed the label to the head pipe working from the center to the outer edges and then popped the pop rivets.



The short pop rivets barely extend into the interior of the head pipe so I don't anticipate any interference with the triple tree shaft.

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_________________
Dean Spalding
Raleigh, NC

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." - Albert Einstein

'82 Yellow GL1100
'81 Blue GL1100

My Gallery
My 1100 Build Thread