my 78 GL1000, the voyage begins!

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anarki
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my 78 GL1000, the voyage begins!

#1

Post by anarki »

Here's the starting point for my 78 GL1000. I got the bike for free from my dad and plan on turning it into my primary transportation when the weather permits. Just a couple of pics at the time being, the first being how she sat when I brought her home, the second being how she sits at the moment. I'm planning on finding an original flat style seat, putting the bags back on (but not the trunk), and getting all the mechanicals worked out. The good news is she's already fitted with a Dyna S, I pulled an H4 conversion out of the fairing, fairly new Dunlop D404 on front and a brand new matching to get mounted for the rear, also has a K&N drop in filter. I'll keep posting with updates as I go through. First orders of business will be timing belts and carb cleaning.
A funny note about the headlight, well funny to me anyway...the headlight bucket is from an 81 kz650, and the headlight bucket on my 77 kz650 cafe racer is from a 76 honda cb550. Just makes me snicker a bit is all...anyway, here's the pics.
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Galileo
'78 GL1000, '77 KZ650 Cafe Racer
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sunnbobb
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#2

Post by sunnbobb »

Lookin' nakked-er!
I found the end of the internet

---- Bradshaw Bikes custom polishing for your wing. Visit us on facebook!

1978 Learning Experience
1980 County Road Hauler "Brain Damage"
1978 Cafe Custom Gl1000 "Vyper"
1977 Bulldog Inspired "Vaincre"
1981 Street Fighter GL1100 "No Quarter"
1983 Supercharged Street Drag "Anubis" (in worx)
1983 gl1100 mint restoration "Kristen"
1985 Aspencade..pondering.
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#3

Post by Cookie »

Good start on her.
Enjoy life,
Cookie


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#4

Post by Brant »

Lookin good so far, you got a solid bike to start with.
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Roady
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#5

Post by Roady »

That's a great start.

How many miles on her?
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anarki
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#6

Post by anarki »

47K and some change on the clock.

And I found out why my dad was having problems with her not wanting to run right for him. I pulled the carb assembly and took the top and bottom covers off one at a time to check for dirt, grime, cloggs, etc. All the carbs looked pristine inside so I started doing some other exploratory surgery on the girl. Checked the plugs first, all looked servicable. Checked the fuel filter for a clog, none. Thought I'd use the electric fuel pump to drain the little bit of old gas out of her, put the line into a gas can turned the key. Pump starts pumping, but nothing comes out. After scratching my head for awhile I start working my way backward from the pump, trying to determine why there's no fuel flow. My chase takes me into the fuel tank. I opened the cover for the fuel level sender and shine my light down inside to see.....a nicely Kremed tank, with Kreme coating both the primary and reserve fuel pick ups!!! Explains the lack of fuel flow!!!

I've already tracked down a replacement tank, without a Kreme lining. Just have to pull the bike apart enough to get the worthless tank out and the good one in. I'm gonna have to give my dad a call and find out if it was him or the guy he bought it from that got it Kremed...and tell him he's damn lucky that it never left him stranded!
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.
Galileo
'78 GL1000, '77 KZ650 Cafe Racer
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#7

Post by roncar »

Lots of fun ahead!! :shock: :lol:

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#8

Post by Whiskerfish »

Jeez I got 2 that look almost exactly like that right now!!
"Agreement is not a requirement for Respect" CDR Michael Smith USN (Ret) 2017
"The book is wrong, this whole Conclusion is Fallacious" River Tam
2008 GL1800 IIIA "TH3DOG"
1975/6/7/8/9 Arthur Fulmer Dressed Road bike
1975 Naked Noisy and Nasty in town bike
and a whole garage full of possibilities!!

Psst. oh and by the way CHANGE YOUR BELTS!!!!
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anarki
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#9

Post by anarki »

I got a little project underway (still procrastinating on swapping out the fuel tank...) today. I tore the splitting cover off the king/queen that was on her when I brought her home and shaved the foam down into something I like a little bettet ( a lot better really). Just need to make myself a pattern for the seat cover and venture out to Michael's to buy some marine grade vinyl and some thin foam to glue to the inside of the finished cover to smooth out the imperfections from carving the foam.
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You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.
Galileo
'78 GL1000, '77 KZ650 Cafe Racer
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Roady
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#10

Post by Roady »

Nice shape.

You should probably smooth it out first. I used various kinds of sandpaper.

A fine tooth hacksaw blade (just the blade, hand held) works real good too.
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anarki
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#11

Post by anarki »

I was going to spray glue a 1/4" foam sheeting to the inside of the cover, I've seen seat builds where that did wonders for the final product. I also spent a little more time tonight with it and got it smoothed out quite a bit more than this picture. Just have to get the pattern drawn up and start the cover now.
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.
Galileo
'78 GL1000, '77 KZ650 Cafe Racer
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Roady
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#12

Post by Roady »

Sounds good.

Did you see my thread, Stock Seat becomes Custom in the How-To forum?

Wish I hadn't left that "backrest" hump, it was a pain in the a** to cover and doesn't really help anything.
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#13

Post by Q »

A few weeks ago I changed the shape of my king/queen seat to a more or less flat shape. After rough cutting with a sharp knife I fine tuned the shape with a portable belt sander and super course grit belt. That really worked good. There were lots of foam particles sticking to me like snow flakes but compressed air blew them away easily.

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anarki
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#14

Post by anarki »

I did do some smoothing on the foam today. I noticed that the right side of the rear of the seat was a bit higher than the left, so I grabbed my sureform tool (sometimes it pays off being an artist and having all kinds of random implements that I otherwise wouldn't have) and knocked it down level. I found that the sureform also does a great job of smoothing out the rough edges from carving with the electric knife.
I also mocked up the new tail light I'll be installing after I swap the fuel tank. I got a freebie from a buddy, it's the stock unit from a Yamaha TX650, same light assembly they put on everything back then, single round lense on the plate mount with a support bar leading forward. I'll have to drill a hole to mount the support anchor and elongate the mounting holes for the stock light, but it should look pretty sweet when it's done. I started ripping the rear end apart too so I can get the tank swapped out, got everything pulled just need to get the tank done now.
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.
Galileo
'78 GL1000, '77 KZ650 Cafe Racer
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anarki
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#15

Post by anarki »

Got the bike mostly back together and the seat almost finished up. She fired up for me after putting everything back together, still needs a tune up and oil change so I only let her idle for a couple minutes before shutting her down.

Here's a shot of the seat. I'm not 100% convinced I like it though. Seems like I almost made it too small. We'll wait and see how it looks with the Bates bags I'm picking up tonight for it before making any final decisions.

Image
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.
Galileo
'78 GL1000, '77 KZ650 Cafe Racer
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