1975 GL1000

A forum for stories, pics and updates of your resto's. Be it a barn find, Grampas hand me down or a bike being brought back to it's former glory.If you are restoring it, show us your stuff!

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cfairweather
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#31

Post by cfairweather »

Have you ever wanted a drain plug on the GL1000 rear engine compartment? Me too, so on this one I added a very small one. I used a 4mm (internal) X 8mm (outer) thread repair device for this and drilled the hole under the oil pump. It is hard to see it, but the slot on the thread repair is almost even with the case, so it will drain almost all the oil out. I have found that 1/2 to 1 quart of oil remains in the engine after you "drain" the oil using only the front drain. I used JB Weld on the threads so it will be permanent.
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cfairweather
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#32

Post by cfairweather »

The engine is mostly back together. I took a short detour and made a new engine stand. The engine is now on the stand and I installed the heads this morning. This stand will also be used to test run the engine when I am done. More pictures soon.
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Jonesz
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#33

Post by Jonesz »

You do excellent work, lots to be learned following your projects. Thanks
Jonesz

1983 GL1100 Aspencade named "Freki" currently undergoing change to a standard. Sold
1999 Valkyrie CT 1500 goes by the moniker "Valerie"
1978 Gl1000 "Loki" new project going to be a Cafe Convertible
1979 Suzuki GS850. Sold
cfairweather
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#34

Post by cfairweather »

Thank you for your contributions too. That is what I like about this web site; we learn from each other.
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Pedrotq
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#35

Post by Pedrotq »

Fantastic work and good ideas.
Peter :-D
Pedrotq ~ (Pedro The Questionable)

Perth, Western Australia.

1988 GL-1500 ~ HRD sidecar outfit.
1990 GL-1500SE ~ (project) ~ Stripped down to be a "Naked 90".
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Rednaxs60
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#36

Post by Rednaxs60 »

Engine looks great and very nice mod to the engine stand. Noticed the shift lever has been painted black, nice touch.
"When writing the Story of your life, don't let anyone else hold the pen."

Ernest

1985 GL1200 Limited Edition
2014 Can-Am Spyder RT LE
2021 Royal Enfield Himalayan
1995 GL1500 SE CDN Edition (sold)
2012 Suzuki DL1000 VStrom (sold)
Ontario 1985 GL1200 Limited Edition (sold)
2008 GL1800 (sold)
cfairweather
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#37

Post by cfairweather »

The shift lever is still chrome. It is the black engine mount and the camera angle that makes it look black.

I installed some temporary carbs on the engine and got the radiator, coils, etc installed on the engine stand this morning. The engine started right up and seems to be fine. The next step is to rebuild the carbs that are actually going to be used on the engine.
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Winger1957
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#38

Post by Winger1957 »

Cedric, my man! I was looking for a place to post some GL1000 tuning info and stumbled across your thread. Wow. That is one seriously rusted cylinder. I'm restoring a GL, also. A 1978 model. The guy I bought it from lived on the far side of Houston from me, and he posted some nice photos and I bought it immediately. Believe it or not, when I was 19 years old in the Army, I went to a Yamaha store to buy a dirt bike (desert, New Mexico missile base). While waiting I spied a yellow motorcycle in the front window, and walked over to take a look at it. When I got up beside it, I was awestruck. Could not take my eyes off that glorious engine. Got permission to take it for a quick ride (flip flops - Tiddies, shorts, t-shirt). As soon as I got it on the road I was hooked. It had a white Vetter on it and I only had two complete thoughts. 1. This thing is smoother than a Cadillac, and 2. I can smoke a cigar while riding this thing.

Went inside and bought it. Rode it to the bank, financed it and the deal was done.

That said, I have the rare pleasure of owning a GL1000 that was essentially new. It hummed like it ran on batteries, and it had that awesome exhaust system. Low mileage, too. So my point in all that is this: I know what a fresh GL sounds like and what a new engine runs like.

Fast forward some 43 or so years to when I picked up my blue dream '78. It was in pieces in the guys driveway. Ugly pieces. The dude had stripped it and tried to make a bobber out of it. A terrible job of trying to make a bobber out of it. And he destroyed the center stand mount removing the center stand! What??? Why? But he cut pieces, removed pieces, and created a wreck. My heart ached, because I knew what that GL used to be.

That was October 15, last year.

In the ensuing three months I worked on that bike constantly, sometimes spending entire days on the floor of my garage going through everything except the engine, which did not knock or smoke, but ran terribly. There were times when I swear that engine was going to self-destruct.

But today, today! I finally got that engine tuned, baby. It hums like a sewing machine, but one with Sporster mufflers. I cannot find a good muffler like that which was on my '76. The company in England that made the $1,995 clones no longer manufactures them, but these Sporster cans do have the bypass ports. I have to get some welding done to get them aligned (the bypass ports) and that can wait. I plugged those ports with 1.28 inch freeze plugs and JB Weld, a perfect and $2 solution.

But the timing is what transformed that engine and I did it with no timing light and no electrical probe. Rotated engine to align F1 using the sight glass (Partzilla, $16), then set that gap to a tightish .4mm. Rotated directly to F2 and set the gap on 2 to .4mm. Tried to crank it and got a fuel pop from exhaust connection on 2/4 side. Tightened that collar to 500 foot pounds :), cranked it cold with choke out. RPMs went directly to 3000 RPM, so I closed the choke and it dropped immediately to 900 rpm. I increased the idle to 1000 'cuz I prefer that idle speed and took it for a 50 mile ride.

Absolute perfection, brother. I was on the Interstate coming home, cruising at 90 MPH and it was sublime. Some cars passed me going faster, but if they knew wings, they had to have been impressed.

I had to share that here tonight because 1. It felt so good to have such a fantastic running engine again, and 2. Setting the timing as I did and having it be the magic formula to get the silky smooth performance I knew the GL was capable of just blew me away. When I saw your post and considering how kind you were to send me that part (which I really need) I wanted to share this with you.

GL1000 engines are so special. I wish Honda would produce an updated 4.
cfairweather
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#39

Post by cfairweather »

I enjoyed reading your post. The area you must be referring to is the White Sands Missile range and the nearest base is Holloman AFB in Alamogordo. My brother lives about 13 miles up the mountain from there. I like hearing stories of how people bought their first GL1000 and you can read mine here:
https://ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=75863

Did you fix the center stand? I think I have the parts you need to fix it.
Gc33
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#40

Post by Gc33 »

Interesting read... Having my bores rebored soon... New-ish pistons going in... Long story.
I was chatting with #rednaxx60 on phone the other day and he asked me why I took on such an old bike as a project... My reply... Love... Stupidity... Bit of both. I've loved the goldwing since before I could ride... My dad may he rest in peace... Took me past a Honda shop in chch nz... It was either a 78 or 79 in window... But I fell in love that day.
cfairweather
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#41

Post by cfairweather »

I worked on the project today and made some progress. First, I mounted the Magna coils. I am replacing the gas gauge with a 4-In-1 Oil, Fuel, Volt, Temp gauge that works on 12 Volts. This gauge is actually designed for a boat and it required a different fuel sensor, oil pressure sensor and temp sensor. For the fuel gauge sensor, I cut the outer ring from the original sensor and cut the new sensor plate to fit inside the outer ring. JB weld is what I am using to stick them together. If you look careful on the engine you will see the small coolant temp sensor.
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cfairweather
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#42

Post by cfairweather »

Here is the new Fuel Sensor after I mounted it in the tank. Also, look closely at the picture of the Electric fuel pump after I mounted it on a homemade bracket. This bracket also blocks the manual fuel pump hole. See the small black button hanging off of the engine mount? This button is used to prime the carbs if the bike has been sitting for a while. The fuel pump is wired through a three prong oil switch so if the engine is not running, the fuel pump power is automatically turned off. This is a safety feature. Also notice the yellow wire that runs to an oil pump pressure adapter. This is for the new oil pressure gauge that is shown above.
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gltriker
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#43

Post by gltriker »

Tell me about the bench vise.... had never seen one like that before today.
Cliff (74yrs ;) )

Keep your eyes and ears open and you'll learn something new, everyday. tumb2

New users please visit our "Shop Talk" for common tips and help: <---jdvorchak
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^^^^^^^click up here^^^^^ :oldies

RE: a thorough fuel tank cleaning
"And your carbs will thank you. They no longer live down stream from a sewage plant." -gregforesi tumb2
"Can't see the paint when your looking thru the handlebars..........." -Oldewing ;)
"I'd rather Ride than Shine" -RAT tumb2 Me Too!!

Cliff

'75 GL1000 home built trike; http://www.ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=39996
October,2017 BOTM :shock: https://nakedgoldwingsclub.com/forum/page/Welcome

previous rides:
1953 H-D Servi-car, naked, 1969-1978 (serial#53G1559 committed to memory!)
1980 CB900 Custom (triked) 1997-2003 .... R.I.P.
cfairweather
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#44

Post by cfairweather »

I got the vice at Harbor Freight for about $60.00.
cfairweather
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Re: 1975 GL1000

#45

Post by cfairweather »

Installed the center stand, swing arm, exhaust pipes.
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