gl1000 modernising

[Mrex500]

Hey everyone I have just inherited my dads old 1979 gl1000 ,it's in really good nick and been stored for years .What I want to know is what's the best upgrades to make to make it more ridable and reliable? thinking electronic ignition , was toying with fuel injection but it seems a bit to much ,what about suspension etc braided hoses ,any ideas welcome .thanks ahead of time.m

[Whiskerfish]

All of that has been done and documented here. Some of it is easy and quick and other upgrades are expensive and time consuming. Use the search function and I recommend starting a build thread in the resurrection area. Welcome to the Forum and good luck!!

[redglbx]

My opinion,,,,,

A good electronic ignition with high output coils is a good start. The factory coils produce 6k-7k output where a good aftermarket will give you usually around 35k output. It won’t make anymore horsepower but it should start easier and run cleaner.

Suspension,,, personally I don’t care for “Progressive” brand suspension products as they tend to be extremely stiff which is contrary to a quality suspension which should be compliant but well controlled. I prefer Racetech or Ikon products . Expensive ? Yes but they work well, there are several others that get highmarks from those here.

Brakes,,,, For me the best bang for the buck is braided stainless lines which improve the feel and power. I drilled the disc’s on my 76 which greatly improved the wet braking and improved brake fade due to heat a bunch. Once functioning well a good quality DOT3 fluid is all that’s needed, fluid is supposed to be changed/flushed every 2 years to eliminate moisture that causes problems in the system. Pads,, I have had good results with the factory oe pads, the factory pads are kinda hard but work well with the above mods.

The factory carbs work well with a good cleaning and synchronizing , I only use Randakk's Viton rubber parts which holdup better with today’s fuel additives, particularly the alcohol that’s in almost all fuels today. I also only use factory Honda needles & seats, very expensive but fewer problems. If you do your own Randakk’s offers a great “how-to” book & video or if you want to have someone else rebuild them you can contact Robin here who will take care of you.

Last but not least CHANGE YOUR TIMING BELTS ! before you run it much,,, a broken belt will result in a lot of extensive damage as the GL motor is an interference motor, valves will hit pistons! I have personal experience here as it’s time more than miles that kills the belts. I broke the left side on my 76 about 25yrs ago with only 12k on the motor. That cost me around $500 in parts with me doing all the physical work,,, bad mistake ! Change the belts !!!

That’s my .02 ,,, others may chime in with some other suggestions as well.

[Sidecar Bob]

What he said^^^^^

I am cheap so I went with used coils from a GL1500 paired with a Dyna S ignition and that seems to work pretty well for me.

I recommend looking on all rubber parts with suspicion because rubber does not age gracefully.
Check the date codes on your tires and replace them if they are over 5 years old no matter how good they look & feel (old rubber simply cannot flow around the irregularities in the asphalt well enough to grip, especially if it is cool or wet).
Rubber brake lines should also be replaced every 2 or 3 fluid changes (= 5 or 6 years) so if your bike still has them I recommend shopping for modern stainless braided ones (they last practically forever and double the life of the fluid).
And don't forget things like the rad hoses and the boot between the engine and swingarm (they can crack on the bottom where you don't see it).

As for modernizing, the lighting was good in its time but the technology has changed since then and we can do better now. Think LEDs all around but don't forget that the front signals are also marker lights.

[Track T 2411]

I'll add servicing/ replacing the stator wire plug and upgrading the main 'dogbone' fuse with a modem blade type fuse. There's also a link in my signature to ShopTalk, which has a great writeup on a 'new2me' Wing checklist...

[Sidecar Bob]

I've said many times that there is nothing wrong with the original type of stator plug as long as it is maintained properly and under normal circumstances that is as simple as unplugging it, spraying in some contact cleaner and re-plugging it every few years.

I do agree about upgrading the main fuse, though.

[redglbx]

One other thing that I do as a regular thing that Bob’s post above reminded me of is that anytime I unplug any electrical connector I usually give it a light spray with contact cleaner (be careful around painted parts it will kill them ) give it a blow with compressed air and a smear of dielectric grease to help keep them clean and free of corrosion. They’ll also come apart much easier next time.

Also on the stator plug make sure you pull it apart and actually look at the pin/blades for damage. On my 86 Sei the plug case looked like new, clean and bright white but when I pulled it apart the blades were black and just crumbled , the actual source of my charging problem, I cut the plug out and soldered the wires directly. Today I might just install a better plug but I was impatient then.

[gregforesi]

"Suspension,,, personally I don’t care for “Progressive” brand suspension products as they tend to be extremely stiff ..."

I'm not trying to sell Progressive stuff here but that isn't really true.
When you buy new Progressive rear shocks for one of these they will come with "heavy" springs. A little known fact is that there are also a "light" and a "medium" option available. Those options are only available directly from Progressive and are a special order. (I should say "were" a special order as it has been a dozen years.) I think the basic option is "heavy" because when most people thing "Goldwing" they think "dresser".

The low bars and rearsets changed my weight distribution by a lot. There was way more weight over the front end and a lot less over the rear end. The suspension became a mess. The back end would hop around because it was so stiff, and the front end wallowed and did a nose dive under hard braking. The words "Squirrely" and "Nervous" barely described it.
The bike had fairly new Progressive shocks and front springs. I called Progressive and talked to them about it and subsequently ordered medium springs for the rear, and then went from transmission fluid (7.5wt) in the front to 15 weight fork oil. What a difference. The bike is as sorted out as one of these likely gets. The swing arm connection remains a weakness as the frame isn't as rigid as (for example) the 1800 but that is only to be expected given the age and design. The only time that shows up is when flicking the steering (like from a left to a right). It takes a split second for the rear to catch up.

The GL1000 introduced dual discs in the front. Honda was originally worried about people grabbing a handful of brake and flinging themselves over the handle bars and so used a big piston in the front master cylinder (17mm?), and small pistons in the front calipers. Of the 1000's, the 79 has the largest front caliper pistons and that did help the "wooden" feel of the brakes a bit. I'm not sure of the size of the piston in the '79 front master, but GL1200 repop with a 14mm piston made a big difference in the braking on my 78.

[Rat]

Hope the new guy that asked is actually reading the assembled wisdom he wanted …

Gord

[redglbx]

Gord ,,

Greg, great input, I had no idea about the Progressive spring option. Like you I had gone to Racetech 15w full syn fork oil and it did indeed help immensely, at that time I had Koni rear shocks and my 76 was a very good handler (for an old wing) and at some point if Ihave to go into the forks again I will go with the Racetech fork Emulators which I did on my 81 CBX and made a substantial improvement!

I will add that the Koni shocks began leaking badly and Ikon (Koni) no longer supports them to rebuild them so mine are now on a shelf. I went with a set of very nice looking shocks off of eBay that lasted less than 500mi before they became pogo sticks. The seller & manufacturer offered no support what-so-ever so I went with a low mile set of 78 oe shocks that were far superior to the eBay shocks but a long way from the Koni shocks.

So my plan is that once I can get back to working on my bike again I have a set of lo-mile 83 CB1100f shocks that are fully adjustable, they are supposed to be really good pieces,,, so I guess we’ll see. The point here is don’t waste your money on the eBay crap !

I might have to give the progressive front springs a look but quite frankly the 15w oil with a spacer on top of the springs really helped. Anyway great inputs !

[DUGG]

Racetech fork Emulators Got my attention.
Is this something that can be installed with the forks on the bike?
And do they come set close enough or do they require additional tuning?

As far as the brakes you can upgrade to dual piston calipers on the front.
Combined with a 14 mm master cylinder and braided hoses probably about as good as you’re gonna get using stock Honda parts
Another option to upgrade the coils of the Dodge neon coil. Cheap and readily available. Does require some fabrication skills.

[gregforesi]

I'm cheap so I bought a replica GL1200 front master cylinder off Ebay. It lasted about 2 years and the sight window fell apart due to the exposure to brake fluid.
I bought another one and the sight window failed in about 2 years. (Excellent quality control but poor service life).
That time - instead of replacing the unit - I took out the remains of the sight window and glued in a dime. Ya just can't beat a 10¢ repair that lasts 10 years.

[redglbx]

Greg, that’s gotta be a conversation piece !

[Sidecar Bob]

It's your bike but I don't like the idea because the master cylinder has a sight glass for a reason and it isn't to tell you when to top up the brake fluid as a lot of people mistakenly think.
If everything is matched up correctly and there are no leaks the level indicates the condition of the pads. As the pads wear the piston(s) will protrude more at rest so more of the system's fluid will be in the caliper and less in the master cylinder. If the fluid is at the upper mark when new pads are installed the level in the master should approach the lower mark when the pads are worn enough to be replaced.

FWIW, I bought generic eBay/China master cylinders for both of mine many years ago. Eccles gets more wear & tear due to winter use so the one for it was installed a couple of years before I got around to changing the one on Mr.H; When the sight glass in the one on Eccles became noticeably soft at 5 years in I ordered a bunch of them on eBay and just added replacing the sight glass to the job of changing the brake fluid.
I replaced the entire front brake system on Eccles in '23 and the new master has a translucent reservoir (= no sight glass) but I'll still be replacing the one in Mr.H's master when I do the fluid.

[DUGG]

I just checked my site glass on my eBay master cylinder and it looks like it’s starting to fail.
I’m wondering what you glued that dime in with?