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Don't know much about fishing, to be honest. I do see stripers (and other fishy things) in the waters I surf. I have yet to see a stripper in the coastal Maine waters

I never could spell

rcmatt007: I know nothing of strippers, but I do see sometimes stripers swimming under me on some early morning surf sessions.

I'm not feeling as good about this GL1000 now that I've spent an hour poking around it.

• The bike has not been started or ridden in some time. PO said "last year." He seemed credible. The mouse nests in the shelter and in the left Vetter pocket were simply too extensive for a one-year layup. Everything he told me is suspect at this point.

• Wiring in the fairing is pretty chewed up, and the Vetter wiring set up is new to me. I'm seeing that some pretty serious wiring work will be needed - even if I stay with the Vetter fairing.

• Motor may be seized, though I'm not ready to make that call. I've pulled plugs and am soaking cylinders with PB Blaster. In gear, rear wheel slides across the floor without moving the motor when I push the bike. I pulled one timing belt cover; the belts are not broken, so that's a hopeful sign.

• I pulled the fuel sender to check the tank: bone dry, as in empty for years. There's some sediment/rustiness in the very bottom. The tank is the least of my concerns.

• Someone cared about this bike at some point in the not-too-distant past. The original fuse block has been replaced with a blade fuse block. But that swap also comes with a lot of other wiring.

After poking around the bike for another 30 minutes or so after shoveling out the driveway, more plusses/minuses.

• Someone invested in dyna coils and what looks like a dyna ignition. Maybe those will still work.

• Mice did not penetrate the filter and nest in the plenum.

• I pulled the Vetter fairing so I could get a better look - and more easily tuck the bike in the corner.

• I don't easily find the original headlight plug that I think is supposed to be connected right to the Vetter-supplied harness. Maybe there's an OEM plug I'm missing that transitions from the harness into the bucket. Maybe I haven't poked around enough.

• No oil pressure light. Neutral light works, as does high beam light. Shelter gauges don't read anything.

I'll need to get going with the visuals before too long.

Toss the Vetter to the curb after removing any wiring you might need. Heal the damage to the wiring made by those nasty Scotchloks that Vetter supplied. If the wire strands are not cut by them, (seldom) you can just heal the insulation with liquid electrical tape. If strands cut, best to cut, splice with solder and heat shrink. If the headlight plug is missing, replacements are available at your local franchise auto parts store. None of these are big problems. Get the engine fixed first.

Pidjones: Thanks. The chewed wires look to be part of the Vetter wiring harness portion, and I don't yet see much in the way of scotchloks. Not that I'm really working the wiring right now.

The motor MUST be the first priority on this bike. There's not much point in tinkering if I can't cut through the seized engine.

The penetrating oil needs time to do its thing. I've been rocking her back and forth for a minute or two a couple times a day, mostly trying to push her forward while in gear. I spray in a bit more PBB and walk away, return many hours later, rock and push, and repeat. I see fractional movement at the cam wheels with the covers removed, but she's not free. I don't know if there's more movement than there was 3 days ago.

Thinking that perhaps there might be really bad stuff in the motor, I peered into the timing hole at the top of the motor. It looks nice and shiny, so no "full of water for years" business evident up there. I also drained the oil both to confirm that it had oil and to see what it looked like. Old and black is about all I can report. It did flow and there was no water in it, so things could be worse.

Last night, I thought I'd try to get at the alternator bolt, not that I'd get enough leverage there to free stuck rings (if that's what I have). What I found was, umm, not so pretty.
The "bolt" portion of the cover was broken off. I thought I'd be able to persuade the cover out with a little counter-clockwise chiseling. What was there broke off, leaving the threaded portion. If/when I pull the motor to address whatever is going on with the starter/starter clutch/starter chain, I'll be in for cleaning up this little mess. There's not a lot of room to do that work with the motor in the frame.

Did the stator bolt punch through the cover?

MattMcCoy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 12:27 am Did the stator bolt punch through the cover?

Wow! I hadn't even considered the possibility.

I don't think so, at least based on what Figure 23 in my Clymer shows.
Going with the principle of Occam's Razor, I think it's most likely a pretty simple failure of the threaded aluminum cover and exposure of the bolt. (I've broken that sort of cover before - on the final drive, for example.)

As this is my first GL1000, and as I don't have that much experience with the GL1100s, I could be wrong.

But if it is backed out and punched through the cover, perhaps because a PO rotated the bolt counter clockwise during a maintenance operation, loosened up the whole shebang, tweaked the starter chain, etc., etc.........)

I don't want to get ahead of myself by needlessly catastrophizing.

No water in drained oil = GREAT! I'd go ahead and pull the rack - it will need cleaning anyway, and will prepare a bit in case the engine needs to come out. Really, on a frozen engine I would pop the heads off. Costs a couple head gaskets, but lets you make sure no valve interference. I don't know why the rotor bolt cap is so enticing to torque down. It is sealed with an o-ring. But, I've had to chisel a couple loose. Lucky they are so readily available.

The carb rack will come off before too long. Right now, we have a cb550 rack being rebuilt on the bench, so that'll be a bit.

I've been tinkering on the edges, not wanting to intrude on my son's workspace too much. I am finding out more and more.

• I drained the coolant. Looks good, no oil, etc. It was a bit low, but I drained nearly a gallon.

• I pulled the radiator to get the Vetter mount off the bike. Water pump seems solid, though it's not an upgraded steel one.

• I pulled the starter and, wait for it, the starter chain is fine. The PO clearly didn't know what he was talking about, or was gearing up with a story to explain why I shouldn't try to start the bike. Maybe the starter clutch was the issue. Maybe it is something else entirely having nothing to do with the starter mechanism.

• Exhaust came off and looks decent enough. I may need to patch a small hole near the crossover.

• No joy yet on freeing the motor. Head removal is probably in the cards.

I pulled the starter and, wait for it, the starter chain is fine. The PO clearly didn't know what he was talking about, or was gearing up with a story to explain why I shouldn't try to start the bike. Maybe the starter clutch was the issue. Maybe it is something else entirely having nothing to do with the starter mechanism.

Might pull it apart for cleaning while it is off, lube the planetary gears, and test it out. Make sure it is well strapped down when you put the power to it!

It's not a build thread without photos, so here are a few.

Carbs in situ. They'll come off before long and get pulled apart before I even attempt to start the bike. I'm a good ways away from attempting a start, as the motor is still seized. I'll be doing some work to remove rust and paint the shelter frame. Water pump seems solid, no weeping from the hole. I can see the JIS screws holding on the front of the case. I've read of the troubles removing those, so I'm hoping I don't need to get into that bit before I get some 1000s of miles on her. Glad to see the belts weren't snapped. They'll need to come off and be replaced. And here's one of my issues. Wiring. I spent some time the other day chasing the wiring a bit and managed to make some headway IDing which wires go to what on the front - hi/lowbeams, signals, etc.

Not a lot of progress, as expected.

The carbs are out.

I easier found them both EASIER and HARDER to pull than those on an 1100. Being able to pull the air cutoff mechanism on the 1000 seems to give just a bit more vertical clearance than I've experienced on the 1100. But the shelter and airbox are a bit trickier to navigate. (I'm sure that the second time will be easier.)
Photo 4 shows what appears to be a repair to the #1 intake boot. It looks like someone cemented/glued the boot - perhaps because it came loose?

I also sorted out a problem with the oil pressure light. It was NOT lighting with the other lights - neutral, hii/lowbeam, signals. First, I figured it was a bulb or the socket. I chased that for longer than I should have, mainly because I had 12v at the socket with a multimeter but couldn't get the bulb to light. Swapping bulbs around solved nothing.

Turns out it was the oil pressure sensor. By grounding at the sensor, the light came on. I happened to have a spare sitting in our GL1100 parts bike, so I swapped sensors and all idiot lights now function as expected.

Also news for me: The voltmeter is not accurate, it would seem. I hooked up a good battery and it topped out around 10.5 or 11 volts. It probably doesn't matter, as long as I know it's off a bit - and if it goes up while the bike is running (when I get it running.)

I have changed a couple of these old analog voltmeters out for LED digital voltmeters from eBay. More accurate, draw less current, and fast acting. Hint for the boots: a heat gun goes a long way in softening old stiff rubber.

pidjones wrote: ↑Tue Dec 28, 2021 10:19 pm I have changed a couple of these old analog voltmeters out for LED digital voltmeters from eBay. More accurate, draw less current, and fast acting. Hint for the boots: a heat gun goes a long way in softening old stiff rubber.

Thanks. I'm not sure I want mismatched gauges, though perhaps a shuffle could put the voltmeter in the middle.

Honestly, the voltmeter is way down on the to-do list right now.

I'm getting myself geared up to pull the heads to see what's behind doors #1, #2, #3, and #4 that's keeping this old girl from rotating more than about 2-degrees. Maybe this week. Probably not for a couple more.