SlyDog's '82 GL1100 restoration project - MAKE IT NAKED!!

[SlyDogJeff77]

here is a full size pic.

[Rat]

Congrats ... your hard work has paid off

Gord

[Roady]

That's great news.

Perseverance does pay off. Now, go ride some more.

[polkadot]

I just read your thread and laughed out loud! Way to hang in there! I think is is why us guys refer to our bikes as she. One minute you can't figure them out and can't stand them and the next . . . well, you know.

[SlyDogJeff77]

This just gets better from here right!?!? I mean I'm already REALLY happy that I can ride again with a WORKING BIKE that DOESN'T LEAK!

Now on top of that, it LOOKS great and it runs REALLY WELL!!

I made an appointment at my local Honda dealer to fix the starter, turn signals, neutral light and inspection.
they couldn't fit me in until Aug 29th... waiting SUCKS..

So I found a $6 dollar turn signal flasher NEW online. for an old honda..
IT WORKS PERFECTLY!! It's a little small and the rubber holder doesn't hold it... BUT TIE WRAPS DO!!

knock one more off my list!

someone show me where I can buy a $6 dollar starter!!

[Hal]

Hi!
I've just seen this thread and I jumped from page 4 to the end due to being short of time.....

I noticed you said the belts "looked fine and seem unworn..." and didn't see anyone else pick up on this though maybe they did later??

If the bikes been sitting for years and you don't know for sure when those belts were last changed, you really should change them anyway....they CAN let go and yet be perfectly ok and unworn looking to the eye.

I change them as a matter of course as you just can't be certain when they were last done, and one failure is by-bye engine time.

[SlyDogJeff77]

Yes, I'm very aware. everyone has been very helpful on that topic and I'd like to thank YOU as well.
I WAS planning on just taking the chance for the rest of this season and doing the belts this winter since i don't ride that much at all. I'll probably on put 30-50 miles on this bike before i park it for the winter. But since I'm bringing it in for the starter, I'll have them do the belts too.

Thanks for bringing that up!

[SlyDogJeff77]

CRAP.. OK so I was on a little high and thought if I just tackled one thing at a time I could fix all that's left of my punch list...
So I attacked the dead neutral light.
First, made sure the bulb is NOT dead.. I swapped it around with the others and made sure they ALL work.
I followed the neutral switch wire from the front engine cover up around the timing belts to where it meets up with the wires from the temp switch and up to the main harness. it all looks good. made sure the plug into the harness is clean and tight. Oiled and cleaned it up with some wd40. Still nothing.
so I know which wire in the plug is the neutral switch and I unplugged the switch wire from the harness.
I ran a short wire from the harness plug to any ground and sure enough the neutral light comes on. so it's NOT the harness or the bulb.. and once the light is on, sure enough, i can turn the starter without pulling in the clutch...

i think i have eliminated everything and i need to replace the neutral switch inside the front engine cover.

sigh...

1) ok so do i need a front o-ring / gasket kit to do this?!
2) while i'm there, is there any maintenance I should do?! I saw an OIL screen?
3) I saw on the older models '75 - '79, you'd have to flex the frame..
but this is an '82.. i can get at everything without any trouble right?

all this crap for a freaking neutral light....

[SlyDogJeff77]

for CRYING OUT LOUD!!
I went for another ride yesterday.. Popped the clutch to start her up and I must say, I'm getting pretty good.
Get a good run going, HOP on the bike while it's rolling and quickly shift into 1st then let go of the clutch!
I have to hop on so I have enough weight on the rear tire otherwise, it just skids on the pavement! lol

OK so I pulled away from the house, I got to the first stop sign and as I pulled away and shifted into 2nd, the freaking HEAL TOE SHIFTER SNAPPED OFF!! The Bolt that holds the shifter pedal to the frame SNAPPED IN HALF!!! WTF!!

[SlyDogJeff77]

ok ok .. i brought the bike into a pro last night.
Matt's Honda in Coxackie, NY.
I hear they are the best around. Certified Honda mechanics. The whole 9.
-Starter
-neutral switch
-inspection
-timing belts
-petcock rebuild
-re-attach heel-toe shifter

and an over all "did I put this thing back together right?" inspection.

I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

everything after this is cosmetic.

[SlyDogJeff77]

Carb question at the bottom of this post.. but first..

AUGUST 25TH....
That's the last post I did!! That's the date I DROPPED OFF MY BIKE AT MATT'S HONDA in Coxsackie, NY.

What did they do?
-Installed a new Starter ($200+)
-Fixed neutral switch (They took off the front engine cover and found that someone had been in there before and the neutral switch bar was not lined up correctly! Thank god that was an easy fix. So this was about $30 for the front engine gasket kit)
-New York State inspection ($10 bucks)
-timing belts (not sure of the exact price but I guess it's about $60)
-petcock rebuild (I had all the o-rings from Randakk's kit so he just charged me labor for 30 mins)
-re-attach heel-toe shifter (again, just labor)
-Sync-ed and tuned the carbs

TOTAL: $900+

it would have been nice if he gave me an IDEA OF WHAT THE HECK I WAS IN FOR DURING THE PROCESS!
the only thing i knew was the $200 starter!! everything else was just speculation..

for crying out loud, i think the bike is only WORTH $1000 bucks!!!!
Turns out he charges $78 an hour for labor... Total labor on the bike was 5.5 hours..
that makes sense when you look at all the work. Front engine cover work (1 hour), sync carbs (30 mins), petcock (30 mins), timing belts (1 hour), New starter (1 hour), inspection - heel toe shifter - misc (another hour) = 5 hours.. + or - some time there. and he discounted me on the labor..

but the biggest thing was HOW FREAKING LONG I HAD TO WAIT FOR 5 HOURS OF WORK!!! I made the appointment 3 weeks ahead of time.. i got the bike to them BEFORE the hurricane just in case.. and i still had to wait 4 weeks for them to do 5 HOURS OF WORK that totals over $900 bucks!!! IF I HAD A FREAKING LIFT, I WOULD HAVE DONE ALL OF THIS ---- MYSELF!!! I just can't get down under the bike on my back any more!!!

sigh... Ok I got that out of my system... Moving on.. I bought a pair of Bikemaster Euro style bars, I'll get those on as soon as I get the bike home...

So here is my question for you guys:
Shop said that the carbs were really close to being in sync so my carb rebuild and BENCH sync was good.. with one exception.. he said one of the cylinders (I forgot which and I'll find out when I pick up the bike) was running cold during idle but was fine when the rpm's are up and it's running at speed. He said that the idle adjustment screw didn't make a difference when he turned it in or out so i should look into it. Now I remember during the rebuild that I couldn't find one o-ring from one of the carbs idle/pilot screw.. I dug and I dug but I didn't get anything out.. so I figured it must have fallen out right at the beginning of the procedure and I lost it on the floor some place. With this new information, I'm wondering if it's still in there.
If so, I now have 2 o-rings, a washer and the spring in there. Does this sound accurate to anyone?
Would this cause the cylinder to be "cold" during idle?
What EXACTLY would happen if there was an extra o-ring? Would that make it run rich or lean during idle? I would think that the idle screw is not being closed enough and it would run rich, but then why is the cylinder cold?

I wish I could ask randakk about this one...

I did some editing for language in this post. Not the first time. Please, this is a public forum. robin1731

[SlyDogJeff77]

Thank you Robin... Sorry, I didn't mean to offend :-P

[ImagoX]

Way to keep at it. I'm impressed. Have fun on that thing and don't sweat the cost of those final repairs - you'll forget all about it the first time you see a few miles of sweeping curves ahead of you with NO TRAFFIC in the way t slow you down...

[CYBORG]

thank you robin

[ImagoX]

PS... had to laugh when I read your post about the shifter snapping. If it's not one thing...

I still stand behind my comment about forgetting about all the little BS the first gorgeous weekend you spend in the saddle. Makes all the blood, sweat, tears and bloody knuckles worth it somehow.