New Purchase gl500- What to do first?

[DJ]

I just recently picked up a low mileage (11,000) gl500 for a low price.
Broken fairing from being banged around in storage, rusty latches, screwdriver-jimmied locks, but runs great! I drove it home with the broken plastic rattling, wanting to fall off, but eager to carry me around.

I pulled all the broken junk off to make it a "junior ngw", added a fork mounted headlight, and drove it around for few dozen miles on a 34 degree day. It seemd to operate flawlessly.

So far all I have done (besides untangling the cut fairing wiring) is change oil and filter, bleed brakes with fresh fluid, check antifreeze level, and air up the tires.

I know how important it is to get fresh belts on a Goldwing, so here's my question- what do I need to check, and to do, to the 1982 Silverwing right away to keep it reliable and get it ready to ride on a trip today?
I saw a reference to checking the timing chain. How?
Anything else?
What else should I check or freshen up if I want to ride it far far away from home as soon as I can?


I was going to use it for trips, but then I saw a google picture of one that someone turned into a dirt bike. Cool. Now I am wondering if a stripped gl500 could actually make a decent dual-sport bike if I wanted to take it cross-country, then take it down some fire roads or logging trails to visit some abandoned camps or other tours that I see others reporting about.

Stripped somewhat, but not stripped too drastically, it weighs just over 400 lbs, heavy for a dirt bike, but not completely out of line with some of the other dual-sport bikes out there.

Is that asking too much from this machine, or is it a natural for the conversion?
Does anybody know who has done it, or is this opening new ground?

Stay with strictly street?

Thanks.

[sunnbobb]

Grab a manual and adjust your timing chain tensioner. It is a really easy job once you see how to do it. It is also easy to adjust the valves, they have screw type adjusters.

Good job on the bike, one of my all time favorites rides.

[Rat]

Yeah, a manual is important, check out the ChopperCharles web site http://cx500forum.com/ for these great little bikes.

I think moderate offroading is realistic with proper tires.

Check the mechanical seal for leaks, on top of the engine aft of the carbs.

Have fun.

Gord

[theoj]

timing chain has an automatic tensioner, so no work there. (if it is a silverwing!)
what I do with cx's is :
check the tires
new plugs.
new oil and filter.
fresh cooling water.
new brakeflouid.
ride it till the next oil change!
lucky you, such a low mileage.
greatings, theoj.

[DJ]

Thanks for all the suggestions for my GL500 Interstate Luxury Barge.
I am so happy about getting the smaller bike. This is something I can let my daughter take, or use myself when I don't feel like a big bike.
After I stripped off all the heavy luggage, broken fairing, and ugly hardbags with rusty and pried-open locks, it started looking like a decent bike.
Handles great, feels nice and light, and with the right paint job, could look sharp again. Unusual looking, but still could be good looking.
When I stripped it down and took it for a test drive on New Year's Day, my youngest son came by and took it for a long time with me following on my Suzi.
He has a new Yamaha V-Star, and he said this will outrun his bike, and he likes the handling a lot. He still thinks his Yamaha is cooler, but he did like riding the Newly Naked GL500.
I still don't know whether I should lighten it further, put some dual-purpose tires on it and take it exploring, or if I should keep it strictly street for very cheap long distance traveling. I would like to have both....... hmmm.... ideas are coming.

Here's my son on the stripped GL500 after a 2-3 hour 36 degree test ride- I think it is going to be a very good and fun bike.

[Rat]

Looks great.

Maybe a small detachable windscreen for trips?

Gord

[robin1731]

Looks great.

Maybe a small detachable windscreen for trips?

Gord

Especially in 36 degree weather.

[DJ]

Good idea.
I like the kind of windshield that is on the other bike in the picture. I already have another one of those ready to put on it, but I didn't put it on yet because my son who has only been riding for about a year, still thinks he doesn't like windshields.
I will probably put the windshield on before taking off on a longer ride. I am not particularly fond of 70 mph bugs.

I don't know the bike well enough to tell whether this is a dumb idea or good idea-
There is a "Swinging Bridges Tour" (very rural historic cable bridges) coming up in Missouri (end of April) that is being talked about on the Adventure Riders forum.
When you see on a bike, a white oval sticker that says ADV, that's them. There were quite a few bikes at Moonshine last year with those stickers.
Anyway, I would like to go, but don't know if I have a bike that can ford the few shallow rivers that are on the country route. I have seen vids of what looks like late model scooters fording across, but they do not recommend "street" bikes.
Long ago I used to have a (1969 model??) Honda 350 "scrambler" that was basically a street bike with factory high-mounted exh pipes and slightly aggressive tires. I used to love doing mild trails with that one. No hardcore mud bogs or too-steep dirt hills, but it was fun for everything else in the woods, and dirt trails etc. I wonder if this one could do similar stuff.
I wonder if a 500 stripped to about 400 lbs would be still too heavy to attempt such a tour.

I need to find out where the crankcase vents are, carb intake etc. before I even think of fording a stream with it. Can anybody tell me without my studying the book?
I DON'T KNOW THE BIKE YET. Will I find out that it is a far fetched idea, or is it doable? Make it into a somewhat dual purpose bike that can drive the highways, then venture across fields, dirt roads, streams etc to the really good places. I have seen unrelated vids of people taking Harleys on what appears to be logging trails, but donno what to expect here..

Here is a pic I found on Google. I didn't want to go that far since I still want it to be a long distance traveling bike, but do you think his bike was successful, or did he find out it was too heavy for the job?
If I can pull it off; making it a travelling bike that can still do a decent job going down fire-roads and moderate trails, then I really want to go that route.
Will a bike like this do a decent job, or will it only look that way, then be a dud on the trail adventures? My main worry is the weight if a spill happens. Could it work as a dual-purpose?
I want it to be able to travel long distances, take a few interesting excursions, and then return home on the highway.
Can my bike be made to do that without becoming too trail-looking?

I guess it's time to explore and experiment. Ideas on what my chances are? Helpful hints?

[DJ]

OMG. I just found a thread on another bike forum that shows one guy making his 500 into a hardcore trail bike.
I didn't want to go that far or invest that much, but I think you will find this to be great reading. Lots of good pics.

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46633

Hmmm, maybe I should buy another one and spend a few years making it into one of those....

Nahhh, I don't have that kind of time, but I do admire the project. I want mine to be in between street and that.

[Rat]

That's a cool thread alright.

I think you can get by with a lot less for your purposes.

Gord

[sunnbobb]

The timing chain tensioner is not automatic. You must remove the cover plug, loosen the bolt and then retighten...

[Sidecar Bob]

The timing chain tensioner is not automatic. You must remove the cover plug, loosen the bolt and then retighten...

You're right about it not being automatic, but that's not a good description of the procedure. You remove the caps (plugs) on the front of the engine (hex on the crankshaft for manually turning it) and the right side (timing marks), turn it over to the right place, loosen the adjuster locking bolt, turn it the prescribed amount and tighten the locking bolt. Aw, heck - mine's not much better. It is described properly in the FSM.

[sunnbobb]

yeah, i wasnt too exact..

[Sidecar Bob]

Look hard at every rubber part. Rubber deteriorates over time and the effects can be disastrous.

If the bike has been sitting for any length of time you should toss the tires - anything over 5 years old is too old.

Before you take it too far, replace the rubber brake lines with braided stainless ones. Even if they look OK, 25+ year old rubber lines just don't work the way they should. SS lines cost about the same as OEM rubber ones but they last forever.

Service the cooling system

Service the rear shock or at least replace the fluid.

Disassemble the pro-link assembly and grease the bushings. Some people add grease nipples so they can grease it without disassembly the next time.

Service the forks

Replace the fuses. It is not uncommon for old glass tube fuses to fail because the metal the link is made of breaks where it is welded inside the end cap. When this happens you can't see the break but the fuse will not conduct.

Replace the main fuse (on the side of the starter solenoid) with a 30A blade fuse in a heavy duty pigtail type fuse holder. I have heard of the original fuses causing all sorts of hard to figure out problems when they start to deteriorate and even disintegrating when touched.

[hambim336]

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