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Many years ago I had a Kawasaki 1100 Spectre. This is an air cooled shaft drive bike. I liked it but kids came and the bike went. Now, kids are gone and a mechanic friend of mine keeps telling me to buy a GL1100. I have looked at the naked Goldwing site many time thinking about this project. I like the wheels on the 83 the best so today I purchased an 83 gl1100. It has all of the body work off of it and has not been run in years. I am sure it needs the brakes rebuilt top to bottom and gas tank cleaned. It is a 37K miles bike. The old gentleman (74) I bought it from seemed like a great guy. We chatted for about 3 hours. He has all of the parts I need except a seat. His house had 3 rooms of Goldwing parts, so I maybe back LOL. He is throwing in extras as well as a Honda manual. He is getting out of motorcycles due to his age and health. Here is a pic of the new project. I am planning a simple clean naked build. I am a better than average car mechanic but wish me luck as this will be my first motorcycle build.

PS if you have a seat for sale, let me know. (seat found)

Welcome to the forum from the UK, you have found the best forum for help and advice for GL's. You have made a good start, apart from a seat, but surprised me the seller is getting out of bikes because he's 74. I'm 55 and considered a youngster here, amongst other things! Any questions ask away and someone will be able to help. Let the fun begin.

Welcome to NGW ... like most of the 83 especially the wheels. The 83 does have linked brakes. Luck on your project.

Thanks for the info.

I just learned about linked brakes yesterday from the old gentlemen that sold me the bike. I never knew about it before that.

I also learned that the 83 has a hydraulic anti dive system on the front forks. I thought that was cool.

Welcome to the fountain of knowledge

I currently have an 84 aspy but my favorite was my 83 good luck on your build you have the best fountain of knowledge you could ask for on here welcome from ca hope to see your progress we love pictures

Welcome, I too have an '83 Aspencade (along with several other old Wings) and agree with you about the wheels. In fact bought a set to use on my '80 Model. Linked brakes are not a problem but can be eliminated easily if you choose. Start your project by becoming familiar with the Shop Talk section of this sight. Most of your questions will be covered there. Good luck and have fun.

Welcome to the 'Wingdom.

74 doesn't sound too old ......

Gord (74 in November) Jones

Welcome to the forum, I was new to GL`s when I joined , I knew other bikes very well , mostly I thought why did they put the clutch,generator and ignition in a location not easily accessed, why an interference motor , why is the water pump buried in the motor instead of mounted to the outside or easily accessed location.
I suppose they had good reasons but I might have picked the Voyager or Venture instead
I don't really regret buying it though , get it right and they are rock solid and a pleasure to ride and own.

Welcome from Iowa! We need more people from the Great Midwest to join! Thanks for doing your part and enjoy the build!

John

Well, I have been working on it as I have time. I found a motorcycle salvage yard about 30 minutes from my house and scored some needed parts. I got a seat in really nice shape, a front turn signal, a right side cover with all 3 attachment points, a set of new handle grips the guts and ring to my empty headlight bucket and some much needed nuts and bolts. The rear fender has been sanded and primed. Flat black on the underside. The top has 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of Cobalt Blue metal flake on it. I have polished the rear light assemble and shocks along with the rear half of the exhaust pipe so that I could install the rear half. Looks good so far. I have filled in the holes for the small GL1100 emblem on both side covers, did 2 coats of primer and the inside of the covers in flat black. Tonight's project is 3 coat of the Cobalt blue.

More work getting done. The head light mounting ears that I have were "modified" by someone. The tabs where the turn signals mount had been cut off. So a bit of 1/4 x 1/2 bar stock, a cut off wheel, bench grinder and a gas welder fixed that. Then a 4mm hole and tap and it was good to go. Polished the headlight assembly and the mounting ears, removed the front wheel and each fork arm, installed the head light mounting ears and but the forks and front wheel back on. Then moved some wires around and installed the headlight bucket and front turn signals. The front "valence" bracket that was on the bike held a semi circular black piece of plastic so I removed it. In the box of parts was a Honda front "valence" so I modified that bracket and mounted it to the front of the bike between the turn signals. Now waiting on a bunch of part that I ordered to start the brake system rebuild.

Welcome to the club
Looks like a good start.
Just remember, we like pictures.
And you can get answers for almost anything here, and sometimes they're good answers. So ask away

duke182 wrote:Welcome to the club
Looks like a good start.
Just remember, we like pictures.

+1

Welcome, this is a great bunch here. Anything you need to know is here!