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Is it normal for the GL1000 to smoke a bit on the left bank on start up. The bike hasn’t been ridden in 20 years. It runs well I put there is a bit of faint white smoke coming out of the left side. Oil and coolant look normal and clean. I haven’t taken it for ride as I’m in the process of a build. Hopefully a good ride will help clear this up.

Left side, if it goes away, is generally normal. That's just a bit of oil pooling in the left cylinders because it's on the sidestand.

If it persists? It may be a head gasket about to go. Does the smoke have a sweet-ish smell to it? (WARNING: Use every precaution when sniffing exhaust fumes.) Another tell-tale is, while the bike is running, check the coolant overflow tank. If you're getting bubbling into the tank, that's another good indication of imminent head gasket failure.

Third option? Just ride it. If it's nothing, you'll be fine. If your head gasket DOES eventually blow for real, the white smoke will be copious, thick, and billowing.

Best of luck.

Always run a few heat cycles to loosen up the rings and whatever before worrying about smoke.

What Lucien said is spot on ! Smoke on start up is a normal Goldwing trait if parked on the side stand. My 76 has done it since new and my friends (yes I have a few) 1800 does it as well ocaisionally. My advice,,, park it on the center stand to minimize any startup smoking, if you’re ok with the smoke on the side stand just ride it and enjoy it. I will add that if it’s been sitting for a while keep an eye on the oil & coolant, no bubbles in the coolant & the oil shouldn’t be milky which signifies coolant in the oil, not good ! Really bad for the bearings !

If you do ride it, watch your temperature closely, if it’s a head gasket it may overheat ...

Gord(bitter experience far far from home)Jones

Also worth mentioning is the longer it sat the higher the odds of a head gasket failure. Generally on any bike I resurrect I just accept replacing the head gaskets as part of the work.

Thankfully, God forbid a head gasket is an issue, replacing them isn't that complicated.

A bit involved, maybe, and one or two specifics to watch out for (easily missed bolts, etc.), but not that complicated.

Still, let's hope you don't have to worry about it.

Thank you for your comments and advice.

I will keep an eye on once I start to ride it in 2022.

Some smoke from the left side is normal for a bike with horizontal cylinders, especially if it was parked overnight on the side stand (mine is held upright by the sidecar and still smokes occasionally). It is caused by oil pooling in the cylinders next to the bottom of the piston and a tiny amount getting past the piston rings (a pinpoint drop can cause a pretty big cloud of smoke).
I have a Cycle Canada test report from '76 that mentions it smoking the first start of the day.
Honda knew about it and even issued this
Apparently the BMW K bikes smoked so badly they issued a recall to replace the pistons with ones that didn't allow the ring gaps to point down to deal with it (if they had designed them so that the cylinders pointed to the right instead of the left it wouldn't have been a problem but by the time the problem was evident it was too late for that.

If I remember correctly Honda actually “clocked” the piston rings so there was no open gaps on the bottom of the cylinder starting in 78, again if I’m remembering right !

redglbx wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:37 am If I remember correctly Honda actually “clocked” the piston rings so there was no open gaps on the bottom of the cylinder starting in 78, again if I’m remembering right !

That makes no sense. The rings do not stay stationary, hence the reason for two stroke rings being pegged to stop the ends getting into the ports.

Old Fogey wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:42 am

redglbx wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:37 am If I remember correctly Honda actually “clocked” the piston rings so there was no open gaps on the bottom of the cylinder starting in 78, again if I’m remembering right !

That makes no sense. The rings do not stay stationary, hence the reason for two stroke rings being pegged to stop the ends getting into the ports.

Correct, the rings rotate a lot on the pistons.

I know that the rings normally rotate but it seems like I remember in 78 they clocked at 120deg intervals & pinned the ring gaps so that they were not at the bottom to minimize any oil getting past to minimize the start-up smoking. Pretty sure that Honda did that on the newer Wings as the start-up smoke show wasn’t viewed favorably by buyers. Anyway that’s what I remember.

BMW had to do that for the K bikes. If Honda did it wasn't until after '82 because my engine does it.

As long as it isn't a head gasket (milkshake-looking coolant is a give-away), and you aren't using a quart of oil between changes - ride it! Consider the start-up show an "undocumented feature" to keep the muffler bearings lubricated.