working title: gl1000

[auntiebling]

what do you do when the nicest bike you have is italian with an intermittent no-spark condition?
finally get around to the gl1000 project you've been dreaming about for over 10 years? no ! that's a statement not a question

the bike in question is a 1976 GL1000 which rarely doesn't elicit a "that's a goldwing?" response even in stock form. many people assume the modern iteration of a goldwing is approximately what they've always been.

This particular one has already been customized 2 previous owners ago. the one before me, unfortunately, let the engine seize and my best efforts with various oily concoctions down the spark plug holes and breaker bars on the crank did nothing to free it up. So, i have 2 likely engine swap candidates. the one on the jack in the foreground is another '76 and came out of a raaaaaaatty bike. like reallly, really ratty. the back case cover has an offensive quantity of RTV seeping out of many of the sealing surfaces. on the up side i did a compression check and 3 of 4 cylinders were 120+psi. the 4th was 90 but went to 150 with some oil. That's pretty dang good in old goldwing engine circles. with some miles put on it, i expect the low cylinder would present zero problems.

i haven't checked out the other spare engine but it's significantly less oily and gross so i might use that one pending a compression check.

either way, immediate plans are just to get an engine in it, service the brakes and put a stock looking shelter on it (the "gas tank" is false and i don't like the undersize look of it) the seat needs something done to it as well, again probably a stock replacement for the time being.

 

[Cincinnatus]

Every project has to have two things:

1) a Goal

2) taking steps to the Goal

You're taking steps, and the result will look & work great! That's a really great looking bike, have fun! arty

 

[SFMCjohn]

sweet!

some of us were paying attention in 1976, and think that's what a Gold Wing looks like.
always wanted the yellow one, myself.

 

[auntiebling]

Every project has to have two things:

1) a Goal

2) taking steps to the Goal

You're taking steps, and the result will look & work great! That's a really great looking bike, have fun! arty

indeeed. before picking up kids i hustled my ass home and checked compression on the other motor. pre oiled the cylinders and got 90,120,90, zeeeero. i suspect it has a bent valve as it sorta holds a little pressure

OK then. gooey oily motor it is!

sweet!

some of us were paying attention in 1976, and think that's what a Gold Wing looks like.
always wanted the yellow one, myself.

early in my barf career as "the guy that will babble about old goldwings" a few people on this board were shocked to learn they weren't originally intended as 6 cylinder barges with reverse.

that yellow is gorgeous. the people that have them will tell you it is the rarest and most valuable color for 76 because it never sold well when new and some dealers repainted them as a result. who knows. there is a pretty complete one in fremont. but they want too much. I've talked to the guy, in fact that is where both engines came from. his kid is in his ear saying the bikes are valuable. . only if you find a sucker to buy them

 

[1962siia]

Cool! I have always had a soft spot for the OG goldwings, especially with spoke wheels! Looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

[bikewanker]

sweet!

some of us were paying attention in 1976, and think that's what a Gold Wing looks like.
always wanted the yellow one, myself.

I too was fascinated with Honda’s touring bike and always appreciate a pre fairing model.
@ auntiebling there’s Gold Wing stuff on Reno Craigslist.

 

[auntiebling]

i appreciate the heads up but please don't help me collect any more of this crap.

 

[auntiebling]

on todays episode of "WTF Was the PO Doing?"

we have RTV everywhere. Everywhere it shouldn't be.

the seam sealing the engine case halves even? YES. LOTS OF IT

what about the little screw everyone forgets about that holds the head on right under the oil return passage? YES. There TOO!!!!!

how about that other little screw that I'm not even sure wjat it does? do you even HAVE to ASK!?

 

[Cincinnatus]

Think of it this way....

Every bit of RTV that gets removed is one step closer to the GOAL. arty

 

[bobl]

I can't help but wonder if that gob of RTV is hiding some case damage. Hope not. I too like the early wing. There used to be a cafe wing that would occasionally turn up on local roads. Smooth cruisers.

 

[augustiron]

Bling just can't quit the wing.

This makes me feel good, like all is right in the world again.
Should I work on a vintage Honda or an air cooled Duc to celebrate a return to the good old days?!?

Also, I'm in Reno several times a week if you need me to grab that CL stuff

 

[auntiebling]

I can't help but wonder if that gob of RTV is hiding some case damage. Hope not. I too like the early wing. There used to be a cafe wing that would occasionally turn up on local roads. Smooth cruisers.

i have been wondering the same. i assume this engine has been split before, and if there is case damage it probably the sealing surfaces, there is no gasket there.

Bling just can't quit the wing.

This makes me feel good, like all is right in the world again.
Should I work on a vintage Honda or an air cooled Duc to celebrate a return to the good old days?!?

Also, I'm in Reno several times a week if you need me to grab that CL stuff

oh snap. i did look. there is a front wheel. humm

also we have the same selection of Brands That Need Work. the aforementioned italian electrical gremlin is a multistrada 1000ds

 

[matty]

Oh, I'm looking forward to this

And those RTV pics or maybe

 

[auntiebling]

so there's a joke about Buell motorcycles... something like

"a friend of mine has a buell and left the garage door open when he went inside to use the bathroom. when he came back there were 2 more!"

it kinda works with old goldwings too. you either have to pay through the nose for the random little parts you want to find, or people give you entire bikes with 1 useful part.

anyway, the RTV Engine problem might get solved with another donor engine or 2. one of which i think is an 1100 that more or less drops in and has electronic ignition stock. free displacement and no more points? yeah that's probably the way i'll go. save the RTV engine for another day or give it away

 

[auntiebling]

today on As the Bling 'Wings we have "Yes. JIS is better than phillips but it doesn't matter when you use either to hold an access cover on the front of the engine subject to untold years of road grime. this low torque in service fastener will need High Torque to remove it.. also fer the sake of fuck there are regular hex head bolts adjacent to these damn things why.mix N match?"

anyway. its possible to use a cold chisel to break the fasener loose; knurling the head in the process.

 

[auntiebling]

well. itsy. itsy progress.

cleaned up the front cover on the RTV engine. not really clean, ut i wanted to k ow what all that rtv was for. some of it was to mitigate the broken off bolt in the water pump impeller housing. you can kinda see the fuxor3d hole the arrows point at.

reference picture of a useable front cover, from the seized engine of course, which will be used along with an actual gasket.

common wisdom suggests i put a new water.pump in as it is a pain to service and gaskets alone are nearly $100.... water pump is $180something ladt i checked.

 

[matty]

This so nasty, I love it. I can't wait to see the progress.

 

[dtrides]

Ah yes, the good old days of JIS fasteners.
I would not touch one with out first giving it a "love tap" with my hand held impact tool...LOL
GL with the project!
DT

 

[auntiebling]

i havent been doing much because of various other interferences, but i have also been avoiding stooping over to work on the cleaning process. getting the e gine from the flior to the workbench is not trivial. go e are the days of deadlifting these things to the benchtop.

as luck would have it, a friend wanted rod of an atv jack and in spite of already having one i grabbed it Just Because.

so, today as i miraculously cleared some spa e on the bench, knowing it would soon be covered in junk i stared at the engine on the ATV jack and wished for a method of making it lift higher.

Then i remembered all the cellulose shims i have in the back yard and the Other Atv Jack id recently acquired and BLAMMO. the engjne nearly teleported up to the bench!

next month: clean gasket surfaces and potentially wasting perfectly good daskets and orings on a questionable .motor

 

[auntiebling]

in a fit of fiddliness i did some.cleaning. the more time this engine takes the less i want to invest in it. the gasket surface cleaned up OKish but whoever gued the thing together splut the cases. i surmise this by the opious RTV squeezing out from between them by end of the pick.

hey, at least i found the gasket set in my oile of spares.... turns out i have 6 sets or so, which means i need more goldwings?