First, I would like to thank all of you for this great website, without your tips I would still be struggling with my son's standard GL1200.
A 82 year young friend of his gave him this gem-- he was the original owner, and VERY picky!! It got so it would not start, and he really felt he did not want to bother with it. He said it was more bike than he could handle at his age.
I have worked on cars for a living since 1974, presently working at a VW dealership-- and I was apprehensive about tackling
this dead bike, it looked so complicated and menacing, somehow.
So, my son asked me to come with him to look at the bike-- and I tried to start it, it would crank over, and the engine "sounded" ok, as it no noises, had compression, ect. And the bike itself was beautiful, showing 30,000 miles.
I asked the gentleman if I could try spraying some starting fluid in the intake, he was a little afraid, but went with it-- and the engine roared to life-- and would stay running as long as I gave it a little shot of fluid when it began to choke down.
So, that told me the engine was ok, had spark, compression, etc.
So, we loaded it into a U-haul, and my son took it back to North Carolina, where he was attending College, as he had a "buddy" who worked on motorcycles that said he would help him get it going. His "buddy" took one look at it and started hemming and hawing around and one could tell he was not interested it working on "Nancy", by that time my son had named the beast.
It fell to me to give the effort to get this 1200 running. Trailered back to Dad's house, and put in my storage shed. I should mention that I needed my old shed torn down, it was rotten, and a new one erected. So, my son and I made a deal-- he would handle the teardown and rebuilding, and he could park "Nancy" inside the new shed, and I would try to bring her back to life--
First effort, right away I found the fuel pump not working, checked the power supply and ground, and also tried cleaning the "points" but she was dead. That's when I began searching and found this site --- and all the great information about all things Goldwing, including how to make fuel pumps other than O.E. ones to work on the bike. I was all set to order one of those Chinese ones from E-bay-- until I read better from you folks.
So, I got the Mr. Gasket 42-S and cobbled it on, replacing the fuel lines and putting on these dandy spring clips at each connection. It works GREAT!!! Another plus is you can get one of these almost anywhere in the good ol' US of A. And I installed a new battery.
She starts and runs BEAUTIFULLY!!! And everything works, lights, horn, fans, gauges, indicator lamps--
Then. I discovered the clutch did not release, and by following members advice, concluded that the hydraulics were ok, and it was probably just stuck from sitting so long. YEP, that was it!! Put her on the center stand, fired her up, put it in gear and revved up, and applied the rear brake-- a "backlashing" noise came from the rear end, and it was free and working great. Takes up smoothly and just right operationally.
Now I have found that the rear brake caliper is stuck-- gotta pull it off and try rebuilding it. I am so looking forward to riding her!!! I rode a Goldwing once, about 1984. And I remember how well it handled, it just went where you wanted it to go, did not "fight back " at all.
I'll be sending pictures soon -- she is a beauty -- a nice deep red metallic.
Thanks again, and when I figure out how to donate, I certainly will. Best to all of you and ride safe!!!! :thanks:
A 82 year young friend of his gave him this gem-- he was the original owner, and VERY picky!! It got so it would not start, and he really felt he did not want to bother with it. He said it was more bike than he could handle at his age.
I have worked on cars for a living since 1974, presently working at a VW dealership-- and I was apprehensive about tackling
this dead bike, it looked so complicated and menacing, somehow.
So, my son asked me to come with him to look at the bike-- and I tried to start it, it would crank over, and the engine "sounded" ok, as it no noises, had compression, ect. And the bike itself was beautiful, showing 30,000 miles.
I asked the gentleman if I could try spraying some starting fluid in the intake, he was a little afraid, but went with it-- and the engine roared to life-- and would stay running as long as I gave it a little shot of fluid when it began to choke down.
So, that told me the engine was ok, had spark, compression, etc.
So, we loaded it into a U-haul, and my son took it back to North Carolina, where he was attending College, as he had a "buddy" who worked on motorcycles that said he would help him get it going. His "buddy" took one look at it and started hemming and hawing around and one could tell he was not interested it working on "Nancy", by that time my son had named the beast.
It fell to me to give the effort to get this 1200 running. Trailered back to Dad's house, and put in my storage shed. I should mention that I needed my old shed torn down, it was rotten, and a new one erected. So, my son and I made a deal-- he would handle the teardown and rebuilding, and he could park "Nancy" inside the new shed, and I would try to bring her back to life--
First effort, right away I found the fuel pump not working, checked the power supply and ground, and also tried cleaning the "points" but she was dead. That's when I began searching and found this site --- and all the great information about all things Goldwing, including how to make fuel pumps other than O.E. ones to work on the bike. I was all set to order one of those Chinese ones from E-bay-- until I read better from you folks.
So, I got the Mr. Gasket 42-S and cobbled it on, replacing the fuel lines and putting on these dandy spring clips at each connection. It works GREAT!!! Another plus is you can get one of these almost anywhere in the good ol' US of A. And I installed a new battery.
She starts and runs BEAUTIFULLY!!! And everything works, lights, horn, fans, gauges, indicator lamps--
Then. I discovered the clutch did not release, and by following members advice, concluded that the hydraulics were ok, and it was probably just stuck from sitting so long. YEP, that was it!! Put her on the center stand, fired her up, put it in gear and revved up, and applied the rear brake-- a "backlashing" noise came from the rear end, and it was free and working great. Takes up smoothly and just right operationally.
Now I have found that the rear brake caliper is stuck-- gotta pull it off and try rebuilding it. I am so looking forward to riding her!!! I rode a Goldwing once, about 1984. And I remember how well it handled, it just went where you wanted it to go, did not "fight back " at all.
I'll be sending pictures soon -- she is a beauty -- a nice deep red metallic.
Thanks again, and when I figure out how to donate, I certainly will. Best to all of you and ride safe!!!! :thanks: