Budget touring build

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Aussiejohn

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Vernon bc
Hello everyone so I picked up a new toy for exploring on our youth exchange holiday in Canada and to give me an excuse to have a beer and swing wrenches. She is a 84 gl1200 picked her up yesterday after sitting for two years put some air in the tires and fresh gas in the tank and rode her home about two hundred kilometers and to my surprise she ran like a champ the whole way. The idle was rough for a while but after the ride she now idles fine at around 960 rpm so I'm very happy. Basically just need some advise on what to fix on her to make her a reliable weekend tourer for me and my wife some things already on my to do list

Front breaks are soft and hardly work
Timing belt just because I'm not sure when it was last done
Fork seal leaking
Seat leather is cracked and stitching coming apart so new or replacement seat
Seems to have an oil weep around final drive but haven't had a good look yet
Needs a good cleaning and going over
Any advice probably needed and appreciated any problem areas I need to look at and check?

Ps first time forum user so let me know if I'm not posting correctly etc I'm pretty hopeless with computers haha thanks in advance john
 

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You had a good start with your nice ride. Welcome to oldwings. Have also fun getting your ride better. Timing belts, all liquids (brakelines, clutchline), brakepads, general check and for sure tons of other things to look at. Will be fun! I think you're at the best place to handle your questions. Great forum in my opinion. Greez
Joebarteam
 
First the brakes are linked on this bike. Rear brake engages rear caliper and one front caliper. Front brake engages only one front calipers so the front never feels especially strong.Changing the brake fluid to fresh DOT4 fluid and good bleed will get them pretty firm. I strongly suggest running 6-8 oz of automatic transmission fluid in the fuel to keep things clean and working.
I'd look for seat covers instead of a new seat. I like the seat backrests you have.
BTW this has two timing belts. There's a new to you list here. I'll look for it.
 
Welcome to a great site and congrats on your new-to-you GW.

Lots of good info on this and the other forums. Most everything you can think of has been addressed in one way or another. Peruse these and you will get answers. Most importantly you need the service manuals. See PM regarding this.

Depending on how you are going to ride and keep this bike also recommend coming up with a plan to change the wheel and steering stem bearings.

Rebuild of the calipers is quite easy and parts are not that expensive. As has been mentioned there are linked brakes on your bike. The front left and rear brake calipers take the same parts - dust and oil seals. The front right caliper has smaller pistons and this is the one linked to the rear brake.

When you do the timing belts (qty 2), replace the tensioner springs as well.

Take the FD off and lube up the splines of the u-joint, prop shaft. Check the pinion bearing in the final drive for movement, if there is replace it.

I replaced the Dunlop tires with Michelin Commander II tires (front and rear) and really like them. If you do change the tires, think about using Counter Act Beads, or Ride-On tire sealant and balancing technologies instead of standard lead weights. These products dynamically balance the tire(s) throughout the life. The Ride-On formula has one other advantage in that it also provides puncture sealing. Counter Act beads web site: https://www.counteractbalancing.com/ Ride -On web site: https://www.ride-on.com/

For the seat you have a couple of options. Here are some web sites to look at:

Seat cover out of Ontario: https://www.kijiji.ca/v-motorcycle-parts ... nFlag=true

Seat Cover out of the US - Arkansas - https://www.ebay.com/itm/HONDA-GL1200-Se ... eg&vxp=mtr

Seat Cover from Saddleman: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Saddlemen-Doubl ... yV&vxp=mtr

Do the work/maintenance in small work packages. This allows you to do the work, then ride the bike. I always have a list of things to do so I watch the weather and when it is going to be not so nice, I do some small tasks and get the bike back on the road.

Another reason to keep the work packages small is that if you are addressing an issue, doing too much at once can correct the problem, but you may not know what was done to correct the issue.

I use Fortnine out of Quebec for some parts - free shipping over $50.00. Kapscomoto out of Pickering Ontario for brake pads. Set of three are $23.00 plus shipping (approx $10.00) https://www.kapscomoto.com/product_p/(3xpad69)-v09.htm. Front and rear pads are the same.

Enjoy your new bike and project. The important thing to remember is that this is a 34 year old bike and will need maintenance/work. Don't get discouraged because once the bugs are fixed, these are great bikes. Been rebuilding/maintaining/fixing/refurbishing my '85 LTD for the past 18 months.

Just some more info. Good Luck!

Cheers
 
Slab ghost I hust brought some sea foam to run through her after it's gone I will try atf how often do you run it through? Got some bunderberg rum all the way from Australia to run through me for smoother performance to! I've already removed the riders back rest felt it made the bike to cramped not sure what to do with it yet?
 

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Redmax it appears I can get the belts from napa I will do some more research before asking to many questions but are talking about just the spring or the whole bearing assembly if so are they still available from Honda. Thank you for the seat link that looks like a goer to me even if I have to hire a heavy duty stapler it will be much cheaper than a new seat it's hard for me to justify a custom made seat when it will cost nearly as much as the bike itself. Brake rebuild is on the list of thing to do asap I want to feel comfortable being able to stop if I need to.
 
Did notice I'm having a fuel gauge issue I haven't looked at it yet but it reads full till it drops a couple of bars then reads empty I hit a bump today riding and it started going back up I'm not losing gas anywhere no smell or visible puddles so I'm assuming it's electrical posiiblly a bad earth?
 
Just the spring from Honda - SPRING, TIMING BELT ADJUSTER 14516-371-000. You only have to do the idler pulleys if they are giving you grief. If so, you can still get these from Honda, but these are some $100.00 CDN or so each. You can do the idler mod that would cost you about $80.00 for the pair. Here's a PDF regarding this mod. View attachment TENSIONER-REBUILD-JCS.pdf My thread on the maintenance of my bike on GWDocs has what I did to the tensioners. https://goldwingdocs.com/forum/viewtopic ... &start=100 - Page 5 of the thread.

When you do the rear, Moly 77 is the new Honda equivalent, but I use Locktite Moly.
Loctite Moly Paste.jpg
Has over 60% moly compound. Been using for over a year and it works well.

Cheers

Ernest
 
Belts for a toyota fit the 1200. Much cheaper. I'll look it up in a bit if you don't find it on your own. Fuel reading issue is probably the sending unit. easy fix. After the seafoam and even with the seafoam you can just keep mixing it with the fuel. If it begins to smoke a little no worry just skip on the next fill up.
 
Made some progress pulling the bike down found a few minor issues I'll have to deal with this is the biggest not a huge drama but looks like battery acid has leaked at some point and is started corroding the frame. Newbie question are all my photos going to load upside down unless I move them to my gallery first?
Thanks for the heads up on the loctite moly I'm going to do the rear tire brakes and final drive while I have her apart.
 

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here is a list of belts that have been recommended for 1200s:

Gates T070-5043/NAPA 95070-250070/Goodyear 40070/Dayco 95070

The Dayco 95070 are inexpensive at approximately $13.00 - best I've found so far.
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=190553#p190553:3hkblqqt said:
mcgovern61 » Mon May 15, 2017 4:01 pm[/url]":3hkblqqt]
Gosh....I'm feeling ancient. I still use a camera to take my pictures. :oops:

Do you still use a flip phone to make phone calls?
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=190553#p190553:1bynk03a said:
mcgovern61 » 49 minutes ago[/url]":1bynk03a]
Gosh....I'm feeling ancient. I still use a camera to take my pictures. :oops:
I do too, the camera in the phone :smilie_happy:
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=190554#p190554:r5s7vp8z said:
brianinpa » Mon May 15, 2017 3:04 pm[/url]":r5s7vp8z]
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=190553#p190553:r5s7vp8z said:
mcgovern61 » Mon May 15, 2017 4:01 pm[/url]":r5s7vp8z]
Gosh....I'm feeling ancient. I still use a camera to take my pictures. :oops:

Do you still use a flip phone to make phone calls?
Sorta:

image.php


:smilie_happy: :yes:
 
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